asanatheist
Registered
AKA: Crimsoned (Old SBG forums)
Posts: 1,682
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Post by asanatheist on Aug 9, 2015 18:49:51 GMT
I thought I was over the Chinese forges stealing pictures from others and slamming their on watermark on those... guess not. Thought they would be wiser by now. I personally wouldn't recommend Even-sword, St-nihonto (or whatever sells those), as it's very dishonest to steal pictures from others. Makes me quite angry that they won't spend that little time to make their own pics. All of them steal pictures. Huawei Swordmaker668 ST Nihonto Hanbon, etc. Here's another perspective: Who says those pictures are any one of those vendors? They could simply be stock pictures from the forges, saya makers, and koshirae providers that are given to the vendors?
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Aug 9, 2015 19:40:08 GMT
That's what I'm meaning they steal pictures from countless sources. I don't look kindly to stuff like that. They don't bother doing their own pictures, they don't bother doing historical research... I've never been a big fan of those eBay vendors, sure they'll give you pretty good quality for cheap price but for me collecting is more than that. If I would buy production katana, I'd try to support brands that I feel are worth standing up for. I'm pretty sure Pablo had that pic first. They've been stealing pics like this for years from various sources. When you can't even bother to make your own pics why on earth would I buy from that company?
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asanatheist
Registered
AKA: Crimsoned (Old SBG forums)
Posts: 1,682
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Post by asanatheist on Aug 9, 2015 19:48:15 GMT
Ah you are talking about those. Kind of natural isn't it? You want low priced goods in a hard labor industry and expect them to work like they're being well paid?
Gotta be reasonable man.
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Aug 9, 2015 20:00:47 GMT
All of them steal pictures. Huawei Swordmaker668 ST Nihonto Hanbon, etc. If we're talking about the diagrams and cross section illustrations, why does it matter if they've been taken from other vendors? These aren't the actual swords anyway, does it really matter if they make their own original basic meaningless drawings of archetypal katana? I've seen sellers use other manufacturer's actual sword pictures before though and not just ebay seller's pics but larger, non-ebay companies pics and vids and that to me is where I would be wary. I have personally never received a sword from Huawei that wasn't exactly as pictured on their ebay store so for now at least, I have no reason to doubt their claims. Here's another perspective: Who says those pictures are any one of those vendors? They could simply be stock pictures from the forges, saya makers, and koshirae providers that are given to the vendors? Exactly, can someone prove origin on any of those pics? (meaning the illustrations) Not knowing if any of the vendors can really be trusted to make/sell a decent sword, I personally go by visual reference until I decide to buy one and can inspect it first hand. I can easily avoid taking a chance on many of them because the red flags are as clear as day in most of the pics. I'm lucky also I guess because I've had the opportunity to see a lot of these first hand without having to shell out the money myself. My list of who not to buy from is long indeed. To be honest, if Huawei goes out of business or changes forges, I would probably just stick to buying second hand Hanwei swords to customize.
