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Post by Springs on Aug 23, 2012 21:21:47 GMT
Hey everyone, long time lurker here. Finally signed up so I can finally post things. Only started collecting swords not even a year ago, got only 2 so far (a cheaper "samurai special" Musashi and a no bo-hi Speckled Burgundy Musashi), but looking to expand the collection with something a bit higher end. So, in an extremely rare move, my brother is willing to get me something for my birthday in October. I usually get myself things because I feel like I'm asking too much when someone else buys me stuff, but I'll take it this time. Anyway, since I'm posting here, it clearly means I plan to get a sword of some kind. My budget is about $300, slightly more maybe (about $20-$30). The current ones I'm looking at (in order of interest): SBG custom katana: I've always been quite intrigued by this one, seems like a great blade and the customization is a huge plus for me. Downsides that I know of are the wait time, which is around 90 days, give or take. Cheness 9260 Kaze katana (or any other from the same line on the SBG sword store): I kind of found this one after reading some reviews and lurking a bit, but definitely interesting. Downside would be relatively plain fittings, there could be more but I don't really know. Darksword Armory's Anduril: Would be my first Non Asian sword, and I love the LOTR series. I heard they upgraded them not too long ago too. Downsides would be that I'm short (about 5"5), and the sword is big and heavy. Those are the 3 I'm currently looking at right now, I'm sort of leaning towards the SBG custom katana but I'm open to suggestions and opinions. The sword will be displayed, and occasional cutting/dry handling/photography. Living in a New York apartment doesn't leave much room for chopping things up, unfortunately . I'm also more of a no bo-hi kind of guy. There's something about a blade with a bo-hi that I don't really like.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 23, 2012 21:38:07 GMT
Hey, welcome to registed-memberdom! I'd say to go for the SBG from the three you mentioned. I have a Kaze, and I love it, but Cheness has a few flaws that they refuse to address. The fittings are thin and not very attractive(though I do love the tsuba) and the blades often display uneven polishes, grind marks on the spine and somewhat sloppily polished kissakis. None of these really affect its functionality, but are annoying in a $300 sword. The hamon is very attractive, though, and the fit between all the parts on mine is the best of all my swords. Another great option is a company like Huawei. You can customize it to your liking and they have a lot of options under $300. www.ebay.com/sch/huawei-sword/m.htmlAlong that line is also st-nihonto and Sinoswords. stores.ebay.com/st-nihontowww.sinosword.com/Kris Cutlery also makes fantastic swords. They look a bit plain, but are great platforms for personal customization. www.kriscutlery.com/Lastly, if you are not set on a sword with hamon, there is Ronin Katana. Their Dojo Pro katanas are great. Well made, traditional fittings and a great blade. www.roninkatana.com/sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/ronin.htmlThere are a bunch more options, but those are good starters.
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Post by Don Boogie on Aug 23, 2012 22:22:32 GMT
And the kaze katana should be also a fine option,i believe many members here at the SBG have him in their collection www.sword-buyers-guide.com/kaze- ... eview.html tough i do not own one,wish i had bought that one before i bought my musashi 1045 katana.
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Post by Springs on Aug 23, 2012 22:46:21 GMT
Hmmm, Huawei definitely looks interesting, although how do you pick a tsuba and stuff? Do you just send them a message after ordering? Also, there's so many I don't know which to pick. A while back I was going to get a Ronin Dojo Pro, although the hamon look has started to grow on me, so a hamon is a plus for me (although I know that monosteel blades can be excellent). Sinosword is interesting too, although the ordering process is a little different. I also don't know their prices, wouldn't want to empty out my brother's wallet, lol. (although a little digging shows that you can access their old site, which seems a little easier to navigate). Currently it's between the Kaze katana and the SBG custom in my head, although huawei and sinosword I'm also looking into. My other option would be to save up, get both...but that's a lot of money
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Post by Don Boogie on Aug 23, 2012 23:06:23 GMT
Springs,the Ronin Dojo Pro serie's dont have a Hamon,only their Elite line have one and are DH,tough they are around 800 dollar.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 24, 2012 0:18:43 GMT
The SBG and the Kaze are both good swords. As I mentioned, the SBG seems to have better fit and finish than the Kaze, but the wait will be longer.
