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Post by Rob Dorsey on Oct 30, 2012 18:47:12 GMT
Hi Y'all,
Just purchased a HauWei katana with shinogi zukuri constuction, clay tempered with a big gunome hamon pattern. The nioi is very bright and prominent and the polish is quite bright, maybe too bright for my taste, but a little Nugui paste with maybe a wee hint of FeO or CrO just for flavor.
It is said to be made from T10 but most important to me is that the blade contour is 0 entry angle, that is, no second bevel. Sweet. I've never worked with T10 afore but, I say, what the hey. Sword is one big, long learning experience so, like, what the hey?
Also my first sword from HauWei so this is a very diverse buy in. I love katana with deep sori even more than I love Tanto with little or no sori (the more sori, the harder it is to reach your aorta in sepeku so, the longer the fun lasts...for everybody else.) but waki and katana, the more sori the better. The reason is, cutting efficiency. You know that "reach out and make the circle" cut motion Sensei preaches? Well the increased sori almost does it for you. The curve of the blade naturally makes it slice as opposed to chopping in the cut. This slicing motion works on bone and tough tendons as well as dense flesh. A good sharp kat with sufficient sori can, if you know what you are doing and are presented with an opportunity for a good open men cut, require you to pull your sword out of his mouth. Again, sweet.
So, anybody got one of these? Any comments on HauWei, Jacky or T10?
Reason for all of this, and the reason for the placement of the thread Mods, is that I intend to write a review after getting and evaluating the sword.
Strength & Honor, Rob
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Post by William Swiger on Oct 30, 2012 19:30:06 GMT
Ordered 2 with different fittings but gifted one awhile back. Had no problems with the order.
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Post by Chinook Kaze on Oct 30, 2012 21:32:55 GMT
I have a Hua Wei T10 bladed Katana. Mine is in Unokubi Zukuri sugata. The polish is quite bright, mirror finish throughout. I am very imperessed with the overall attention to detail for the price. The blade is very well crafted, diamond geometry at the Mune side of the Kissaki, vibrant Midare Hamon. The Ha is working sharp, as it should be. The 1/3 length Hi is well finished and properly terminated at both ends. The fit at the Habaki is good. The Ito is in Hinerimaki, tight and even diamonds with good terminating knots on both the Ura and Omote sides of the Tsuka. The Fuchi/Koshira are well fitted and of good quality for the price. I am very pleased with mine. I received mine within about a week of ordering it.
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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
Posts: 8,778
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Post by Marc Kaden Ridgeway on Oct 30, 2012 23:52:08 GMT
I have a folded Kanmuri Otoshi Huawei. While not as nice as many swords I have, the level of quality for the price is pretty impressive. Mine is very sharp , and pretty well done.
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Post by Rob Dorsey on Oct 31, 2012 1:12:35 GMT
The sword sellers are missing a sure bet. They should offer a purchase package for experienced sword buyers/owners. It would require only a small financial concession but could yield some valuable loyalty and free advertising in the form of forum discussions and product reviews.
For me, I need another damned Blade Care Kit like another bad habit. I figger I could lash enough empty choji oil bottles together to make a darned nice fishing raft.
Rob
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Oct 31, 2012 11:08:35 GMT
T10 (Tool Steel) is a Tungsten alloy steel with a very high carbon content (around 0.9 to 1.0%) with a little bit of silicon (around .35% maximum) to aid in flexibility, there is a video of Paul using a T10 as a brushcutter, axe and to make pretty indentations in a 44 gal. drum - "Kids, don't do this at home"
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Kuya
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Post by Kuya on Oct 31, 2012 12:51:47 GMT
There have been posts and discussions about the "T10" used by most Chinese forges not being made with Tungsten. It's still "tool steel," though, just no actual Tungsten. Link to quick thread.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Oct 31, 2012 15:09:24 GMT
Without the tungsten it's really just high carbon -
"The composition according to the article: C = 1% Si = .32% Mn= .36 P = .031 S = .029"
There is not enough silicon or manganese to make spring steel either, so you are left with "plain" HSS - with additions, looking at the video it's still tough steel but like a drill bit any sideways flex and it would break.
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Post by Rob Dorsey on Oct 31, 2012 16:11:57 GMT
Well, there's a YouTube vid of a HauWei katana being bent to darned near 90 deg four times with significant hestitations at the max bend point. The thing returns to dead straight. I mean it, dead f'ing straight. I find that remarkable regardless of material.
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Post by hongkongtaipan on Oct 31, 2012 19:02:29 GMT
I have 6 Huawei swords, one of which is the Shinogi Zukuri 1.5" sori model. I've always been happy with the swords and with Jacky. Here are some pictures of mine. The only complaint I had is that the picture on eBay was the same as William Swiger's picture, and the sword came with a much darker wenge wood. In the sunlight, it looks pretty good. All of my Huawei swords are paper cutting sharp, scarily so. By the way, I ditched the shoelace sageo in favor of a real sageo that color coordinates with the saya.
