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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2008 14:30:43 GMT
"What a big Bastard!"
Okay, bad pun, but that was what I said when I opened the box last night. My new Cold Steel Hand and a Half sword arrived and I was impressed right away. I know-there are plenty of horror stories about this one, but for the price I paid, I could not resist.
The first thing I noticed was that the sword was solid as a rock. No loose pommel or cross-guard here...so that was a positive start. I decided to make a gerbil nest out of the cardboard box it came in just for a start. Ten minutes later and it was reduced to a small pile, but the sword is still solid.
I plan to take it out today and give it a good workout. I have planned out a slew of tests for it, so a review will be forthcoming. If it has any problems, you will be the first to know!
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Post by YlliwCir on Apr 3, 2008 17:04:34 GMT
Good deal, Dale. I have always liked the look of that sword. I await your review with anticipation.
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Post by randomnobody on Apr 3, 2008 17:10:27 GMT
Ditto. Get lots of pictures and such.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2008 22:20:25 GMT
Thats one of those swords that I liked so much in pictures, ive always been tempted to buy one.
Good luck!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2008 23:18:21 GMT
Okay, some initial review points (A more detailed review with pictures will be coming)
I took it out today for some initial testing. I thought I would share a bit with you. I was very eager to get into the action so I did not take any pics or video yet. Those will be coming later.
Appearance - Truthfully, I knew I would like the way this one looked. After all, that is what drew me to it in the first place. I finally saw one for a price that I knew I could not pass up so I grabbed it. As expected it was a handsome piece of steel
The two things that struck me most were the sharpness of the blade and the blade thickness. First, it was scary sharp right out of the box. I have always been all about a sharp blade with my knives and I keep them razor sharp at all times. I know that is not always the best for a sword, but this one was sharp enough to keep me happy.
The blade was thinner than I envisioned. That is not a bad thing at all. I expected a very heavy blade that was a bit thick for decent cutting, so I was happy to see that was NOT the case here. However, I was also happy to see that the blade was not super "whippy" and seemed to be about the perfect thickness for my taste. Being new to swords I do not have a great deal of comparison, but the posts I have read made me feel that this was a decent blade.
Cutting - I started with a milk jug filled with water. It was cold today so I filled it with very hot water. That makes it look really cool when you cut it because the hot water steams real well in the cold air. It may be of an advantage to the sword though, as the hot water may soften the jug a bit.
The sword cut through the jug like a laser. Clean slices made it possible to cut the jug into 4 roughly even pieces without disturbing the piece below. Not a real surprise though as the Cold Steel blade was sharp and just the right thickness to provide clean cuts without being whippy.
I then moved to some bamboo I have laying around. I cut quite a few pieces last summer to build fish traps, walking sticks and other little projects. Again I was impressed with the downward angled cuts. I then decided to try some upward angled cuts. Since the bamboo was merely thrust into the soft soil, it was likely to come loose quite easily. The first upward cut cleanly sliced through the smaller (2 inch) piece of bamboo without dislodging it. I moved to the thicker pieces ( 4 inch and 5 inch pieces) and as expected they came loose with the upward cut. However, the first piece was cut about half way through and the larger piece was cut 3/4 of the way through. I thought it should be the opposite, but figured the extra weight of the larger piece may have resulted in the deeper cut.
I decided to abuse my sword a bit at that point. Hey, even if I spent some hard earned moolah on it, I still want to see if it can hold up to battle somewhat. I have a "workbench" built in my backyard for strapping down my orange osage bows when I make them. It is made from 2x10s and it gets abused from time to time. I made some pretty hefty cuts on the wood to see if I could lossed the pommel as I have read about in various forums. I then took out some frustrations (okay it was just fun) on an old thick plastic play car. It is one of the kind that children can get in and pedal around the neighborhood. The children had long ago abandoned this one as it was broken down. I decided that the thick plastic would be a good target. I also used it for thrusting tests, and as expected it was penetrated like butter. Chopping into the plastic showed me that this sword was an excellent cutter.
Finally, after chopping the 2x10 and the plastic car I heard some rattling. It was not the pommel which had loosened, but the crossguard. It was not really loose, but it was rattling around a bit. I could see some movement in the space between the crossguard and the blade when I looked close.
I have a routine for tightening everything up that I have used for axes and tomahawks in the past. I quickly made the sword solid again and have had no issues since.
After my small cutting exercise I inspected the blade for damage and found absolutely no edge damage. There was a minimum of scuff marks on the blade, but many proved to be smears that were easily removed when I cleaned it. The remaining scuffs were hardly noticable. When I test it more extensively I will show some pictures of the blade.
Although I have heard some things about the Cold Steel Hand and a Half sword that worry me, so far I have been quite happy with this one. I will continue to put it through its paces until I am sure it will work, or until I break the darn thing.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2008 23:31:41 GMT
Very very nice. I almost ordered one (just like everyone else it seems) but the hilt issue kept deterring me. Congratulations on getting a good sword.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2008 0:20:24 GMT
Well, they were scheduled to have new pommel attachments this year...perhaps this is one of them. I tried to unscrew the pommel with all my might, but it did not budge. I'll take that as a positive also.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2008 17:42:09 GMT
hm cant wait to see some vid's or pic's i also was about to buy this blade
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2008 5:08:27 GMT
I'll try to get some up this weekend.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2008 17:27:36 GMT
Hello!!! .. Where did you buy it?? .. am asking because the "new pommel attachments" maybe can be the new ones,, am interesed in this sword, but am not decided yet... and could you post the general spects? like handle, crossguard and wide blade lenght ?.. it makes me an idea how big this bastard is..
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2008 20:43:00 GMT
get it from thebladeshop.com only 213 and FREE shipping
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2008 5:38:43 GMT
Sorry I have not put up pics yet. My parents asked to use my digital camera on their vacation so I have not got it back yet.
BTW - After my crossguard repairs I found the sword is solid as a rock. Basically, I used JB Weld to make it more solid. I used bamboo skewers that were thinned down to tuck the JB Weld compound into the space between the blade and the crossguard. It took about three applications to ensure all of the space was filled. It does not sound all that technical, but it sure does the job. So far all the rattle is totally gone! If you do this repair, just make sure you completely clean all the JB Weld off of the surfaces after you tuck it into the cracks. I have used this method on throwing tomahawks, so it seems to hold up very well.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Apr 8, 2008 6:05:55 GMT
Another idea I had - squeeze a wrap of fine fishing line around the tang between the grip and the cross. I was able to secure a rattly cross that way.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2008 12:44:12 GMT
That is a good idea. Maybe secure it with a little epoxy and you have something that will flex a bit instead of cracking or coming loose. If my JB Weld ever starts to fail, I will give it a try.
+1 Karma for a great idea!
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Apr 8, 2008 13:00:43 GMT
yeah do, and yes I did epoxy it as much as possible. I epoxy everything. My swords have more epoxy than steel.
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