Hanwei Tinker early medieval single handed sword
Jul 16, 2015 2:43:09 GMT
Post by vinland on Jul 16, 2015 2:43:09 GMT
Introduction
While I'm sure everyone knows about the hanwei tinker line of swords, more people talking about their experience with it can't hurt.
I wanted an arming sword for a while, something that wasn't too expensive. I looked around for a while and finally settled on the hanwei tinker EMSHS.
Historical overview
The Early medieval single hand sword is based off of an Oakeshott Type XII arming sword, which can be seen below
And the general shape of the sword definitely matches the shape of the type XII
Full Disclosure
I just bought a sword, no paid reviews or swords being sent to me for testing. Just a guy who bought a sword of kult of athena. I paid around $335 CAD or $260 USD
Initial Impressions
The blade arrived covered in oil to prevent rust. And that's exactly what it did. Not a spot of surface rust anywhere on the sword, even the threads were perfectly clean.
The initial edge was rough but I easily fixed that up with a fine stone and leather strop. But I wasn't really expecting an amazing edge for $335/260. There was no secondary bevel on it however, which was very nice to see.
The blade has a nice satin finish to it, and a fairly rough ground fuller. Some may like a rough fuller as it resembles a hand forged finish some may not.
It felt great to swing, better than my DSA 12th century longsword or Windlass Sticklestad.
Statistics
Blade Length:
31 3/4"
Handle Length:
6 7/8"
Overall Length:
38 1/2"
Guard Width:
6 3/4"
POB (Point of Balance):
Roughly 5" from the guard
Weight: 2lb8oz
Components
The blade is made from 5160 spring steel, with a blade hardened/tempered to 50-53 HRC while the tang is drawn back to 30HRC.
The guard and pommel are mild steel.
The handle is some sort of wood wrapped in leather. It's a very tight fitting handle.
The scabbard is a fiberglass core wrapped in leather, with a mild steel chape and throat on it. One problem it has is that there's a very audible scraping noise when you draw and put away the blade. The edge isn't what's causing it, it's sliding out safely and the metal throat is nowhere near the sword. The flats of the blade are what's causing it as far as I can tell, maybe I got a tighter scabbard than normal or something.
Everything is held together by a hex nut, with no epoxy on the hilt anywhere. Allowing it to be easily taken apart if something gets damaged Unfortunately my sword did not come with an allen key that fit the nut, but I had one already.
Handling Characteristics
It feels great in my hand. The blade is just light enough to not be difficult to swing around like some cheaper swords (and even some more expensive ones too) Maybe it's because I haven't used a sword that's at the very top of price like an albion or arms&armor or a custom, but to me this feels perfect. Thrusts are very easy and even with my inexperience I'm able to cut difficult targets like soaked newspaper rolls and a wooden dowel core (A tatami mat substitute) fairly consistently, when I don't mess up the cut anyway. (I really should have taken a picture of the results but I've gotten rid of the newspaper already)
Test Cutting (if applicable)
The edge was fairly rough, but it's usable. I've touched it up with a stone and leather strop, in 30 minutes it was much better. The original edge is fine for cutting water jugs, which I'm sure will be my primary use for this. With soaked newspaper rolls I still have difficulty, but that's probably just my inexperience rather than the sword itself
I still need to practice it though, It's not the cleanest cut out there.
Conclusions
In short, you can't go wrong with this sword, and probably the entire hanwei tinker line itself. It's a budget sword that feels like it should be $400 more. If you can get over the very plain fittings (Or buy some custom fittings for it) you will have a very good arming sword. I'm tempted to sell my darksword armory longsword just to get the tinker longsword, but I'll save my stuff about the darksword for a different review, if I do another.
Pros
Very nicely made blade, not a hint of rust anywhere
Handles great
Sword fits very well in the scabbard, I can hold it upside down and it won't go anywhere
Easy to disassemble if you ever want to do custom work on it
No secondary bevel
Cons
Flat of the blade scrapes against the scabbard
Entire sword is rather plain (Guys who like to do custom work may like this, being a "blank slate" sword
Sharpening isn't the greatest
While I'm sure everyone knows about the hanwei tinker line of swords, more people talking about their experience with it can't hurt.