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Post by Bushido on Oct 31, 2012 19:22:18 GMT
That's not their T10 DH kats though, those are the 9260 Spring temper kats. Spring tempered steel has a remarkable ability to flex back to true, which is very cool in its own right. But it doesn't apply to all of their katana.
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Post by Rob Dorsey on Oct 31, 2012 20:51:10 GMT
I see, but what about edge holding? Can the spring tempered T10 hold a true razor edge through light-medium use?
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Post by Chinook Kaze on Oct 31, 2012 20:54:10 GMT
T10 being a tool steel tends to hold an edge very well with normal use, much more so than milder steels. The DH T10 will hold a very sharp cutting edge very well.
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Post by Rob Dorsey on Oct 31, 2012 21:05:35 GMT
Ok, so the journey continues. I just bought a 9260 kiatana for $142.99 including shipping Folks, I am sore amazed at such a blade for such a price. This is new from Jacky and is classically rendered with bo-hi, Musashi tsuba, black ito on white same, shiny black lacqured saya; just about as classic as it gets. This is the one on YouTube doing the bending demo. Most impressive. Oh Boy! Something to look forward to, Rob
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Kuya
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Post by Kuya on Nov 1, 2012 1:18:50 GMT
There was a somewhat favorable review on that Hua Wei model (9260 TH Bo-hi) in the past. You sould be happy with it for how much you paid. Hua Wei swords generally have a bit more thickness and niku than Hanbons from what I've read and from my experience with them.
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Post by Rob Dorsey on Nov 1, 2012 1:29:34 GMT
Hi Kuya,
Of course my interest is comparing them to Yao's blades. I have a love of katana with very deep sori, within reason of course. lMy absolute maximum I think would be 2". I bought a HauWei with 1.5" sori and am anxiously awaiting it for a comparative functional test. I love the way a deep sori cuts through material like it wasn't there.
This 9260 sword I bought just because of the spring recovery of the steel. Quite amazing. I'll look forward to testing it as well. I'll write reviews on each.
Best, Rob
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Nov 1, 2012 6:57:06 GMT
9260 is quite different from T10 9260 C 0.56-0.64 Mn 0.75-1.00 P 0.035 (max) S 0.04 (max) Si 1.80-2.20
It has a lot of silicon and manganese, I have a custom Kaze DH in 9260, it's really tough and takes a good edge, but all things being equal T10 will slightly higher in relative sharpness.
5160 is quite different in that it substitutes vanadium. C 0.48-0.53 Mn 0.70-0.90 P 0.035 (max) S 0.04 (max) Si 0.15-0.30 Cr 0.80-1.10 V 0.15min
I'm not sure you could temper T10 as spring steel.
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Post by Rob Dorsey on Nov 1, 2012 18:23:47 GMT
You see, unrealistic as it may be, I want it all. I want an unbreakable blade with captivating hamon, stunning koshirea and a deep sori. I want an attractive but tight and functional saya, it must be a hira-zukuri blade profile allowing a plumb scary edge and yet it absolutely must support going out back and clearing brush for the afternoon with no damage save some nasty green streaks on the ji.
And I want it all for <$300. And, I want it now!
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Nov 2, 2012 1:36:53 GMT
Well you can get close - A DH Kaze with Bo-hi, throw away the furniture, get a Tsuba you like, add a Cottontail Tsuka and polish a bit! (ok, polish a fair bit) www.chenessinc.com/kaze.htmI have a custom Kaze DH without Bo-hi and not a scratch, it beats bushes and bottles with equal ease, but with a POB of 5.2 inches is a tad blade heavy, lots of sori, a few who have cut with it take it with confidence and hand it back with care, it holds a great edge. Down side is not <$300 by the time you add the custom bits, but there is always DIY :lol:
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Post by Rob Dorsey on Nov 2, 2012 4:03:21 GMT
Good call Rabbit. Rabbit is good, Rabbit is wise.
I went to the linked site and found something I cannot peacefully live without. A 33" 9260 blade Katana with 13" tsuka. Now I already hear the shouts of impracticality, blade heavy slug, hard to wield, yadda-yadda, but, as I'm 6'5" with normal proportions just somewhat extended, I reckon it'll work.
But now somebody friggin stop me. I've bought four swords in a week (one from SBG) and while I have a wonderful and supportive relationship with "Accounting", attempting to slip that much metal into the house undetected is bound to catch her attention. Hopefully I have some karma points to cash in given the delivery times I probably have enough days of enthusiastic housework and "what can I do now for you My Darling" ops to charge the forgiveness capacitors to near maximum joules. Oh, and joules, that reminds me, jewels also are great if they don't raise too much suspicion.
Please do not think that I am too much of a rogue but,... they are swords after all. What's a muther to do?
Forgive Me, Rob
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