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Post by Springs on Aug 24, 2012 3:04:46 GMT
Right now I'm definitely leaning towards the SBG, but I'm also looking at Huawei now. I'm curious about 2 things - how does one go about choosing the tsuba/ito from them? Do you just buy the sword and then send them a message about it? (or vice versa). Also how trustworthy would you guys say they are? I did some googling and it seems like they've had some mishaps here and there, although not a lot. The current ones I'm looking at from Huawei are: www.ebay.com/itm/FUNCTIONAL-UNOK ... 105wt_1397 (this one has an odd bo-hi, it seems to stop shortly before midway. Also, Hishigami?) and: www.ebay.com/itm/FUNCTIONAL-LIVE ... 652wt_1397 (with a different ito wrap color). Although it might change, if they add more/remove katanas in the next 2 months.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 24, 2012 3:24:41 GMT
The bo-hi ends early because or the extended false edge characteristic of that blade shape. I believe that you can leave a message for Jacky, who runs that outlet, via the ebay account. He will respond and you can go from there.
They sometimes do semprini up custom orders, mostly when the customization runs into minute details like blade shape, geometry, hamon style, ect. If they don't have a part you wanted they may substitute without consulting you, and the same applies to hamon. If they can't do the style requested they've been known to use one of their standard ones. These things are true of most all vendors that offer such extensive customization for under $300, though. You're much more likely to get what you wanted if you do partial customization, like changing wrap and saya color, full/partial samegawa wrap and other minor changes.
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Post by Springs on Aug 24, 2012 4:54:35 GMT
Yeah as far as customization goes I'll do mostly minor stuff like changing some colors here and there, different tsuba, etc. Probably something brown and Earthy. Which is probably what I'll end up making the SBG custom into, if I go with it. Also, that blade shape (Unokubi Zukuri, I think?) is probably the oddest I've ever seen. Is there any benefit to this shape? And just for kicks, Musashi seems to have made a honsanmai laminated blade for around the $300-350 range, sold out at most larger sword sites but can still be found at some lesser known ones, like: www.samuraisupply.com/store-prod ... 25550.html (they have some very nice photos of it). I feel like a crazy person looking at so many different swords at once, haha. Deciding is probably the hardest part.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 24, 2012 5:10:28 GMT
I love browns and greens, I think they look great on swords.
No real benefits that I'm aware of. The blades tend to be lighter, but that's about it.
Musashi gives a lot of value for what you buy. I've not seen a lot about their higher-end blades, though.
Honestly, more complex laminations are pretty useless when used on todays steels. Those methods were created to bolster the performance of what were somewhat inferior steels, using their metallurgical genius to make bad into good and good into great. A lot of modern monosteel swords perform as good or better than many antique ones. Generally, you are paying for the bragging rights with modern laminated blades, though that is not always the case. Also bear in mind, for $350 you are not getting a piece made by an accredited master-smith, who are the only ones really qualified to make such pieces. Lamination in low-cost swords opens up huge possibilities for flaws in the forging and steel, so be wary of that. Jeez, I didn't mean for this to turn into a long, windy near-rant, but I guess it did, hahaha. Sorry, I just want you to be aware of possible dangers.
Man, I look at many, many swords a day. Deciding is the hard part, but also one of the funnest.
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Kuya
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Post by Kuya on Aug 24, 2012 11:20:13 GMT
For Hua Wei, just do "ask seller a question," and tell them which tsuba, ito, saya, and samegawa you want, and they'll confirm it. After it's confirmed, you can buy it and just put the options you want in the "notes to seller" section to remind them who you are and what you want. If you don't like the fittings Hua Wei has on their auction sites, you can also source ST-Nihonto's store which has different options, and most likely the same quality of blade (I've read from other people's reviews and comments, that both are pretty much the same in quality). You can even go with our local forum member's favorite Swordsmith668 (just Google it and it will link you their eBay store as well), which also has a few different fittings. In the end, all three of them are probably sourcing their fittings from Artsfeng and Sinosword, but at least you can pick out themes that you like! IF you are looking to get a sword with a bo-hi groove, the only choice is Hua Wei. They are the only of the custom companies that actually end their bo-hi grooves in a proper sharp slope/slant, and not the ugly rounded "fade-out" style. If you don't want a bo-hi, just go with whoever makes the sword with the fittings you want.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Aug 24, 2012 12:39:11 GMT
I really like the Kaze... great blade (flawless on mine, even the kissaki ain't bad) but as mentioned you'd do well to replace the fittings. Quite plain.
