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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 14, 2012 15:42:12 GMT
I just want to get a few opinions of a few swords that are for sale in my price range.... I will be posting a few links to see what you guys think of the sword, the blade, the handle the furniture, the Saya....and the given options for the sword and what stands out for you. First up- www.ebay.com/itm/Sharp-Japanese- ... 27c1baf1d0 Go have a gander...
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Post by chrisperoni on Apr 14, 2012 16:23:41 GMT
awful. The nylon ito is particularly cheap, the same (real or fake?) is not channeled intothe tsuka, the wrap sucks, the sageo wrap will end up slipping of the koiguchi and unravel, the seppa don't even match, the habaki is thin and scratched up, the fuchi and kashira will look even worse in person. The blade would be worth it by itself for $30, which is probably all the whole deal cost the seller to buy wholesale.
I've seen better swords for less. Hell, the entry level katana I was selling in the classifieds were nothing special but better than this.
(sidenote- edit/ nevermind, I answered my own question by looking closer)
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Apr 14, 2012 16:33:50 GMT
Well, it might be good to know what do you think of the sword?
I have never liked Ryansword, and I fear that I will be too critical for swords in this price range. I would suggest using your money on something else than this sword. Although it's only 80$ but it's 1/3 of the price of some good swords (if you save that money).
Here are some pointers on that sword, I don't overly bash although it would be tempting sometimes...
Tsuka material = hardwood = bad (although this maybe language barrier, and I don't know what materials usual chinese forges use). Alloy fuchi, kashira and tsuba. Note the awful tsuka shape, looks like they didn't carve channels for same panels. Fuchi and kashira don't flush with ito, tsukamaki looks loose and bad. Saya is regular saya just without kurikata, and I actually think that is the best part of the sword, the awful sayamaki on it looks bad. Their blade, I guess it might be similar to other sub-100$ chinese swords. I don't usually look swords in this range and I may be way too critical on them.
If you want this particular sword, here are few recommendations. Go with iron tsuba, only 15$ more to the price. Their silk is synthetic silk but if you find a color you like 2$ difference is not much. If you plan on using this as a katana and not wannabe tachi, I would recommend getting a saya with kurikata. Too bad they made this kurikataless saya on their high end line...
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Post by LastGodslayer on Apr 14, 2012 16:40:03 GMT
Love the idea. Hate the reality.
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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 14, 2012 18:05:01 GMT
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Apr 14, 2012 18:45:09 GMT
Well it might help to know what you are looking for and in what range? The difference between 80 and 400$ is pretty big and truckload of production swords fall under that range. If we would know more about what you are looking for we could concentrate more on those points.
I personally wouldn't spend my money on Ryansword, Tommysword or under whatever name these products sell. In my opinion there are plenty of better opinions in this price range.
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Post by kasim18 on Apr 14, 2012 19:45:43 GMT
yeah, that's a pretty huge range. what do you plan to use it for? display, bottle or tatami cutting?bamboo? heavy duty cutting, kata. at the lower end i would look at the $80 musashi line. not great, but great for the money and good for light cutting.
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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 14, 2012 19:51:49 GMT
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Post by 6stringseme on Apr 14, 2012 20:12:36 GMT
I used to scour ebay pretty thoroughly looking for cheap differentially-hardened katanas, even before they were common on the domestic market. Ebay seller TommyLee85 is an alt account of Tckruan88. Like Ryansword, they resell chinese forged swords (many from the longquan forges). You have to be careful what you buy from sellers like this, as they have both the good and the bad for sale. Stay away from anything folded or "sanmai", don't buy the dirt cheap stuff, and I don't recommend their really expensive stuff either like their attempts at exotic laminated blades. That said, there are some swords they sell that really look nice and are a bit different than most things you can find stateside, like this wakizashi for instance: www.ebay.com/itm/Razor-Sharp-Han ... 27c5dd4361 or this: www.ebay.com/itm/FULL-FUNCTIONAL ... 2a1c2ae834 In theory, though, it's better to buy from a seller that has their OWN forge like Huawei-swords or JWHOTSTEELFORGE, if you buy from ebay sellers. Just remember that quality with swords from the chinese ebay sellers can be hit-or-miss, shipping can take a while, customer service is often sketchy, and for just a bit more money you can buy a dojo-quality cutter from a domestic dealer. Other than that, have at it!
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Post by 6stringseme on Apr 14, 2012 20:23:12 GMT
Too expensive. Saya looks nice, but the tsuka looks like junk. Typical chinese fittings, nice copper seppa, but the same panels and ito look like a $40 masahiro. Blade is decent, but I'm not a fan of the "sanmai" look - it's like wanna-be tamahagane. The yokote is very poorly done, I've seen much better on lower priced swords. Hamon is faint and unimpressive. All in all, I would be more likely to file this one in the "crap" folder than the "cool".
