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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2012 21:17:08 GMT
Hi all,
Long time researcher and first time discusser. I'm looking for advice on the next step for my collection. I've been specialising for most of life in japanese katanas. As i'm still in my late 20s its fair to say i've been scammed before and now i have a fair share of SLOs as Paul would call it. I'm still new to real sword collecting and outside of a few entry level carbon steel musashi swords and one masahiro masakage that i have quite frankly beat the hell out of. I don't know where the next step is...I still love and admire the katana. and i've done some good hard research. I get the facts on different kinds of steel real hamon DH versus TH all of that...I guess what i'm getting at is I would like some educated well thought out suggestions on possible directions...I read in another section about maybe buying a blade for cheap and making contact with some of the respected members of the community...i.e. Frankthebunny and Ricky Chen for customizations??? As price point is unfortunately a factor. A factor as in just got out of my 2nd trip to college and newly married to a VERY froogal ER nurse who looks at my hobby as a delightful quirk she sometimes will indulge after i've subtly hinted at that "this will be a GREAT gift!". Yet I digress, any ways i'm looking for good educated advice on how to step up my collection from this point. Again my preferences are:
-Price point nothing crazier than 100-200 dollars -I'm a sucker for authenticity, examples: real rayskin tsuka, authentic hamon, and carbon steel -Functionality is HUGE!!!! I mean zombie apocalypse repeated beatings HUGE!!!!! -Possibility for customization. Any leads on respectable folks who could help should i wind up pouring the money into the blade and then slowly going from there
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Post by Elheru Aran on Aug 2, 2012 21:37:07 GMT
In this case I would point you towards ordering a Huawei or Sinosword katana in shirasaya; these typically run in the mid 200's or less, and they're fairly authentic in most areas. They lack niku for the most part, but this is not a *huge* issue. After it arrives, hang on to it for a little while, save up, and send it to Frank for customization, maybe Ricky for a sharpen/tune if you want; you could quite possibly ask Huawei to not sharpen the blade so Ricky can start from scratch to establish some niku. Just a couple thoughts, and welcome
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Post by tom555 on Aug 2, 2012 21:38:56 GMT
Ronin Katana sound like a good bet for you.
Strong tough blades Cheaper ones are $175 They look pretty sexy to me Good reputation and reviews
Chris - the owner - is a jolly nice chap.
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Post by Elheru Aran on Aug 2, 2012 21:44:27 GMT
Ah, forgot about Ronin! Excellent suggestion right there.
I will also recommend Kris Cutlery blades; some of the best out there, IIRC, if a little more expensive than your price range. Quite tough and highly suitable to customization.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2012 21:55:59 GMT
wow thanks a ton for the suggestions guys! i've got more research to do YAY!!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2012 21:59:07 GMT
p.s. how do i go about finding frank and ricky??? do they have sites???
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Post by Elheru Aran on Aug 2, 2012 22:10:33 GMT
Frank is right here on the forum, frankthebunny. Ricky is dadaochen. They have websites as well, at least Frank does; Ricky has his EBay branch but not sure what else he's got...
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 3, 2012 0:11:41 GMT
Ahoy Nuge. Welcome to SBG. Frankthebunny is an actual customizer, and can be found here: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=339Or here: cottontailcustoms.com/HomeHe also has a Facebook page, on which he will announce his deals and discounts, www.facebook.com/CottontailCustoms. Ricky Chen, aka Dadaochen is primarily a seller, and he also sharpens the items he sells. I'm not sure if he still sharpens piece that are not his, or that haven't been bought at the SBG Store and been tagged for his services. You can find his page here: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2659Or his site: I have a sword and a knife of his, and they are great. Two other customizers that bear perusal are SwordLord: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=158and Slav: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=364Both do phenomenal work at very reasonable prices. As for swords for under $200, I'd recommend a few. Ronin Katana. Very tough and well made. The blade is TH, thus has no hamon, but is super durable and has great fittings. Munetoshi. The house brand of Swordnarmory. The fittings on their sub-$200 swords aren't great, but they're adequate and the blades are good. They have several DH offerings, with the nicest probably being the Mokko and the Light Cutter. Hanwei. They have several offerings through their Practical Katana line for under $200. I'd recommend going through Kult of Athena to purchase. As mentioned above, there is also ebay vendors Sinosword and Hauwei. Both have offerings at under $200, and have seen a lot of positive reviews. Cheness. They have the 1060 TH Mokko katana, which is not pretty but is reported to be very tough and capable. Best had through the SBG Store or the Cheness site. Musashi. They have many models under $200. The 1060 Shirakawa line is decent, and I think they have their Elite line which features a folded steel blade. I'd not recommend any for heavy, dedicated cutting, but for a budget friendly tinker sword that looks okay and that can stand up to light to medium use you can't really beat Musashi. Swordnarmory and True Swords seem to have really good prices and selection. I hope this helps.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 3, 2012 3:32:08 GMT
Also forgot to mention that Swordnarmory has their new Jubei line. Dh, 1060 blades. Fit and finish seems similar to the Musashi Shirakawa series, but with a tougher blade. They run about $110 afters hipping. If you subscribe to Swordnarmory's free newsletter, they should also send you a coupon code to knock 10% off the price of any Jubei sword. I think that's only good until the 15th, though.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2012 3:48:58 GMT
wow that's cool thanks a ton adrian! I really will look into it! i'm still leaning towards finding a good blade in shirasaya and then tuning it from there. kind of bummed that ricky doesn't do individual pieces anymore. any leads on some people who also do good edgework?