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addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
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Post by addertooth on Aug 9, 2015 20:45:29 GMT
Either he is asleep, or I asked the "question of death" of St-Nihonto a couple hours ago. He had a (regular) Kobuse sword for sale, and I liked the Fuchi, Kashira, Tsuba and Menuki he had on his listing sword photos. But it was not one of the selectable "optional" sets, so there was no way to specify it. I asked him if I could have the set from the 10 photos from the sword (and provided him his picture of his sword from the listing). Thus far, crickets. To his credit, I asked him if he would be willing to do a full wrap with Samegawa (ray skin) I ship to him. He was agreeable to that change. He is, thus far the priciest vendor for Hishigami. He wants $40 per sword with full samegawa wrap. As a reference, Ryan only wanted $10.00 (and the samegawa was full wrap) I checked on the Ryan I received, the hishigami was actually there. Best ten bucks I have spent all month. For darn sure I wouldn't do hishigami for a measly ten bucks. Now if I can only get him to make his tsuka more wasp waisted (like haichi or rikko) instead of a potato-like imogata, I would be a happy camper.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Aug 9, 2015 23:12:04 GMT
Either he is asleep, or I asked the "question of death" of St-Nihonto a couple hours ago. He had a (regular) Kobuse sword for sale, and I liked the Fuchi, Kashira, Tsuba and Menuki he had on his listing sword photos. But it was not one of the selectable "optional" sets, so there was no way to specify it. I asked him if I could have the set from the 10 photos from the sword (and provided him his picture of his sword from the listing). Thus far, crickets. To his credit, I asked him if he would be willing to do a full wrap with Samegawa (ray skin) I ship to him. He was agreeable to that change. He is, thus far the priciest vendor for Hishigami. He wants $40 per sword with full samegawa wrap. As a reference, Ryan only wanted $10.00 (and the samegawa was full wrap) I checked on the Ryan I received, the hishigami was actually there. Best ten bucks I have spent all month. For darn sure I wouldn't do hishigami for a measly ten bucks. Now if I can only get him to make his tsuka more wasp waisted (like haichi or rikko) instead of a potato-like imogata, I would be a happy camper. He can be slow to respond sometimes. Occasionally misses messages entirely. He normally has all fittings he shows on his swords. The images that show what is selectable haven't been updated in some time. Recently his selection has grown a bit. He has two color sageo that isn't on the options, some higo style fuchi and kashira that aren't there, etc. He links the images from his website (st-sword.com) which is basically empty. So chances are you just have to send him another message or wait.
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Sean (Shadowhowler)
VIP Reviewer
Retired Moderator
No matter where you go, there you are.
Posts: 8,828
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Post by Sean (Shadowhowler) on Aug 9, 2015 23:37:24 GMT
MessengerofDarkness, Do you have a link to Tsunami Dragon website? And yes, after "hearing" that the posted video, that guy should have his breeding rights revoked.
Heh... after your comment, I *HAD* to watch the video. Yup, just as bad as you said. :-P
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 10, 2015 2:30:55 GMT
Either he is asleep, or I asked the "question of death" of St-Nihonto a couple hours ago. He had a (regular) Kobuse sword for sale, and I liked the Fuchi, Kashira, Tsuba and Menuki he had on his listing sword photos. But it was not one of the selectable "optional" sets, so there was no way to specify it. I asked him if I could have the set from the 10 photos from the sword (and provided him his picture of his sword from the listing). Thus far, crickets. To his credit, I asked him if he would be willing to do a full wrap with Samegawa (ray skin) I ship to him. He was agreeable to that change. He is, thus far the priciest vendor for Hishigami. He wants $40 per sword with full samegawa wrap. As a reference, Ryan only wanted $10.00 (and the samegawa was full wrap) I checked on the Ryan I received, the hishigami was actually there. Best ten bucks I have spent all month. For darn sure I wouldn't do hishigami for a measly ten bucks. Now if I can only get him to make his tsuka more wasp waisted (like haichi or rikko) instead of a potato-like imogata, I would be a happy camper. He can be slow to respond sometimes. Occasionally misses messages entirely. He normally has all fittings he shows on his swords. The images that show what is selectable haven't been updated in some time. Recently his selection has grown a bit. He has two color sageo that isn't on the options, some higo style fuchi and kashira that aren't there, etc. He links the images from his website (st-sword.com) which is basically empty. So chances are you just have to send him another message or wait. I've been in communications with him for an upper-level entry custom katana blade; one that will take about a month to forge and fit - at times, he can be a little slow to respond, and he's not 100% fluent in Engrish either, but he's always been very good to respocd fairly quickly - and, at least with mine, I've made the request to have a rikko-shaped tsuka made for my blade, so as far as I know, he DOES offer tsuka types - see here: www.ebay.com/itm/181745125970?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 10, 2015 2:32:25 GMT
MessengerofDarkness, Do you have a link to Tsunami Dragon website? And yes, after "hearing" that the posted video, that guy should have his breeding rights revoked.
