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Post by Germanic on Jan 18, 2015 1:27:39 GMT
Temperature at the time = below freezing. Not sure if that makes a difference with the density of the trees or something. Struck it against saplings (yielding targets) and small trees (unyielding targets), stabbed it into a large tree, etc. My only disappointment was the handle and guard becoming somewhat loose. However, this is punishment that no sword is meant to withstand.
My primary curiosity was the blade's ability to withstand the abuse. I was very happy with it.
I'm using Red Loctite and Krazy Glue (which I have found to be very effective) to restore the handle and guard's stability.
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Post by Germanic on Jan 18, 2015 2:02:10 GMT
Germanic.... I have loads of respect for you, and the video is a good one in terms of the sword being able to handle abuse. BUT - I see you are wearing no gloves, no face protection, and pretty much a flannel shirt just like mine. If things had gone a bit "off", and you ended up with a snapped blade section coming back at you.... would that have been a good thing for your family? I'm glad none of this DID occur. But seriously - I use more protective equipment with a drill press. PLEASE consider using some next time. We like you with ALL of your limbs, eyes, and associated parts :). When you put it like that, it does seem a bit dangerous. I have been working with edged implements in the woods since I was young so perhaps I am a bit overconfident.
What would you suggest in terms of protection during such testing videos? I wish to provide the community with useful testing videos, especially with swords that haven't really been tested as much as others. I certainly don't want to convey a sense of recklessness or lack of safety within the sword community.
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Post by Germanic on Jan 18, 2015 3:12:21 GMT
First - I'm probably worrying too much :). It's just that we want great contributors to stay alive :). Rather than being too specific - consider what you MIGHT want for protection in the event that a decent chunk of sharp metal breaks - and starts coming at you during a destructive test (implying the object being tested may very well be destroyed - ungracefully). Short of full armor, I think I might consider some head/face protection and good gloves? The gloves are far more aligned with human nature (we tend to raise our hands to "ward off" an object coming at us). I guess my first reaction would be "close to what we wear when using a chainsaw" - not perfect, but better than nothing? I'm honored that you consider me to be a contributor. (SRS) I am only a newcomer.
I suppose if I thought about it logically, the simplest thing would be eye protection, such as glasses. This could go up to a full face-shield. I do have glasses that we use for target practice when sighting in our rifles.
For the hands, I don't have hockey gloves or chain mail or anything like that...but I do have some leather gloves.
As far as my body, I suppose short of wearing practice armor I am at a loss. I guess there is training armor out there but I already look conspicuous in a park where I am wielding a sword.
I can only do this sort of thing in a place where it is sometimes heavily populated. I make sure to film my videos when there isn't anybody within 100 yards or even earshot of what I am doing. I also only cut down dead trees.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Jan 18, 2015 10:40:44 GMT
I would suggest the same protection you would use with a chainsaw, good leather gloves and a face shield, simple and inexpensive.
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Post by Iradei on Jan 18, 2015 11:50:45 GMT
Well of course you need to be careful whenever handling a sword, or any weapon for that matter. But honestly, you don't risk much if you’re just hewing shrubs.
It's something that just makes me laugh : whenever someone tries to do something with a weapon (cutting things with a sword for example), the same sort of comments always emerge : “you shouldn’t do that it’s dangerous”, “ why do you do this you’re putting your life in jeopardy”, “you should be more cautious”, “you’re not taking enough precautions”, “swords, well that’s dangerous business you've got to be protected from head to toe”…
Cutting shrubs and playing with dynamite are two different things entirely. Some people just say this out of some misplaced carefulness which is, quite frankly, ludicrous. I don’t think the blade is likely to glance off and spring back at you or explode in your face.
Gloves ? Why would they be of any avail if you’re merely practicing against inanimate targets ? Unless you grab a razor sharp blade with your hands I cannot see any purpose in wearing gloves.
Of course things could go wrong as well as in any other situation. For instance something as simple as standing on a chair to get something out of reach could go wrong. The person could fall and break his leg or bang his head against something hard and fall into a coma. Yet, anyone would agree that wearing hockey pads and a padded helmet simply to climb on a chair is downright foolish.
I've been cutting giant bamboos for quite along time with no protection (and that does not mean that I'm not prudent) and nothing befell me thus far.
The video’s just good. Just let go of that “you’ve-got-to-wear-a-full-suit-of-armour-to-cut-paper” attitude.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jan 18, 2015 13:14:10 GMT
Well of course you need to be careful whenever handling a sword, or any weapon for that matter. But honestly, you don't risk much if you’re just hewing shrubs.
It's something that just makes me laugh : whenever someone tries to do something with a weapon (cutting things with a sword for example), the same sort of comments always emerge : “you shouldn’t do that it’s dangerous”, “ why do you do this you’re putting your life in jeopardy”, “you should be more cautious”, “you’re not taking enough precautions”, “swords, well that’s dangerous business you've got to be protected from head to toe”…
The video’s just good. Just let go of that “you’ve-got-to-wear-a-full-suit-of-armour-to-cut-paper” attitude.
That's not the point that was being made by Findlithui or aussie-rabbit... they're talking about protection during a "destructive testing" situation, not a regular cutting or hack and slash session. These are two completely different scenarios, one in which you intend to do light, moderate, or even heavy cutting, and another situation where you intend to put the sword to it's theoretical breaking point and beyond. One is safe to do with minimal protection, the other should be done with more protection because of the inherent dangers involved with destructive testing. Germanic, good job btw with the vid.
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Post by Germanic on Jan 18, 2015 15:48:55 GMT
So now that we've got that out of the way, might anyone have any questions about this sword?
