Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2012 11:01:47 GMT
Hello, I am getting ready to order my first sword and wanted to ask a question or two before doing so.
First off, I bought a Cold Steel Bokken to practice with, I have no formal training but am hoping to find somebody qualified to learn from.
Before spening a lot of money, I thought I would go with the Musashi brand and use that for a while to see if my interest holds before spending a lot of money. It seems from what I have been able to find that it should be a good sword for very light cutting and practice so long as it is not abused in any way. Would that be a fair assessment?
Also, I am seeing swords with a tsuba (that is the guard, right?) and some without. Is there an advantage to one over the other?
Also, handles...again, forgive my lack of knowledge on proper terminology...cord wrapped or wood, advantages of one over the other?
And lastly, as for the sword itself or the scabbard, should either be treated with anything for storage to prevent cracking or anything...I guess protection from weather and/or temperature changes.
Thanks for your help!
|
|
|
Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Feb 17, 2012 14:14:12 GMT
any of the musashi line will handle your purposes if not abused, and if you decide its not for you, you havent got alot invested, ive owned two of the musashi hand honed katana, they are tough beaters, although lacking in aesthetics, they are what they are, a functional barebones sword. Many a swordsman strated off with a musashi
|
|
|
Post by lamebmx on Feb 17, 2012 14:21:18 GMT
Hello, I am getting ready to order my first sword and wanted to ask a question or two before doing so. <---great idea
First off, I bought a Cold Steel Bokken to practice with, I have no formal training but am hoping to find somebody qualified to learn from. <--- another great idea, CS are a bit off on weight & handling, but usable.
Before spening a lot of money, I thought I would go with the Musashi brand and use that for a while to see if my interest holds before spending a lot of money. It seems from what I have been able to find that it should be a good sword for very light cutting and practice so long as it is not abused in any way. Would that be a fair assessment? <--- They are tougher than they look, but for some bottles and practice they are fine. Dont handle too shabby either. Pick up an $80 bo-hi w/DH blade, bo-hi will let you get your edge alignment down before attacking some plastic foe's
Also, I am seeing swords with a tsuba (that is the guard, right?) and some without. Is there an advantage to one over the other? <---Guards (tsuba) bring the balance back a bit and keep the hand from sliding onto the blade during a thrush. Highly recommended if you are going to use the sword.
Also, handles...again, forgive my lack of knowledge on proper terminology...cord wrapped or wood, advantages of one over the other? <--- GENERALLY they are all wood core. in the case of katana, wood core with panel of rayskin (samegawa) wrapped up nice and tight with string (ito). generally western is wood core wrapped in leather and sometime wire or cord wrapped around that.
And lastly, as for the sword itself or the scabbard, should either be treated with anything for storage to prevent cracking or anything...I guess protection from weather and/or temperature changes. <---another good ?, pretty much all swords referred to in here will be carbon steel and will rust without proper maintainence. Hopefully some western sword enthusiests will chime in about leather care. As for katana, a lot of the production ones have a lot of waxy stuff in the scabbard(saya). Generally leaving the sword out for a long while and occaisionally tap the mouth of the saya onto a firm surface (towel on wood) to get the gunk out. Other than that they are fine and protected well by the lacquer on the outside. Of course others may chime in with better information from their more extensive knowledge.
Welcome to the world of sharp steel!
Thanks for your help![/quote]
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2012 22:45:02 GMT
I also am relatively new to swords. My first purchase was a very inexpensive Katana from an on-line merchant. I believe the box was labeled Ten Ryu. I have done some cutting of gallon water jugs and was very suprised how good it cut. I spent less then $40.00 including shipping during a sale. It has a carbon steel blade which is pretty beefy and very sharp.
|
|
Greg
Senior Forumite
Posts: 1,800
|
Post by Greg on Feb 17, 2012 23:52:48 GMT
I would HIGHLY recommend the Munetoshi Beater as your first sword. I won one in a contest, but have been incredibly impressed with the way it's held up for a sub $100 sword. There are some minor aestetic issues with it, but... lemme see if I can find my review. Yep, here's my review: sbgswordforum.proboards.com/inde ... read=18292 But even that review doesn't do the blade much justice. The Munetoshi is a though hardened (TH) as opposed to a differential hardened (DH). The difference between the two is that a DH is traditionally forged with a soft spine and a hard edge. A TH blade is given more or less the same heat treatment as a european blade, which is a consistent treatment through the whole blade which causes the metal to flex but not take a permanent bend unless subjected to extreme pressure. As a beginner, your edge alignment will likely be less then optimal. If you go to cut a water bottle with a DH blade using bad alignment, then your blade will bend. But, you have more room for error with a TH blade. If you have bad alignment, it's ok. Especially with the Munetoshi Beater. Not only is it TH, but it has a really thick blade to back it up. So I'd say get comfortable with a Munetoshi and teach yourself good edge alignment and not worry so much about the "pretty" aspects of the blade. Then once you can handle one well enough, go onto the prettier DH options
|
|
|
Post by chrisperoni on Feb 18, 2012 0:51:00 GMT
[/quote] bmx- this is a great reply and I\m going to karma up for it- good form mate! but the swprd grip maker in me just has to point out one thing ) -re. saya's- I've never done anything but dust mine once in a while. -re. leather as on euro scabbards- treat the leather with a bit of leather conditioner once in a long while- can be bought at any shoe store etc. (same for handles but get stuff that's not slippery)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2012 5:57:27 GMT
Thanks for all the information. I am going to spend tomorrow reading through this forum then make a decision.
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Whom on Feb 18, 2012 14:32:04 GMT
What is your budget on your first sword? The SBG store has Hanwei Raptor for $150 and there is always Chenness and Ronin Dojo Anime and Pro...
Or you can check in the classifieds for good deals
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2012 11:34:58 GMT
Ah, found a few minutes of free time. Anyways, I kept looking around and decided to go ahead and get something really nice (I hope) to begin with. Ended up ordering a Cold Steel Warrior Series Katana. Having been a knife user for so long and having great luck with Cold Steel I decided to stay with them.
Ordered yesterday and popped for next day delivery...going to be a long day of waiting.
|
|
|
Post by Neovenetar on Feb 22, 2012 16:08:48 GMT
Good idea, those things are indestructible!
|
|
|
Post by WEWolf on Feb 22, 2012 21:13:23 GMT
Congratulations on your sword! The waiting for delivery is sweet agony.
|
|
|
Post by Don Boogie on Feb 23, 2012 0:08:17 GMT
I was just gonig the same thing:) he might try out the ronin dojo line they are cheap:p and well made swords,made of 1045 carbon steel. Only 175 dollar,very cheap www.roninkatana.com/ronin-katana ... sword.html
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2012 0:19:43 GMT
Showed up a few minutes ago...sorry for the pic, it was starting to get dark out so I had to hurry.
Just makes you want to go cut something! This is the Chisa(spelling?) and has a slightly shorter blade...24.5" I think, glad I went with it. I am really looking forward to learning how to use it properly.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2012 3:05:04 GMT
Huh...dont know why I could not get the pic to do what I wanted but think I finally got it.
|
|
|
Post by lamebmx on Feb 23, 2012 3:16:31 GMT
enjoy!
|
|