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Post by Springs on Aug 24, 2012 12:48:08 GMT
adrian.jordan: it's no problem at all, I didn't know that lamination didn't improve the blade with modern steel, I thought it was just the folding that was only aesthetic, haha. Kuya: Hmmm ST-Nihonto has some interesting swords up, will definitely take a look after work today. Lukas MG (chenessfan): Yeah, I wish sword parts were cheaper, everywhere I go tsubas alone are tons of money. As of now SBG and Huawei are in my sights, although there's a possibility I might get both...who knows
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Kuya
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Post by Kuya on Aug 24, 2012 13:52:41 GMT
SBG takes a long time, you may as well get two Hua Wei swords. They'll do everything the SBG Customwill do, and you won't have to wait.
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Post by Springs on Aug 25, 2012 2:12:50 GMT
Thanks for all the help everyone! I think I'm going to get myself a Huawei, and have my brother get me an SBG. Best of both worlds, eh?
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 25, 2012 2:25:33 GMT
Sounds like a plan, hahaha.
Think he'd get me one too?
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Post by Springs on Oct 2, 2012 3:25:32 GMT
Alright I've done even more browsing as of late (SBG customs next batch is coming fast!), and I've come back with more questions, and some curious new swords I've found. I'm still going for the SBG custom, although if I were to get a second one I'm not sure if it's going to be a Huawei anymore. The first one I'm extremely curious about is this from st-nihonto (or st-sword): www.ebay.com/itm/battle-ready-cl ... 4ab96ce6dd Seems like its a T10/titanium blade (according to the category it's placed in), with the tungsten "absorb"....whatever that means. I love the appearance of the blade, and is the main reason I'm curious about it. Also would this affect the blade in any positive/negative way? I was also wondering if Huawei/St-nihonto/Hanbon do specific blades for custom orders? Say I want a T10 folded blade with choji hamon, shinogi zukuri geometry, specific saya, etc. Would they charge extra because I'm ordering something very specific (which they probably don't have already pre-made)? And, just for kicks, since I'm going to New York Comic Con in 2 weeks, I noticed there's going to be a vendor called Dragonsong Forge. Did some research, heard some things about the owner being very...blunt and straightforward. Nothing much about their blades. Some video interviews with the man himself say that the swords are laminated, although no specific steel is mentioned. At conventions, his swords go for 270 ish at the lowest end, and they do custom fitting choices on the spot. Also a sharpness demo with them basically skinning business cards. There is also supposedly an SBG review but the link is gone. Anyone got any information on these guys? Experience, maybe? (their website is completely useless). I'm also considering a Ronin Dojo pro simply because I hear it's rather forgiving for the more inexperienced cutters.
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Kuya
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Post by Kuya on Oct 2, 2012 4:18:23 GMT
I bought that ST-Nihonto. It looks great, and the "flash for the buck" factor is over 9,000. The coating and colors will rub off with lots of cutting and polishing over time, though. I'll be posting my review of it within the next few days.
Hua Wei charges around $50 extra for differential hardening, according to another member who sold his Hua Wei. Folded will cost more as well. They can do all sorts of stuff if you want to custom order it.
I changed practically everything not blade related on the ST-Nihonto and Hanbon swords I bought for comparison, and was not charged anything extra. I just picked the blade style and features I wanted, then I had them change the color of the samegawa, ito, saya within the choices they had amongst all their auctions, then had them change the tsuba, fuchi, kashira, and menuki as well. No extra charges.
The only times I would expect them to charge is if you switch from one of their "low end" fittings (the plain black ones, like the "musashi rings in black") to the more ornate brass gold/silver plated ones, as well as going from their normal painted sayas to their "hualee/rosewood/wengewood" and ratan/samegawa wrapped sayas.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Oct 2, 2012 4:38:16 GMT
St-nihonto seems to be racking up a pretty good record. Not the best, but good for the money. If I had to choose between an St sword and a Huawei, I'd probably go with the Huawei personally. I just like the look of their swords more. But, like I said, St seems to be doing things right.
As for Dragonsong, I've only had contact with one person who had one. He got it at a RenFaire or convention, and actually paid less than the website price. He liked it well enough. I don't think that they are comparable to an SBG Custom, though. Not much of a pedigree, really, so I cannot give any meaningful advice on it.
Make sure and shout your end decision from the rooftops, though. I look forward to seeing what you get.
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Kuya
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Post by Kuya on Oct 2, 2012 6:18:44 GMT
Hua Wei has a better photographer.
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