Heh... after your comment, I *HAD* to watch the video. Yup, just as bad as you said. :-P It gets worse - in another video, he tried to play a guitar using two katana... >_< I sent him a request to do an in-depth review of the ST-Nihonto katana he recieved, but now I'm not so sure I wanna even see that. -_-
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Greg E
Member
little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
Posts: 1,302
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Post by Greg E on Aug 10, 2015 2:44:16 GMT
I did want to avoid the better known sellers. But in looking for a reverse kobuse, it may force me to go with either someone already ordered from, or one of the better reputed sellers. So far, I only have one repeat, and it was purchased to see if the first sword ordered (which was quite good) was a fluke, or the way they normally do business. So far, nobody has produced a truly crisp yokote. I doubt Hanbon has a reverse kobuse :) Swordsmith668/Swordmaker668/Hanbon seem to have several models on their sites. $572 to over $700.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Aug 10, 2015 3:12:16 GMT
I've been in communications with him for an upper-level entry custom katana blade; one that will take about a month to forge and fit - at times, he can be a little slow to respond, and he's not 100% fluent in Engrish either, but he's always been very good to respocd fairly quickly - and, at least with mine, I've made the request to have a rikko-shaped tsuka made for my blade, so as far as I know, he DOES offer tsuka types - see here: www.ebay.com/itm/181745125970?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AITI'm working on getting a daisho from him. Some good points: - Allows for custom blade sizes, including sakikasane, motokasane, etc.
- Allows for custom tsuka shape.
- Will custom make habaki for extra charge.
- Allows for specific hamon.
- Has a variety of steel choices.
- Allows saya modifications
- Has fittings not listed on his eBay/website
- Usually fast to respond on days he is working.
- English/text translation is good enough that if you are short and sweet, he will understand you.
- Mostly reasonable prices.
And some bad points:
- Has fittings not listed on eBay/website
- Some of his sanmai blades are fake
- Is dishonest when he believes it will make the customer feel better (eg. I was on vacation with my family so your sword is delayed when in reality he broke two blades).
- Fittings can be pretty subpar, depending on what you pick.
- Iron is black painted steel, not real black iron.
- Horn isn't polished but has a coating of some kind.
In the end, the more informed you are about swords, the more likely you are to get what you want. Be specific, you might have to wait, but you'll probably end up getting what you ask for. Most of the time.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 10, 2015 3:24:48 GMT
I've been in communications with him for an upper-level entry custom katana blade; one that will take about a month to forge and fit - at times, he can be a little slow to respond, and he's not 100% fluent in Engrish either, but he's always been very good to respocd fairly quickly - and, at least with mine, I've made the request to have a rikko-shaped tsuka made for my blade, so as far as I know, he DOES offer tsuka types - see here: www.ebay.com/itm/181745125970?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AITI'm working on getting a daisho from him. Some good points: - Allows for custom blade sizes, including sakikasane, motokasane, etc.
- Allows for custom tsuka shape.
- Will custom make habaki for extra charge.
- Allows for specific hamon.
- Has a variety of steel choices.
- Allows saya modifications
- Has fittings not listed on his eBay/website
- Usually fast to respond on days he is working.
- English/text translation is good enough that if you are short and sweet, he will understand you.
- Mostly reasonable prices.
And some bad points:
- Has fittings not listed on eBay/website
- Some of his sanmai blades are fake
- Is dishonest when he believes it will make the customer feel better (eg. I was on vacation with my family so your sword is delayed when in reality he broke two blades).
- Fittings can be pretty subpar, depending on what you pick.
- Iron is black painted steel, not real black iron.
- Horn isn't polished but has a coating of some kind.
In the end, the more informed you are about swords, the more likely you are to get what you want. Be specific, you might have to wait, but you'll probably end up getting what you ask for. Most of the time.
