Marc Kaden Ridgeway
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Retired Global Moderator
Awful lot of leaving and joining going on here for me .... And gosh I can't recall doing a bit of i
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Post by Marc Kaden Ridgeway on Sept 26, 2012 13:48:25 GMT
Be my guess that maybe there was something wrong with your Dojo Pro.... maybe you should talk to Chris about it when he gets back from China on the 28th.
See I have done some stupid things with some Ronin kats... and never had one damage on bamboo...
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Sept 26, 2012 14:17:17 GMT
Marc your destructive tests are really amazing, one moment I'm thinking "No! don't do that!" but at the same time you teach people how tough a sword really can be.
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Marc Kaden Ridgeway
Member
Retired Global Moderator
Awful lot of leaving and joining going on here for me .... And gosh I can't recall doing a bit of i
Posts: 8,778
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Post by Marc Kaden Ridgeway on Sept 26, 2012 14:24:47 GMT
Thanks... You're right in the fact that people should do those things ... Lol
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Sept 26, 2012 15:21:13 GMT
I think I see a Freudian slip :lol:
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Marc Kaden Ridgeway
Member
Retired Global Moderator
Awful lot of leaving and joining going on here for me .... And gosh I can't recall doing a bit of i
Posts: 8,778
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Post by Marc Kaden Ridgeway on Sept 26, 2012 15:34:31 GMT
Lol ... Shouldn't ... Shouldn't ...
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Post by stickem on Sept 26, 2012 15:57:02 GMT
Marc ~
This was my first impression as well, in that these results may be atypical of Ronin in general.
BTW, I put a link to your destruction testing in the original review so folks could see other experiences with cutting.
I also put links to other Raptor experiences as best I could, so everyone could see the variability and similarity in the results folks get with these swords and have realistic expectations of their performance. Maybe John has a good video of his cutting with a Raptor, as I'm pretty sure I saw a thread where he had modified its handle... he obviously cuts much better than I do.
To be redundant, I like Ronin, and have bought 3 of 'em. This is the reason I had my buddy cut some stuff up too, so my personal bias towards Ronin over Raptor going in to the testing would not be an issue.
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Post by stickem on Sept 27, 2012 20:25:25 GMT
Since one of the observations made was mysterious browning near the habaki on the Raptor (which was not present when it arrived) here's an image of it for ya: again, sorry for the crummy pics. My camera isn't sophisticated. This is an example of how "outta the box" reviews may be colored a little by our anticipation of "Oh man! look what came in the mail today!!!"This is why in my review, the focus is on what happens after the initial period, so things like paint rubbing off the fittings through normal handling, and browning of the blade, and such can be mentioned. These things happen after the honeymoon period is over, an as shown by the linked threads, may be experience by owners of Raptors other than just myself. As always, your mileage will vary Attachments:
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Kuya
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Post by Kuya on Sept 27, 2012 22:42:54 GMT
Hmm... wasn't Aussie Rabbit having weird browning and rusting issues with his or her Raptor as well?
Anyway, as for your pictures, if you're having trouble focusing close in one area, don't get all up next to the sword. It's better to stand further away so your camera can focus in on the area and use the zoom feature. Only more expensive lenses and sensors can do up close "macro" focusing.
EDIT: It was ZentesukeVII that was having the weird orange/brown stuff issue with his Raptor as well. Might want to collaborate with him to find out what's going on with the Raptors.
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Post by stickem on Sept 28, 2012 14:46:42 GMT
Kuya~
Thanks for advice on pics. Will try your suggestions.
The thread on the discoloration near the habaki on Raptors is linked in the review. I have been following it to see if a solution is found.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Oct 1, 2012 15:15:14 GMT
[/attachment] again, sorry for the crummy pics. My camera isn't sophisticated. This is an example of how "outta the box" reviews may be colored a little by our anticipation of "Oh man! look what came in the mail today!!!"This is why in my review, the focus is on what happens after the initial period, so things like paint rubbing off the fittings through normal handling, and browning of the blade, and such can be mentioned. These things happen after the honeymoon period is over, an as shown by the linked threads, may be experience by owners of Raptors other than just myself. As always, your mileage will vary [/quote] This is going to sound strange..... does your saya smell "funny" like chemicals ?
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Post by stickem on Oct 1, 2012 15:57:54 GMT
Not a funny question at all. Thing is, my Raptor saya has been modified with a koiguchi which has a bit of epoxy to keep in place, so not sure I can give you an objective answer any longer about how it smells/used to smell...
I do remember that the inside of the saya mouth was discolored black with what looked like mold. I cleaned it with peroxide and isopropol alcohol, and the staining was lessened, but not completely removed.
Thing is, the rust on the blade didn't appear until recently. So the discolored blade is a recent thing after a few months of storage, not something the blade showed when it arrived.
When I wipe the blade, I get yellow on the paper towel, almost as if it is the brass from the habaki doing something rather than dark red or black like rust can be. The paper towel basically looks like one used to clean up dog urine (unfortunately, my beagle, Pedro, made me more than familiar with this coloration :lol: ) It's brownish on the blade, but yellow on the cloth in other words...
I wonder if the finish from the habaki rubs off on the inside of the saya, and then somehow makes its way down to the blade. :?
Dunno that I have a good explanation for the phenomenon, but the observation everyone seems to make about their discoloration occurring on the blade near the habaki can't be a coincidence...
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Post by stickem on Jun 7, 2013 0:00:28 GMT
Here's an update on the Hanwei Raptor in this review: I decided to change out all the fittings on this sword because I love the blade... When I stripped everything down, this is what was lies beneath: As you can see, the tsuka has a crack in it which starts where the fuchi sits and runs down the channel where the samegawa sits. Sorry about the crazy lighting, but it was the best way to highlight the crack :roll: Not sure yet whether to glue the crack and whittle the tsuka down or carve a new tsuka from scratch. Thoughts? Attachments:
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Post by frankthebunny on Jun 7, 2013 1:08:58 GMT
I'd give my opinion if I could see the crack but it's not visible to me in this pic
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Post by C.J. on Jun 7, 2013 2:25:54 GMT
I think it's right at the top of the picture.
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Post by stickem on Jun 7, 2013 10:48:37 GMT
Circled it in pencil and added another pic. Please forgive my crummy camera skills. The place it is split is pretty close to where they joined the two halves of the tsuka on the mune side.It runs approximately 1 1/2" and lies in the corner of where the channel was dug out for the samegawa panel. Hopefully it is visible here: It goes all the way through the tsuka wall, as I can make out the line when eyeballing the inside of the nakago-ana.. This is too difficult to capture with a camera from the inside of the hole. Not sure if this split was present when the Raptor was first received from KoA or whether it is the result of cutting. Remember, this piece was a scratch'n'dent which had a split in the saya at the koiguchi too... I have used it to go through lots of green bamboo up to 3" diameter, which is rock hard... harder than most because it is a pretty mature grove Attachments:
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Post by stickem on Jun 8, 2013 12:14:43 GMT
OK update... I pried the crack wide with a really sharp chisel and stuffed as much Titebond as I could into it with a little bamboo spatula. Then clamped it overnight.
Looks good but my concern is since this is my main cutter for hard targets, it may not hold up to the stress.The ocean was nice enough to wash a full piece of samegawa on to the shore with a nice emperor's node...
So the question is will doing a full wrap with marine epoxy fix the structural integrity issue... dunno? :?
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