Hello, my name is Kuya.
Jul 1, 2012 16:05:13 GMT
Post by Kuya on Jul 1, 2012 16:05:13 GMT
WARNING: This is a "story of how I got to SBG" post... it's long. Skip to the TL;DR at the end for the important stuff.
I didn't see this part of the forum until browsing using the "view new posts" option once my account got activated. This probably should have been my first post. I've been lurking for several months, researching and trying to learn about swords before spending several hundred dollars on them. I know, for some $200-500 swords aren't a big thing, but for someone of my income level... it's quite an investment. I found this forum and its members very helpful in my decision making and information/knowledge gathering. I eventually joined out of necessity to ask a question on a small repair, and I guess now that I have, I'll be doing my best to be part of the community that's aided me over the past few months. I live in Solano County, Northern California, and if anyone is willing to meet up for a meal and to chat IRL, I'm "down with that." It's always good to meet new people, and I'd like to continue learning new things about swords.
OK, so enough of the personal stuff and into the swords I own. My first sword was some stainless steel Bud K sword. I bought it when I was young, and purely for aesthetics and horsing around ("'Cuz ninja swords are cool!"). I'm older and wiser now. I'm glad that I never got hurt or hurt anyone with it. I was always taught to be careful with weapons by my father... but still, I know after learning about swords recently, that swinging something that was made of that kind of steel and those poor fittings around as I was was dangerous.
My second sword was a Zatoichi Sword given to me by an old girlfriend. I really used to like swords without hand guards, because they looked more elegant and flowing to me. I'm not smarter and know that hand guards are on functional swords for a reason. I still have it, but it's gotten some rust on it, due to me being ignorant in sword care. My first sword never rusted... so I didn't know that I actually had to do more than wipe it down with Wndex to maintain my second one.
My first "real" sword is a Dynasty Forge O-Katana. It's coming in the mail as of this posting. I bought it a week ago (on a Friday... go figure), and Dynasty Forge shipped it out this Friday (3-5 Business Days, should always be considered as "a week," I've learned in online shopping). I chose this, because I wanted a big sword to look at and have.. because "Sephiroth is cool." I know... it's dumb, but there's just something about a long Katana without a funky looking super long handle that I like. I was going to get the ridiculous Musasih 66" one from True Swords, but that sword was gone and discontinued by the time I saved the money up, and I can't find the Cold Steel O Katana anywhere (I e-mailed every seller on Amazon that said it was "in stock," and got a reply that it wasn't every time. I also used Google to find other sword retailers, and they didn't have any either.) The Cheness one looked really cheap, and I didn't want a brown handle wrap for my "pretty look at me" sword. SBG and SFI gave good testimonials about Dynasty Forge, so I went with theirs in the end over the other "big Katanas" you see out there from less known/reputable brands.
I bought my second real sword, a Cheness SGC Katana, the day after placing the order for the Dynasty Forge O Katana. This was mostly due to the fact that I wanted to do all the fun things I've seen other members do on the forums with cutting things, and I didn't want to mess up my "pretty sword." SBG's official review and the others gave the Cheness SGC Katana high marks, so I bought it. I'm mostly happy with it, but... I don't know how people can complain about Cold Steel swords being heavy and "swinging like a crowbar," when this "five star" SGC Katana is only a little more balanced toward the hand guard and just as heavy.
So yeah, that's how I got to where I am now. If you made it this far, thanks for taking so much of your time to learn about me, and I hope that I can be a decent and contributing member to the community.
TL;DR - Hi, I'm Kuya. I live in Northern California, if anyone ever wants to get a forum meet going, let's do it! I own a Dynasty Forge O Katana, and a Cheness SGC Katana.
I didn't see this part of the forum until browsing using the "view new posts" option once my account got activated. This probably should have been my first post. I've been lurking for several months, researching and trying to learn about swords before spending several hundred dollars on them. I know, for some $200-500 swords aren't a big thing, but for someone of my income level... it's quite an investment. I found this forum and its members very helpful in my decision making and information/knowledge gathering. I eventually joined out of necessity to ask a question on a small repair, and I guess now that I have, I'll be doing my best to be part of the community that's aided me over the past few months. I live in Solano County, Northern California, and if anyone is willing to meet up for a meal and to chat IRL, I'm "down with that." It's always good to meet new people, and I'd like to continue learning new things about swords.
OK, so enough of the personal stuff and into the swords I own. My first sword was some stainless steel Bud K sword. I bought it when I was young, and purely for aesthetics and horsing around ("'Cuz ninja swords are cool!"). I'm older and wiser now. I'm glad that I never got hurt or hurt anyone with it. I was always taught to be careful with weapons by my father... but still, I know after learning about swords recently, that swinging something that was made of that kind of steel and those poor fittings around as I was was dangerous.
My second sword was a Zatoichi Sword given to me by an old girlfriend. I really used to like swords without hand guards, because they looked more elegant and flowing to me. I'm not smarter and know that hand guards are on functional swords for a reason. I still have it, but it's gotten some rust on it, due to me being ignorant in sword care. My first sword never rusted... so I didn't know that I actually had to do more than wipe it down with Wndex to maintain my second one.
My first "real" sword is a Dynasty Forge O-Katana. It's coming in the mail as of this posting. I bought it a week ago (on a Friday... go figure), and Dynasty Forge shipped it out this Friday (3-5 Business Days, should always be considered as "a week," I've learned in online shopping). I chose this, because I wanted a big sword to look at and have.. because "Sephiroth is cool." I know... it's dumb, but there's just something about a long Katana without a funky looking super long handle that I like. I was going to get the ridiculous Musasih 66" one from True Swords, but that sword was gone and discontinued by the time I saved the money up, and I can't find the Cold Steel O Katana anywhere (I e-mailed every seller on Amazon that said it was "in stock," and got a reply that it wasn't every time. I also used Google to find other sword retailers, and they didn't have any either.) The Cheness one looked really cheap, and I didn't want a brown handle wrap for my "pretty look at me" sword. SBG and SFI gave good testimonials about Dynasty Forge, so I went with theirs in the end over the other "big Katanas" you see out there from less known/reputable brands.
I bought my second real sword, a Cheness SGC Katana, the day after placing the order for the Dynasty Forge O Katana. This was mostly due to the fact that I wanted to do all the fun things I've seen other members do on the forums with cutting things, and I didn't want to mess up my "pretty sword." SBG's official review and the others gave the Cheness SGC Katana high marks, so I bought it. I'm mostly happy with it, but... I don't know how people can complain about Cold Steel swords being heavy and "swinging like a crowbar," when this "five star" SGC Katana is only a little more balanced toward the hand guard and just as heavy.
So yeah, that's how I got to where I am now. If you made it this far, thanks for taking so much of your time to learn about me, and I hope that I can be a decent and contributing member to the community.
TL;DR - Hi, I'm Kuya. I live in Northern California, if anyone ever wants to get a forum meet going, let's do it! I own a Dynasty Forge O Katana, and a Cheness SGC Katana.
Use a light coat of choji, mineral oil, gun oil, machine oil, etc. on a soft cloth. Yes, a real sword will rust as the steel has a high carbon content to keep that sharp edge. If a steel is impervious to rust (ie, like stainless steel), it won't make a good sword. However, you should be able to polish out the rust on your Zatoichi sword. You can try some metal polish like Mothers, or put some oil (the types mentioned above) on some ultra-fine grit sandpaper (ie, like 1000 or 2000 grit), and polish it out with that.
Perhaps an odachi could puncture through the side of a car though... lol.