Well, no one's perfect - there are some whortcomings, to be expected, but I still think that he's capable of producing a good verall product. Key in point:
Still, I'm always being careful - we've arranged for him to send me pictures of the blade and its components as they're being made so that everything will be kept on track. (I'm having a more expensive blade made - truthfully, I wanted a hitatsura hamon, but he recommended againt it for the L6 steel type - I settled on koshi hiraita midare, or suguha ni gunome ashi iri instead, and with koshi zori.)
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Post by Kiyoshi on Aug 10, 2015 3:35:04 GMT
Oh yeah, that is another thing that is good about him. He is actually honest about what he can do, what he can't do, and what is a bad idea. I agree, hitatsura hamon is probably not a good idea for L6, I know I sure wouldn't get one. The style you settled on seems a bit better. From what I understand, the more calm hamon are better for L6. He is pretty good about sending pictures (though doesn't always understand what you want pictures of), but he tends to take lower quality ones with his iPhone. Not the worst thing ever but can be hard to make out things like hada if you requested a specific one (I did). I like koshi zori since if the sugata is done well, the weightiness is in just the right spot for how I do swordsmanship. I don't know what the proper term for weightiness is but I do know it is one of the most important factors of a sword for me.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 10, 2015 3:46:07 GMT
Right- I settled on an average size in terms of length and such, so weight shouldn't be too much of an issue. And the fact that he recommended against a hitatsura hamon was one of the things that made me trust him a bit more - he was giving me his own thought and opinions as to what could and couldn't be done, which I found refreshing. (Though I WISH hitatsura hamon could be done on L6. I LOVE active hamons. T_T) *ahem*
Anyways, even if the blade is a bit tip-heave, I wouldn't mind that - I'm strong, I usually prefer beefier blades anyways, but I've minimized that by selecting the standard tsuka length and nagasa.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Aug 10, 2015 3:54:43 GMT
Weightiness is the terms I used to describe area of the blade where you feel the weight coming down as you swing the blade. It is different from the POB and hard to describe. I dislike my iaito since it's weightiness is about an inch below the POB and my shinken is about 1.5 inches past the center of the monouchi, just a little bit off of my sweet spot. They both have about the same POB -/+1 inch. I like it near the center of the monouchi. It makes for very natural feeling cuts but doesn't make the sword feel so unwieldy. For all I know, I sound like I'm talking nonsense, so I hope you understand what I mean.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 10, 2015 3:56:17 GMT
No no, I get it - the spot on the blade where it tends to "pull" in your grasp. I get it, I'm just trying to think if there's a fancy-sounding Japanese word to describe it. (XD)
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Post by Kiyoshi on Aug 10, 2015 3:59:14 GMT
Beats me. Perhaps someone else knows and will enlighten us? I don't want to look through a sword terms dictionary just for this one word. I'm not even sure what to look for. lol
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addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
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Post by addertooth on Aug 10, 2015 4:27:53 GMT
Currently, the following E-Bay venders make the claim of making reverse Kobuse (Gyaku Kobuse): swordsmith668 lyueswords There may be a few hidden in the descriptions, but this appears to be the main sellers.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 10, 2015 8:53:55 GMT
Currently, the following E-Bay venders make the claim of making reverse Kobuse (Gyaku Kobuse): swordsmith668 lyueswords There may be a few hidden in the descriptions, but this appears to be the main sellers. Do you have a link to the swordsmith668 blades ?
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Greg E
Member
little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
Posts: 1,302
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Post by Greg E on Aug 10, 2015 14:27:11 GMT
Currently, the following E-Bay venders make the claim of making reverse Kobuse (Gyaku Kobuse): swordsmith668 lyueswords There may be a few hidden in the descriptions, but this appears to be the main sellers. Do you have a link to the swordsmith668 blades ? ebay - click on the word ebay
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