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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 24, 2012 4:10:02 GMT
Oh yea...my bad didn't pay attention xD. And is there really no other good cheap jian maker? I thought sinosword can get you a pretty decent jian fora good price?
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Post by willhart on Oct 24, 2012 19:44:13 GMT
I'm not sure what their cheapest price for their Jians are. I've spoken to someone who bought one of their basic fitting Jians, but they got Folden Sanmai lamination which bumped the price up closer to $300. I would love to know of a Jian maker that sells well balanced Jians for under $200.
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 24, 2012 21:05:39 GMT
I'm going to put my money on sinosword. As long as you specify your price range they'll get you one asclose to that as possible
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 24, 2012 22:59:38 GMT
I've just spent a couple hours cruising through the e-Bay katana listings and have seen a lot of offerings from Swordmaker668 & Smith 668. At first glance they look a bit too good to be true. But apparently they have a good reputation on e-Bay (100% positive feedback since April 2011) I have a tendency to trust most of what I read here in this forum (even though I'm a complete noob & have zero experience with Katanas. I have only recently become somewhat obsessed with medieval Japanese history & culture... so, of course I just "gotta have" a real katana. So... are these/is this seller offering decent stuff? I would value your opinion.  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2012 23:02:58 GMT
St-Nihonto has an even better reputation than Swordmaker668 so you might want to check out their listings.
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 24, 2012 23:24:53 GMT
So then... what does this look like to you guys... the real deal of a scam? Brass & Silver fittings, folded blade, hamon... seems like you get a lot for the $102 Buy it now price... oh, and free shipping.   Bladesmith： 吉久 Inscription: 吉久正一 Products： 2010 newly design for swords Folded steel material blade, folded forged, thousands layer forged, clearly layers hamon. Traditional Sanmai making way. We believe: it will rebuild your conception of swords and katana. Blade: Folded steel. Japanese traditional hand folded，Sanmai craft,folded 2048 layer. Hamon: Distinct hamon. 100% hand polish; Hi(Blood groove): Long Hi on each side; Tsuka(Handle)：Genuine Rayskin wrapped with Japanese cotton Ito with Menuki(ornament); Saya: Black saya,japanese black sageo. Tang: Full tang.Nakago carved the Mei of the maker.and forged time. Guard(Tsuba):Iron Other Fittings: Brass+Silver; Condition: Brand new & can be fully disassembled and assembled; Blade Length(with Habaki): 72cm Blade Length (without Habaki): 70cm Handle Length: 26.5cm Overall Length: 103.5cm Sword Weight(with Saya): 1,230g Sword Weight(without Saya): 845g The point being that I would like to get something decent, that will cut... maybe trim the cat tails in my pond. Defend my honor when insulted by rude frogs? But having just started collecting social security, I'd like for my first katana purchase to be inexpensive, if that's realistic. OK... I'm cheap & my wife will kill me if I spend too much money on this until she's sure it's something I want. I already have fly rods that cost more than my car. I can see that this katana thing could be a spendy hobby if I let it get outta hand. Best to start slow? |
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 24, 2012 23:27:08 GMT
I bought St and Swordmaker. I like them both equally, though swordmaker does have free shipping and a sharper out of the box edge, and a tad more tsuba customization. But St got some what of a better blade in my opinion. If you can't decide tho...go huawei
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 24, 2012 23:28:47 GMT
I've seen those around, from shirly sword right? They look decent, but i think they're attached to ryansword. Maybe try out one of their cheaper blade unless 100 is cheap for you, then feel free to try it out and do a quick review.
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 24, 2012 23:33:48 GMT
The 4 big names that you could surely get a fairly decent katanas from are st-nihonto, sinosword, huawei, and swordmaker/smith668. You could also go with zhisword/buyiato.com.
When I first got my very first katana , I actually put down for a cheness only cause those things are beastly durable and I know that that first katana would be going through alot.
Anyway, if it's your first I do suggest, if you're going the custom ebay route, to go with those 5. They'll all give you a decent blade, though swordmaker would be cheapest because of his free shipping, while huawei would have someof the most drool worthy blades.
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 24, 2012 23:35:19 GMT
Who or what is "shirly sword? I know RyanSword has a less than stellar reputation here in this forum... so I just want to make sure I don't flush money down the swirly.
By the way... it's nice to get such quick feedback to my OP.
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 24, 2012 23:38:05 GMT
I'll give them a quick look... and then I'll get back and ask more questions. Sorry for the utter "noob-ness" but I'm sure you know how it goes.
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 24, 2012 23:55:05 GMT
HuaWei blades certainly are drool worthy... very nice looking swords but now we're up there in Cheness territory and I'm tryin' to get away cheap the first time out.  I'm wondering if they sell their tsubas separately.   |
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 25, 2012 0:25:42 GMT
Shirly sword, I think is one of ryansword other account
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 25, 2012 0:28:12 GMT
Huawei swords are really good and they are only around the 100 price mark
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 25, 2012 2:14:35 GMT
I certainly appreciate all the great advice. I've now looked at so many sword web sites and e-Bay sales offers my head is spinning. My initial thought was to just buy something that looked OK from Mushashi or Hanwei or Cheness.... but it seriously looks like I could get a decent starter katana from Swordmaker/Smith668, which with free shipping and all seems like a reasonable purchase.
Yeah, I know it's still $100 but that's less than the price of 2 bottles of decent single malt scotch or a box of nice cigars. So I guess now my question is what do you all think of the swords offered by Smith668 that are right around $100.
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 25, 2012 2:22:38 GMT
For him, I would go with a 130 ish katana. Much nicer
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 25, 2012 2:35:04 GMT
OK... I could go $130. But spend $130 with who? Any particular suggestions would be appreciated.
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 25, 2012 2:45:25 GMT
130 with swordmaker, it'll get you a folded steel sword that the other 2 don't offer at that price point fiwth free shipping and handling ( www.ebay.com/itm/41-HIGH-QUALITY ... 19d0d95080). The other 2, round 100-110 should be good. |
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Post by OttoVonFaart on Oct 25, 2012 2:59:36 GMT
That is a nice sword... but the price is $145. Is folded carbon steel as good as or superior to non-folded/welded mono-steel? I have been under the impression that the folding of a mono-steel blade is essentially cosmetic. Though it does look nice. Would you depend on a folded steel blade to defend your virtue if you're attacked by rampaging zombies or defrocked Catholic priests?
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Post by kingrikoraru on Oct 25, 2012 3:15:06 GMT
Folded steel would hold a much better edge and is cosmetically superior. However, if you're going with mono-steel, 9260 spring steel from any of these forges would make it a very durable beater. Not as sharp, but less prone to chipping and more durable.
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Nov 1, 2024 0:13:58 GMT
Nov 1, 2024 0:13:58 GMT
