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Post by frankthebunny on May 29, 2014 0:12:46 GMT
Nice review Wes I really don't like the guard or pommel but the blade is pretty nice. You have all those tools, you make your own swords and knives, and you don't have calipers?? For shame! :lol: Looking forward to seeing what you can do with that blunt edge and many innocent bottles +K!
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Post by LG Martial Arts on May 29, 2014 0:18:29 GMT
Great review Wes... nice to see a DSA with distal taper. Like others have imitated, you NEED calipers ASAP!
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 9, 2014 0:42:25 GMT
OK Guys, as promised in the review i finally got caught up a bit in my shop and the weather held out so i had time to sharpen up the Black Knight sword. For scientific purposes i sharpened one side of the blade to my standard, and left the other side of the blade as it came from the factory. Ill be purchasing a couple cases of bottles to do a video and show you guys the results of what this sword can do if you take 20 minutes to sharpen it up properly with a 1X30 harbor freight belt sander. I really wish their swords came with an edge as formidable as it is now. they would be a major player on the middle priced sword game. The sword is a pure joy to cut with.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 9, 2014 2:11:11 GMT
I'll chip in here and suggest for Darksword's you begin at 320 then 600 and 1000 using trizac belts YMMV :lol:
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 9, 2014 5:38:52 GMT
I had a lot of fixing to do on the horribly ground 2ndary bevels it came with. I started with 180-320-400-600- to a old worn out berlt that's reallllly smooth. I use it as a sort of strip on all my blades after sharpening. im quite pleased with the results. I couldn't find any belts that went higher than 600, but at 600 grit its still slicing thin receipt paper, and giving me silent cuts on bottles. Not as sharp as a blade ive made myself....but very serviceable for a production sword rework.
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TomK
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Senior Forumite
Posts: 2,377
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Post by TomK on Aug 9, 2014 6:56:38 GMT
these stats really raise some red flags for me: Blade length: 28" Blade width at base: 2" Weight: 2 lbs 7 oz POB: between 2" and 3" from guard
this sword is hollow ground, 2" wide at the base, has a XVIII-ish blade (certainly not a XIV as Nathan pointed out) that is only 28" long so why in the world is it so heavy? it should be no more than two pounds. seriously. the AT1557 (I know this is comparing a Porsche to a Yugo but bear with me) is 2 inches wide, not hollow ground, 27" blade, with a POB at 3.5" and weighs 2 pounds flat. the 1557 is also VERY stiff, while you say this blade is too flexible.
I say this sword is 7 ounces too heavy, and I have some theories why. 1: that guard looks very large and to have lots of unneeded steel on it. this is not a big deal because a sword can have lots of weight there without messing up the handling too much. I do wonder if this one may have crossed the line though and actually have a guard too heavy for it. 2: "Dat Pommel!" they say fat bottom girls make the world go 'round but this is a sword and that pommel looks like it is way too big for it. the POB being so close supports this theory well.
I am very interested in seeing you do a flex test. I recommend you do it this way: hold the grip in your left hand (if you are right handed otherwise reverse), place your right pinky on top of the blade just behind the point, place your right thumb under the blade at a distance that feels comfortable and natural (no stretching or tucking). now try to bend the sword to about 30 degrees by pushing up with your thumbs and down with your pinkies. if you can get to 30 deg. only using your right pinky to push down and that is comfortable and is not effort the blade might be a bit bendy if you need to put your ring finger on there to make it not be a strain then it is decently stiff, if you use more fingers than that it is sounding like stiffy to me.
also notice where the bend happens, this is very important and will tell you a lot about distal taper. your bend should happen only in the 1/3 of the blade nearest the point.
my bet is if you took that guard and cut the arms off where they make the turn back towards the blade then ground that central point down to about a third it's length and generally slimmed the rest to blend nicely you could lose 3 or 4 of those extra ounces and end up with a nice looking guard. then if you next ground the facets in the pommel deeper, like a lot deeper, and slimmed out the peen block area you could take off the other 3 ish ounces and have a really nicely handling sword.