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 3, 2012 4:20:19 GMT
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Post by zentesukenVII on Aug 3, 2012 20:25:00 GMT
check out Munetoshi swords. They are Swordnarmory's house brand. From what I hear, they are excellent swords for the price.
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Post by johnwalter on Aug 6, 2012 12:21:31 GMT
Hello and welocome to the forum. For waht you want at that price,go with Munetoshi.Of all the swords listed here in that price range,its what I would go with above all those others.The Jubei is a good cheap functional sword.I would prefer the mokko tho,its a good blade.The Light Cutter and the Matsu are also good.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2012 15:27:08 GMT
adrian thanks yet again! I'm really intrested in those shira saya you pointed out! The hua wei didn't list type of steel and the st nihonto shows 1095 in the description. could you point me to a good point to discuss this steel? I've only been studying the steel aspects of hand made swords for a short time and i'm wanting to make a decent decison on steel. 1060 1095 5160 9260 T-10? these are staples in my research so far. if you could point me in a possible direction i'd really appreceiate it
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 6, 2012 17:43:01 GMT
Well, the steel is actually secondary to the quality of the heat-treatment. For carbon steel, the higher the score(i.e. 1045, 1060, 1095,) the higher the hardness. But also, the higher you go, the less the toughness. So a 1045 will be fairly tough, but not super hard, thus less able to take and keep an edge. The 1095 will take a great edge, but will suffer damage more easily. Any steel within that range of 1045 to 1095 will make a good blade provided the heat-treatment is good.
I'm not sure what steel either of those guys are using, though both companies really like using T-10 and 1095 with their swords, so those are the likely culprits. I'd give them an email and ask, just to be certain.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2012 18:35:23 GMT
fair enough... main reason i ask is that for this project i REALLY want steel that is going to last for awhile. Due to the budget restriction it will be a while before i get another shot at it. so i want a generous degree of realiability, longevity, and functionality. Hence my intrest in T10 9260 and 5160 as well. Ive also been reading things in a post called what makes a great katana about blade geometry and edge rolling. according to what youve told me a good balance of flexibility and hardness the choice would be a 1060. which for price would be easy for me and included would be a very attractive real hamon which is an indicator of TH if memory serves. but the comments in this other post have really decreased the credibility of 1060 steel. so I'm getting more questions than answers. time for more research!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2012 18:56:40 GMT
but the comments in this other post have really decreased the credibility of 1060 steel. so I'm getting more questions than answers. time for more research!!!!
correction....i meant DH not TH
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Post by zentesukenVII on Aug 6, 2012 19:07:37 GMT
I promise you any hype about a certain type of steel being "better" than another is for the most part BS.
1045 steel is indeed more often softer than most other steel, but if the smith is skilled he can heat treat it to make it just as tough as any other sword.
1060 is good TH and DH to my knowledge. Most people like it because it is a good in-between for edge hardness and flexibility in TH. Again, this depends on the heat treat.
1095/T-10, in my opinion produces the nicest looking hamon out of all the other steels.
5160/9260 are good spring steels. My raptor is 5160, and my old O-katana is 9260. Both were exceptionally durable in my experience.
The steel really does not matter as much as the heat treat. They are all steel, and if they are made by reputable forges, they will be tough like a sword should be. I've owned many swords DH and TH, 1045 to 9260, they all have their strong and weak points. Some swords that were TH had better edge retention of some swords that were DH. It is all in the smith man.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 6, 2012 19:53:34 GMT
Well said. My Ronin Katana Dojo is in 1045, but has retained its edge almost as well as my Cheness Kaze, which is 9260. It has also resisted bending better than the Kaze. Mark Kaden Ridgeway put out a series of videos showing how far a Ronin, in both 1045 and 1060, will go before failure. The results were extremely impressive. This is because Ronin has an unbelievable heat-treatment.
Of the two swords I linked, Hauwei has a pretty decent track record as far as edge and temper. I've seen a few nice pieces reviewed from st-nihonto, but haven't seen any real comments on its edge or durability. The offerings being shown by these companies continues to see improvement, and confidence in them is growing.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2012 21:04:09 GMT
so now we're leaning toward DH and TH and specific forges? Interesting thoughts. I'm really on the verge of the huawei in shirasaya and going from there. my only insecurity is the single mekugi peg traditional yes...durable? not really sure...thoughts?
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