spiritvsflesh
Member
researching and planning to acquire my dream katana/nagamaki
Posts: 1
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Post by spiritvsflesh on Jan 7, 2016 0:36:32 GMT
has anyone heard of an online company katanasforsale? they have a custom option for nagamaki in which i am greatly interested, but i haven't been able to find any reviews for this company anywhere...
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Post by Bernard912 on Jan 20, 2016 23:10:55 GMT
I have bought a katana from them, it came up really good, they have many option for the it. their customer support was friendly and engaging and it took about a month until I received my order.
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Post by TheOneWho'sAsking on Jan 23, 2016 3:28:49 GMT
I'm also wondering about this site. Being able to buy a Damascus folded, clay tempered, T10 blade with a Hadori polish for $480 just seems too good to be true. The site seems professionally made, quickly loads, decent spelling, intuitive modern design. Their pictures of their swords are numerous, and of a professional quality. I've certainly bought swords from shadier websites. I sent an email to them, asking about their electroplated swords to test their customer support, and I received an email from them within a day, describing to me in detail about my question. This seems to show that they do know about what they are talking about. I also found in depth articles on their site describing the different strengths and weaknesses of steels, such as 1060 vs 1090. They also had articles on the historical uses of the different swords they make. Some cons of looking at this site however, is that I could not find a way to contact them through any way other than email. No phone services or anything like that, but that really could mean nothing at all. The site also looks very new, made within the last 6 months by the looks of it, but possibly that could explain the cheap prices as them just trying to get their swords noticed and their name out there. My only other concern is that, if I were a scammer hoping to net the most suckers, I would name my site something like Katanasforsale.com. Just putting that out there... I f it isn't a scam, I'd definitely would be willing to try out one of their blades. If it IS a scam, these guys were thorough. Anyone who happens to buy a sword from this site, a review would be GREATLY appreciated.
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Post by shogun on Jan 27, 2016 5:28:44 GMT
Yes I want a sword from these people but am too afraid to try. Anybody??
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Post by Paul R on Feb 1, 2016 5:26:19 GMT
I bought a custom T10 folded tempered katana with high quality components from kfs.com and while its nice in appearance, I personally would keep my purchases from them to swords in the sub-$300 range. The steel looks good but I have yet to test it. The Tsuka assembly had some issues. The kashira seems a little too large for the wooden handle and moves. Its not falling out but not a tight fit which is a bummer considering its a nice copper kashira. This appears to be the risk of having a one size fits all handle and unique custom parts. Something tells me this is not unique to kfs.com but likely a challenge for 'custom katana makers' in general. An artisan made sword is going to have time and attention to making the parts fit together into a finely balanced instrument. I highly doubt that most of the custom makers would take great care to do this for $250-500 swords.
I'd probably buy from a named sword maker next time but all in all, its not a bad sword. Just not a great one. For $450, I probably could have gotten better elsewhere.
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Post by Paul R on Feb 1, 2016 5:30:43 GMT
Oh forgot to mention that kfs response to my feedback was quick and they did offer a few options in apology. I opted for getting a 10% refund but I'd have to say they are very responsive and I don't know if my experience is unique which is why I have posted here. I figure time will tell the story.
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Mikeeman
Member
Small Business Operator
Posts: 2,904
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Post by Mikeeman on Feb 1, 2016 18:36:08 GMT
Oh forgot to mention that kfs response to my feedback was quick and they did offer a few options in apology. I opted for getting a 10% refund but I'd have to say they are very responsive and I don't know if my experience is unique which is why I have posted here. I figure time will tell the story. To me, this is just one of their sales tactics. They just figure people are going to be ok with these flaws because they don't know any better. So people like you who actually check this stuff out catch on. A 10% discount on a $450 sword is only $45. So they still made $400 (minus whatever shipping was) on a blade that is, in all honesty, worth less than $200. So by offering that little refund, they make you feel like they are sorry and you are getting a deal. When in reality, even with the discount, they are still making plenty of your money.
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Post by skane on Feb 1, 2016 20:07:12 GMT
Looks like typical ebay stuff from overseas seller, but at higher prices. If you see something you like on their site, look around on ebay and you'll probably find same thing at cheaper price.
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Post by Paul R on Feb 1, 2016 20:16:35 GMT
I can't disagree which is why I posted. If they have many many happy customers, ideally confirm able ones, they can speak up. If not, it very well may be their 'shtick'.
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Mikeeman
Member
Small Business Operator
Posts: 2,904
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Post by Mikeeman on Feb 1, 2016 20:22:18 GMT
I've never even heard of the site until a month or two ago. So if there are fans of them, I don't know any of them. And I've been here on SBG since 2009/2010.