the blade may end up being slightly chunky in weight but I suspect the real problems this sword has is its furniture. if you were to put a nice set of appropriately sized furniture on it I think this sword's handling might just blow your mind. as it is now, no way could I imagine it being what I would call a good handling sword.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 14, 2014 19:40:46 GMT
Ok i just realized i made a mistake. When listing Specs i generally list the factory listed specs, followed by the actual specs as measured myself...Somehow during copying/pasting the review from notepad into sbg i left out the part where i measured the actual specs. so ill post them here as followws, and then also copy them into the review itself
Blade Length: 32" Overall Length" 39" Blade Width at Shoulder: 2" Grip Length: 4.5" Thickness at shoulder: .235" Thickness at middle of blade length: .171" Thickness at 6" from tip: .115
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TomK
Member
Senior Forumite
Posts: 2,377
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Post by TomK on Aug 14, 2014 21:20:04 GMT
STOP THE PRESSES! so it seams the official specs are the old model. the new model is an entirely different sword. Wess, we need weight on this thing man make it happen!
I must say that the new specs look a lot better, however the pob still raises an eyebrow for me and I still think that pommel is probably on the heavy side. 2lbs 7oz would be a reasonable weight for this sword now. 2lbs 4oz would be better but that's not a huge difference.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 14, 2014 21:26:07 GMT
ive got calipers and a ruler, ass :lol: Yeah it is 4 inches longer than their website advertises, kult of athenas specs were almost identical to the DSA website specs as well.
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Post by Bryan Heff on Aug 14, 2014 22:17:08 GMT
My thoughts exactly. If this is a new version as has been suggested..update your website before you send the sword for review, nip it in the bud right? Jeez....
It's not that hard, it's not.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 14, 2014 22:18:31 GMT
ive heard about DSA's specs being off in the past as well. i realize specs can vary, but 4 inches is a pretty big change. especially if someone is in the market for a very very specific blade size and grip length
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 23, 2014 22:56:18 GMT
heres the promised video of me cutting with the sword. Im quite impressed with it now that ive sharpened it up properly ... e=youtu.be
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Aug 23, 2014 23:49:40 GMT
Nice work Santo, shows what a good sharpening job can do.
Now I’m a bit confused, how have you been able to put a video together featuring a DSA sword in only a few weeks, I have been led to believe that such videos take months in the planning and making? Perhaps you need to share your secret with the folks over at DSA.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 24, 2014 0:48:34 GMT
total time spent, 30 minutes set up/cutting/clean up. 2 hours to produce the video. 30 minutes to upload to youtube.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Dec 11, 2014 23:05:17 GMT
I would like to update this review to reflect that after putting this sword through its paces both in the initial review, and cutting tests as well as extended sessions over the past few months i decided to email Robert and Eyal and purchase the sword from them. This ones a real gem and fits my style quite well.
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Aikidoka
Member
Monstrous monk in training...
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Aikidoka on Dec 18, 2014 20:04:47 GMT
I would like to update this review to reflect that after putting this sword through its paces both in the initial review, and cutting tests as well as extended sessions over the past few months i decided to email Robert and Eyal and purchase the sword from them. This ones a real gem and fits my style quite well. So you ended up buying it? Very cool! Yeah, I didn't even consider asking for my DSA Danish sword to be factory sharpened. Without that big secondary bevel, it sounds like I spend a lot less time creating my own cutting edge. If I remember correctly, I didn't even need to use the A45 (400 grit) belt. Just A30 (800 grit), then A16 (~1400 grit), A6 (2000 grit) and finally the leather strop. Glad you have a good cutting blade! ( Now lets see that week 2 cutting trick )
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Post by LemuelTheLemur on Dec 20, 2014 1:43:16 GMT
I would like to update this review to reflect that after putting this sword through its paces both in the initial review, and cutting tests as well as extended sessions over the past few months i decided to email Robert and Eyal and purchase the sword from them. This ones a real gem and fits my style quite well. oh? I thought they gave out those review swords for free...
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Dec 20, 2014 11:51:07 GMT
I would like to update this review to reflect that after putting this sword through its paces both in the initial review, and cutting tests as well as extended sessions over the past few months i decided to email Robert and Eyal and purchase the sword from them. This ones a real gem and fits my style quite well. oh? I thought they gave out those review swords for free... nope, per the agreement with Myarmory all swords had to be returned or purchased at normal price to keep the reviews Unbiased.
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