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Apr 14, 2012 21:10:08 GMT
I'd have to agree with the general concensus here. It looks decent, but only for a lower price point. While it is Sanmai, and allegedly has a geometric yokote, the yokote is not well done, and the fittings are very poor. The ito is not correctly wrapped and is said to be genuine, when it is not. The seppa look poor, and the habaki looks to be somewhat crude. With some companies, you pay mostly for the blade and accept that the fittings are low quality but functional, but this really isn't one of them. For $400 you could do better. I hope this helps.
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Post by LastGodslayer on Apr 14, 2012 21:27:23 GMT
Unfortunately, I have exactly the same opinion about the shihozume: Love the idea. Hate the reality.
Actually, the blade might be a good project blade, but the hamon goes dangerously low at some points, which screams that the blade is unhealthy. A shame really...
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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 14, 2012 21:56:22 GMT
yes it is disappointing, and that is one of the few places that i do find fault with this sword.
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Post by johnwalter on Apr 15, 2012 16:05:13 GMT
Way over priced.At 400,stick with a reputable vendor/forge. I agree with everyone else.Over priced,misrepresented.
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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 15, 2012 16:38:04 GMT
take this sword as listed on the first page of this topic: www.ebay.com/itm/TopQuality-JAPA ... 2a17b1cd21 as I read the ad for the sword it's hard to find fault with it. I was looking to get a sword that is laminated as it shows itself to be. now the objections to this sword seem to be based on some past trouble with the seller correct? AND......on the fact that it seems to most here that it would be impossible to sell a truly laminated sword for so cheap a price.
because of the great number of swords in the world for sale, and the limited number of sword owners who visit this forum, Im not really going to hold out much of a chance of running into a review of this sword by an owner. But if we just stick to the advertisement itself as given on the web, then the sword appears very "Cool"the problem is the greater context-history that the ad comes with, the things we know about such sword and this seller that point to the sword being "Crap"I guess then to be fair, and to give a trustworthy opinion of this sword, I would need to find out if the sword a person would end up with is actually is as it claims to be in the ad or not? Im not sure how to find that out.....
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Post by johnwalter on Apr 15, 2012 17:26:15 GMT
Bite the bullet and spend$405 on it honestly is the only way I see of being sure.Its probably the only way you will find out because I doubt anyone else here would buy it for that. Some questions you should ask that others have had to deal with buying from him. Are the mekugi real or for looks?Does it have a rattail tang with a nut hidden under the kashira?If not,is the nakago proper length for the tsuka?Is proper wood used for the tsuka?Is the ha done nicely or hugely beveled?Is this a true sanmai or just a laser etch?Is it truely dh or just frosted?If you say 3 weeks,does this mean Ill get ny sword 4 months later?
After rereading this post I can see where my my first comments could be sen as aggressive,not meant that way. Good luck
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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 15, 2012 17:28:34 GMT
well,...are they over priced if they actually are as presented in their ads?
a Katana with a lamination of 4 different types of steel in a single blade a silk wrapping....
if I had made such a sword I would ask about $5,000 for it....they are asking only 400 bucks....
So the price is relative...
HOWEVER, Im not going to get a sword any time soon for a while , and Im just kicking around ideas. So if you have an idea where to find a sword that matches the one in the ad?....from a different seller, or from a better source?...then im interested...
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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 15, 2012 17:33:56 GMT
I did a google search of "Ryans swords, SBG " (because we know the search engine here is poor)and I found a lot of posts and topics that people have posted here, and about all I have seen so far have had very nice things to say about getting their swords.
There were some issues I have read about with the crappy English of the seller that leads to problems.
Im looking to read a review of a sword like in the ad, or find a topic where someone ran into a big problem with a sword from them....
any suggestions for what to google search for in that?
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Apr 15, 2012 17:57:41 GMT
I remember Ryansword having very bad reputation in the past. And they haven't up their game. I personally have never bought from them and never will.
If they are offering a sanmai laminated blade fitted and shipped for 400$, my brain start to think there is something fishy going on. Even though the labour and materials in China are very cheap, when it sounds too good to be true, it probably is fishy...
One of the cheapest good laminated blades might be Ronin Elite, and probably the more reliable forges than Ryansword could offer you some lamination options at c. same price as Ronin... don't know just guessing.
However the more complex it goes more riskier it gets as corners will be cut at low-end prices (like I said in the other thread too). Therefore I would recommend Ronin as their quality control and customer service seems to be top notch.
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Post by Kumdoalan on Apr 15, 2012 18:02:11 GMT
at this time im looking for any source that says one way or the other that the sword in the ad with the many different tyoe of steel laminated into the blade is or is not true?
I have yet to bump into anyone on this forum that can point me to a place to find the answer.
I have written to the Ebay seller, and he has confirmed the ad in all ways.... It seems that the seller is 100% standing by the ad.
But I have yet to find another person that can back this up?
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