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Post by Paul R on Feb 1, 2016 20:25:49 GMT
Also as someone who spent $400 for quality that didn't come through, I personally would not buy from them again unless you want something inexpensive. Given that they source the steel from a Lonquan Forge, their value add was focused on the assembly and pack out. Given that the assembly is what is in question, it speaks volumes as to attention to their service offering. If your business is to source steel from even a good forge, you should pay extremely close attention to the one thing you do otherwise, the value isn't there.
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RedOgre
Member
check my face book to see some of my work
Posts: 24
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Post by RedOgre on Feb 26, 2016 10:04:02 GMT
they also seem to have pulled random pictures for their site. unless I'm mistaken on the front page of the sight on the custom katana template choice the blond is holding what i refer to as a mall katana. I've seen enough to recognize the horrid attempt to mimic a real katana. so either their site pulled that pic somewhere or they offer cheap rat-tail tang stainless as a choice as well. any one else notice this
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Post by shogun on Feb 26, 2016 15:16:51 GMT
She looks Russian to me for some reason? I don't know . I saw a mall sword for the first time a few weeks back , plastic habaki and all. The hinemaki and sageo looked surprisingly good. I decided not to patronize katanas for sale dot com
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Post by crazyforsword on Jul 6, 2017 4:57:28 GMT
I’m new to the forum, but wanted to share my feedback about Katanasforsale.com.
First I would like to say that their customer service was excellent and answered in less than 24 hours to my email inquiry. I have ordered 1095 Clay tempered Katana, and just got it 2 weeks ago.
The steel looks great with a real hamon (Mine has a Choji hamon which looks really good) I decided to disassemble the handle to see what’s underneath. The fittings were tight and took me a little effort to dissemble it.
The sword features full tang (Not rat tail as RedOgre mentioned) and they certainly do not offer stainless steel swords, only Carbon steel and Spring steel. They have a nice steel comparison chart which explains about the different steel they are offering, you can find it through one of their menus.
Overall I got a very attractive piece at a decent price, and I am happy with my purchase, the sword performed great when I did some cutting in my back yard. (Although I only cut some water jugs, bottles, fruits and small tree branches) the blade was very sharp and the cuts were clean.
I highly recommend them, and I’ll probably order a Nagamaki or Ninjato in the next few months.
For those of you who were considering to purchase from them, please do give them a try I’m sure you will not be disappointed. This website is certainly not a scam, and they deliver great product.
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Post by Croccifixio on Jul 6, 2017 5:06:06 GMT
Can you show us pictures of your sword? Not to be sceptical, but for a first post it sounds a bit fishy when you praise a vendor like that.
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Post by crazyforsword on Jul 19, 2017 9:04:45 GMT
Can you show us pictures of your sword? Not to be skeptical, but for a first post it sounds a bit fishy when you praise a vendor like that. I went outside to try to get better pictures that will do justice with the blade, they are not great, but that’s the best I could do after several tries. As you can see it is full tang and the hamon is real. I was also skeptical before purchasing the blade, but after checking it out, I wanted to let the people who were unsure about them, that Katanasforsale.com is indeed a legit website with quality product. And I personally recommend from first hand experience.
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Post by johnwalter on Jul 23, 2017 15:35:35 GMT
After seeing the pics,I agree with skane.Typical average ebay rebranded longquan stuff.Ok hamon,cheap bohi termination not placed correctly,poor kissaki shaping,and cosmetic yokote not placed right making the kissaki shaping look even worse. The steel itself looks average and just like almost every other ebay vendors lower quality stuff.Pretty much most of it looks overpriced for what it is and lower quality.I can't see anything that would make me buy from them As for steels used,they probably don't really know what steel was used at whatever forge actually made the blades and are just advertising them as whatever steel happens to be the "IT STEEL" of the moment.Honestly I'd recommend sticking with more known trusted sources. Just my opinion.
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Post by Benny on May 4, 2019 11:40:32 GMT
I'm glad that I read this! I almost made an order but my gut feeling was to do some research first. Can anyone recommend another site where I can get a good quality folded carbon steel katana at a reasonable price? Kind regards, Ben The novice
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Post by maewyn on May 4, 2019 13:24:51 GMT
Not really.But you'll get lots of recommendations for Sinosword I'd imagine.They are usual average Ebay quality at best and consistently have flaws,some small,some not so small.They are very good at talking and making you feel good tho. Go with Huawei T10 or 9260 would be my advice. The folded steel used in the market is hit or miss most times.Many people new to this think folded steel is better or more "traditional",it is not.
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on May 4, 2019 14:09:22 GMT
I will pretty much echo Maewyn. I’ll throw out Musashi swords for you to consider as the offer a decent sword for low prices. Look for Musashi as a brand and not a maker offering a sword that they call a Musashi.
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