I wanted an arming sword for a while, something that wasn't too expensive. I looked around for a while and finally settled on the hanwei tinker EMSHS.
Historical overview
The Early medieval single hand sword is based off of an Oakeshott Type XII arming sword, which can be seen below
And the general shape of the sword definitely matches the shape of the type XII
Full Disclosure
I just bought a sword, no paid reviews or swords being sent to me for testing. Just a guy who bought a sword of kult of athena. I paid around $335 CAD or $260 USD
Initial Impressions
The blade arrived covered in oil to prevent rust. And that's exactly what it did. Not a spot of surface rust anywhere on the sword, even the threads were perfectly clean.
The initial edge was rough but I easily fixed that up with a fine stone and leather strop. But I wasn't really expecting an amazing edge for $335/260. There was no secondary bevel on it however, which was very nice to see.
The blade has a nice satin finish to it, and a fairly rough ground fuller. Some may like a rough fuller as it resembles a hand forged finish some may not.
It felt great to swing, better than my DSA 12th century longsword or Windlass Sticklestad.
Statistics
Blade Length:
31 3/4"
Handle Length:
6 7/8"
Overall Length:
38 1/2"
Guard Width:
6 3/4"
POB (Point of Balance):
Roughly 5" from the guard
Weight: 2lb8oz
Components
The blade is made from 5160 spring steel, with a blade hardened/tempered to 50-53 HRC while the tang is drawn back to 30HRC.
The guard and pommel are mild steel.
The handle is some sort of wood wrapped in leather. It's a very tight fitting handle.
The scabbard is a fiberglass core wrapped in leather, with a mild steel chape and throat on it. One problem it has is that there's a very audible scraping noise when you draw and put away the blade. The edge isn't what's causing it, it's sliding out safely and the metal throat is nowhere near the sword. The flats of the blade are what's causing it as far as I can tell, maybe I got a tighter scabbard than normal or something.
Everything is held together by a hex nut, with no epoxy on the hilt anywhere. Allowing it to be easily taken apart if something gets damaged Unfortunately my sword did not come with an allen key that fit the nut, but I had one already.
Handling Characteristics
It feels great in my hand. The blade is just light enough to not be difficult to swing around like some cheaper swords (and even some more expensive ones too) Maybe it's because I haven't used a sword that's at the very top of price like an albion or arms&armor or a custom, but to me this feels perfect. Thrusts are very easy and even with my inexperience I'm able to cut difficult targets like soaked newspaper rolls and a wooden dowel core (A tatami mat substitute) fairly consistently, when I don't mess up the cut anyway. (I really should have taken a picture of the results but I've gotten rid of the newspaper already)
Test Cutting (if applicable)
The edge was fairly rough, but it's usable. I've touched it up with a stone and leather strop, in 30 minutes it was much better. The original edge is fine for cutting water jugs, which I'm sure will be my primary use for this. With soaked newspaper rolls I still have difficulty, but that's probably just my inexperience rather than the sword itself
I still need to practice it though, It's not the cleanest cut out there.
Conclusions
In short, you can't go wrong with this sword, and probably the entire hanwei tinker line itself. It's a budget sword that feels like it should be $400 more. If you can get over the very plain fittings (Or buy some custom fittings for it) you will have a very good arming sword. I'm tempted to sell my darksword armory longsword just to get the tinker longsword, but I'll save my stuff about the darksword for a different review, if I do another.
Pros
Very nicely made blade, not a hint of rust anywhere
Handles great
Sword fits very well in the scabbard, I can hold it upside down and it won't go anywhere
Easy to disassemble if you ever want to do custom work on it
No secondary bevel
Cons
Flat of the blade scrapes against the scabbard
Entire sword is rather plain (Guys who like to do custom work may like this, being a "blank slate" sword
Sharpening isn't the greatest