Apparently this is a Type XX blade, and I must say it seems quite functional. The tip is not a needle-point but it is an abrupt taper from the wide blade.
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Post by Afoo on Jan 18, 2015 21:58:52 GMT
I work in a chemistry lab and my belief has always been that the level of protective gear you wear should be proportional to the actual risk you are exposed to (including taking into account operator skill and experience), rather than what someone in health and safety says. However, I would be hesitant call out anyone for using *more* protection than what I personally think is reasonable based on my own skill level and experience, especially in a situation in which beginners are seeking advice. Now, I do not partake destructive testing of swords, but I feel like the same thing applies.
~~
As for the sword itself - from what I have read, it seems like loose grips and guards are a problem for most Hanwei swords, and indeed most other swords which rely on a compression grip fitting. As such, that part is not surprising. What is surprising is the fact that the blade itself survived without the smallest sign of damage. I wonder how it would hold up to steel targets (ie: blade on blade contact). I also noticed that you had a bit of trouble pulling the tip out of the tree after you stabbed it - perhaps this could be due to the shape of the tip (and thus a potential disadvantage to this type of sword)?
Kudos for posting the vid - its not easy to do something like that to your own sword.
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Post by Germanic on Jan 19, 2015 0:56:01 GMT
I work in a chemistry lab and my belief has always been that the level of protective gear you wear should be proportional to the actual risk you are exposed to (including taking into account operator skill and experience), rather than what someone in health and safety says. However, I would be hesitant call out anyone for using *more* protection than what I personally think is reasonable based on my own skill level and experience, especially in a situation in which beginners are seeking advice. Now, I do not partake destructive testing of swords, but I feel like the same thing applies. ~~ As for the sword itself - from what I have read, it seems like loose grips and guards are a problem for most Hanwei swords, and indeed most other swords which rely on a compression grip fitting. As such, that part is not surprising. What is surprising is the fact that the blade itself survived without the smallest sign of damage. I wonder how it would hold up to steel targets (ie: blade on blade contact). I also noticed that you had a bit of trouble pulling the tip out of the tree after you stabbed it - perhaps this could be due to the shape of the tip (and thus a potential disadvantage to this type of sword)? Kudos for posting the vid - its not easy to do something like that to your own sword. I wish people would focus more on the video's content rather than their views of what constitutes safe attire.
Yes, I agree that in this case, the only thing which appeared to be damaged was the guard and handle which became loose. I applied Red Loctite and Krazy Glue last night and as of now, they are back to normal. A bit of sanding to remove the excess adhesive and it should be more or less back to normal. I've done this with other swords and it works fine.
What surprised me was the strength of the blade. I wasn't particularly focused on edge alignment, and was swinging into a solid tree with mostly full force multiple times and the blade is no different than before.
The tip was very difficult to remove from the tree with a few of my more powerful thrusts, but I am not sure if that is the type of tip, or if it is the fact that I was thrusting it into a tree. What I find interesting is that the tip had no deformation. I'll clean up the edges and make sure the handle and guard are fully secure, and I plan on performing some test cutting videos with it.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jan 19, 2015 1:18:51 GMT
Thanks for the reply - wondering how much use/abuse this sword can take, seeing as you've already done a lot to it already!
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Post by Germanic on Jan 19, 2015 1:26:25 GMT
Thanks for the reply - wondering how much use/abuse this sword can take, seeing as you've already done a lot to it already! I'd say that as long as you aren't striking fixed solid targets, this sword won't get damaged.
If you do, the guard and handle will probably get loose.
But I'd be willing to bet the rest of the sword will actually hold up to mostly anything based on what I've done with mine.
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Post by Afoo on Jan 19, 2015 2:11:50 GMT
Yeah, sorry for the tangent Looking at the pics from KoA, it appears that the handle (and consequently the tang that lives therein) is quite thin, especially compared to the width of the blade. Was there any sign of bending in the tang? Is it possible that a minor bend or twist was responsible for the fixtures coming loose?
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Jan 19, 2015 2:31:17 GMT
One slip and -
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Post by Germanic on Jan 19, 2015 12:32:50 GMT
Yeah, sorry for the tangent Looking at the pics from KoA, it appears that the handle (and consequently the tang that lives therein) is quite thin, especially compared to the width of the blade. Was there any sign of bending in the tang? Is it possible that a minor bend or twist was responsible for the fixtures coming loose? Actually, the handle is massive and very fat, too large for most hands.
I can't detect anything wrong with the tang...how would I know? Everything seems straight.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2015 12:58:50 GMT
Yeah - that (in)famous vid! Its the one that WOKE me up! But those were stainless steel rattail SLOs if i remember correctly!?
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Post by William Swiger on Jan 19, 2015 14:28:31 GMT
The one I had had a very large grip. I ended up filing down the grip to make it smaller.
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Post by Germanic on Jan 19, 2015 18:13:04 GMT
The one I had had a very large grip. I ended up filing down the grip to make it smaller. Thats what I plan on doing at some point.
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Post by Afoo on Jan 19, 2015 20:31:41 GMT
I guess it just looked small compared to the blade - which certainly says something about the blade!
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Post by William Swiger on Jan 19, 2015 20:50:01 GMT
Honestly, I liked the blade on the Hanwei version better than the Del Tin version. The Del Tin blade was pretty flexible compared to the Hanwei.
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Post by nddave on Jan 19, 2015 21:51:58 GMT
I guess it just looked small compared to the blade - which certainly says something about the blade! I measured mine sword's tang from the guard slot, 3/4" wide from the blade shoulders. I don't know if it thins out much in the middle, someone would have to destroy the wood core to tell.
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