Difference between a $220, $490 & $700 (AUD) swords
May 23, 2013 2:47:23 GMT
Post by Bluntsword on May 23, 2013 2:47:23 GMT
When looking to buy a sword you always come across a situation when there's two swords you like and there's a X amount difference in the price. We always think that it's X much more, so it must be X much better then the cheaper one. So should I pay that extra X amount.
Off course it comes down to how much visually I like it more.
So today I'm going to compare 3 swords I have bought, and to compare the minor or large differences in their parts.
The swords:
$220 Brand:Unknown Steel:Unknown What I do know is that it's made in Longquan China, it's pattern welded and laminated, Through Hardened. It's light and very balanced, low niku and has copped a lot of hard cutting. I've hit the corner of a metal pole accidentally on the kissaki (so look closely later, you might be able to see the indentation).
$490 Brand:Global Gear Steel:1060 It was coated in ti but after a cutting session where I rubbed some off, I polished the remaining ti off using 2000 grit sandpaper. This sword out of the 3 is a heavier, beefier sword it's more thick and solid. Shame the ti coating is crap but the steel underneath is pretty good.
$700 Brand:HW Gunto Steel:1095 Most expensive of the 3, you can see that more detailed/effort was put into making this sword. It's also the shortest blade at 27inch. It's light and fast, the blade is almost a perfect V, niku what niku, lol maybe there's a little bit of niku.
How are we going to compare the swords? I've taken side by side photos and we can look at the pics and compare visually at eat part we can see.
TSUKA
From the below pictures you can see that the gunto sword has the best tsuka. The shape is well defined and the diamonds are nice. There's better quality ito on the unknown & gunto, the ito on the g1000 looks and feels like a shoe lace. Also if you look closesly you can already see the g1000 ito coming apart and starting to fray. Only the gunto ito alternates and has hishigami. The same(stingray panels) quality looks the same across all three.
Nakago
A lot more effort has been placed into making and shaping the tang on the gunto, you can see the file marks which help friction against the tsuka. The other two swords have nothing at all.
FITTINGS
The gunto has a more detailed set of fittings, and the unknown has a nice set of fittings as well but the g1000 fittings lack detail and looks cheap compared to the other two.
Gunto has more detailed habaki, the other two were standard type (I added the line and polished the top section to a mirror myself). Even the seppa on the gunto & unknown looks of quality pieces, but the g1000 seppa looks cheap.
SAYA
You can clearly see there's alot more details on the gunto saya and better fit and quality. The other two swords saya look almost exactly the same like they were made by the same people, only difference is the coating.
BLADE
Hamon: both the gunto and g1000 have nice hamons both have been acid treated to make the hamon more clear and easy to see.
The unknown sword is laminated and pattern welded. You can easily see the lamination line between the steels.
Overall geometry of the three blades are good but the gunto is better as it's lines are more defined and crisp then the other two.
BOHI
Bohi termination of both swords are well done, if I had to choose one I'll say the unknown sword has a better only because it's closer to the mune then the g1000.
KISSAKI
Honestly I can't see much of a difference in the total shape of the three, but the gunto has the most crisp lines and a geometric yokote, unknown comes second as you can some kind of line and the g1000 just looks rounded and not as defined as the other two.
Other pics
Conclusion
Three different swords at tree different price ranges. The g1000 is twice as expensive as the unknown but is it two times better, NO IT ISN'T. And the gunto is three and a half times more expensive then the unknown sword, is it worth that much more in price? to me Yes.
In the end read the spec carefully, analyze the photos, look carefully at the differences in the swords. Then make your choice.
I hope this has shed some light on the differences between swords.
Off course it comes down to how much visually I like it more.
So today I'm going to compare 3 swords I have bought, and to compare the minor or large differences in their parts.
The swords:
$220 Brand:Unknown Steel:Unknown What I do know is that it's made in Longquan China, it's pattern welded and laminated, Through Hardened. It's light and very balanced, low niku and has copped a lot of hard cutting. I've hit the corner of a metal pole accidentally on the kissaki (so look closely later, you might be able to see the indentation).
$490 Brand:Global Gear Steel:1060 It was coated in ti but after a cutting session where I rubbed some off, I polished the remaining ti off using 2000 grit sandpaper. This sword out of the 3 is a heavier, beefier sword it's more thick and solid. Shame the ti coating is crap but the steel underneath is pretty good.
$700 Brand:HW Gunto Steel:1095 Most expensive of the 3, you can see that more detailed/effort was put into making this sword. It's also the shortest blade at 27inch. It's light and fast, the blade is almost a perfect V, niku what niku, lol maybe there's a little bit of niku.
How are we going to compare the swords? I've taken side by side photos and we can look at the pics and compare visually at eat part we can see.
TSUKA
From the below pictures you can see that the gunto sword has the best tsuka. The shape is well defined and the diamonds are nice. There's better quality ito on the unknown & gunto, the ito on the g1000 looks and feels like a shoe lace. Also if you look closesly you can already see the g1000 ito coming apart and starting to fray. Only the gunto ito alternates and has hishigami. The same(stingray panels) quality looks the same across all three.
Nakago
A lot more effort has been placed into making and shaping the tang on the gunto, you can see the file marks which help friction against the tsuka. The other two swords have nothing at all.
FITTINGS
The gunto has a more detailed set of fittings, and the unknown has a nice set of fittings as well but the g1000 fittings lack detail and looks cheap compared to the other two.
Gunto has more detailed habaki, the other two were standard type (I added the line and polished the top section to a mirror myself). Even the seppa on the gunto & unknown looks of quality pieces, but the g1000 seppa looks cheap.
SAYA
You can clearly see there's alot more details on the gunto saya and better fit and quality. The other two swords saya look almost exactly the same like they were made by the same people, only difference is the coating.
BLADE
Hamon: both the gunto and g1000 have nice hamons both have been acid treated to make the hamon more clear and easy to see.
The unknown sword is laminated and pattern welded. You can easily see the lamination line between the steels.
Overall geometry of the three blades are good but the gunto is better as it's lines are more defined and crisp then the other two.
BOHI
Bohi termination of both swords are well done, if I had to choose one I'll say the unknown sword has a better only because it's closer to the mune then the g1000.
KISSAKI
Honestly I can't see much of a difference in the total shape of the three, but the gunto has the most crisp lines and a geometric yokote, unknown comes second as you can some kind of line and the g1000 just looks rounded and not as defined as the other two.
Other pics
Conclusion
Three different swords at tree different price ranges. The g1000 is twice as expensive as the unknown but is it two times better, NO IT ISN'T. And the gunto is three and a half times more expensive then the unknown sword, is it worth that much more in price? to me Yes.
In the end read the spec carefully, analyze the photos, look carefully at the differences in the swords. Then make your choice.
I hope this has shed some light on the differences between swords.