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Post by William Swiger on Aug 19, 2017 0:58:48 GMT
NOTE: This is not a political discussion.
Let's throw out a hypothetical of what if your country banned/barred Chinese Imports.
Where would you source your swords if you buy Chinese products?
European folks have a few good options for medieval swords.
Folks with cash could go custom.
Katana folks would be hit hard everywhere. Would Katana folks just switch to other swords?
There is still Pakistan and India suppliers.
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Post by Elrikk on Aug 19, 2017 1:26:26 GMT
Thaitsuki
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Post by zabazagobo on Aug 19, 2017 1:28:50 GMT
Interesting question, since nearly all of my swords come from China. Hmmm, that'd put me in customs territory I guess. Custom greatswords, custom katana, might finally make me save up for nihonto... honestly, without Hanwei and Huawei, I'd be out of the production market. I guess for Euros Windlass or maybe Valiant Arms would be my go-to's for production pieces, but I'd end up going full custom for katanas. Can you even find production katana that aren't made in CHI-Nah? (Lol, couldn't resist)
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 19, 2017 1:56:48 GMT
That pretty much leaves Kris Cutlery, BCI and TFW. Geisha Blades still can't sell outside of their own country, at least not the last time I checked. I'd have no hesitation whatsoever going through KC. Already have with great results. Never had anything from the other two, but their products are mostly attractive, albeit out of my price range. Second-hand market would probably flourish for katana guys.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 19, 2017 3:40:17 GMT
Most of Kris Cutlery's Japanese line is now made in China, though, isn't it? So that rules them out for katana etc. though their other lines are, presumably, made locally in the Philippines. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
For those with a little more cash, but maybe not super-custom levels (American smiths, nihonto) could consider Citadel and a few of the Korean shops like Martial Arts Swords and uh...there was another, I can't remember.
Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, etc) would probably step in to take China's place. India, never mind Pakistan, still has some work to do on a lot of their exports, though Windlasss, Universal, et al are getting better. Was Del Tin still Italian?
Competition on antiques would certainly go up.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Aug 19, 2017 6:21:44 GMT
As a German and having enough katana already probably euros from India or Poland, Czech Rep.
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Terricus
Member
Even if I stand alone, I will never stand down
Posts: 66
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Post by Terricus on Aug 19, 2017 7:33:51 GMT
I'd probably just save up and get an Albion or a custom.
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Post by demonskull on Aug 19, 2017 8:57:20 GMT
India already has several large sword making companies . I'd probably use one of them. If I were providing specs and doing the QC, they could provide the heat treated blades and my company would then do the mounting. I'd 3d print the original designs for the furniture then cast the pieces. I think that way would be the cheapest and fastest.
The biggest issue would be for katanas. I have to find and train people to do the different types of wrappings.
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Post by Irrissann on Aug 19, 2017 9:21:33 GMT
Probably Poland. Lots of makers there, and some do top quality stuff.
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Post by gruggier on Aug 19, 2017 17:20:20 GMT
WOW I never thought of this before. Def an interesting question. Philippines for quality? Maybe India? I don't think I would purchace from Pakistan until proven...
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Post by stopped1 on Aug 19, 2017 22:37:31 GMT
Think cold steel will be starr to make in the US again then. Costs more but ppl will buy
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 19, 2017 22:40:13 GMT
Cold Steel also sources a lot from India and Taiwan. I doubt much, if any, of their manufacturing would return to the States if they couldn't import Chinese products anymore.
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Post by zabazagobo on Aug 19, 2017 22:55:37 GMT
I always forget about MAS, maybe since they're pretty out of my price range at the moment. I remember when I first started collecting katana that their Shirayuri model mesmerized me. Still plan on buying one at some point
Although at around $2,000, I'd also look at customs, especially one made in Poland. Przemek's pieces have always grabbed my attention.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 20, 2017 0:17:11 GMT
I'm really starting to think all the European smiths would see a boom in growth and popularity for a few months, until they had to stop taking commissions to catch up, probably followed by increased prices. Same with other, smaller US-and-elsewhere-based outfits. More small-time folk will come to the front and we'll maybe even see a burst in self-taught blade makers, even bigger than the past few years.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 20, 2017 0:31:29 GMT
Very good question Bill... Europe is a largely untapped market to the US (at least imho, especially with customs and semi-customs) that could become a viable exporter of items IF they can source enough swords like the Chinese do... otherwise, it'll be countries like India/Pakistan/Philippines (or other "minor" Asian/Pacific [and I don't mean that in a disparaging way, just economically speaking]) countries that will take up the slack because they can produce lots of stock in a short amount of time, although they would definitely have to step up their forging and heat treatment to retain a large market share. Just my .02 worth
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Post by demonskull on Aug 20, 2017 0:51:32 GMT
The problem with this scenario is that Quality Control will not be able to keep up with demand. We saw this when Windlass bought out Museum Replicas/Atlanta Cutlery. The product suffered greatly for years until they finally hired and trained enough smiths to reestablish their prior QC. Now compound this with multiple smiths trying to get in on the "gold rush".
The better smiths/production companies will raise their prices so they can offset maintaining their QC.
It would be a bad situation all around.
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christain
Member
It's the steel on the inside that counts.
Posts: 2,835
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Post by christain on Aug 20, 2017 0:59:23 GMT
Pakistan is capable of making really good steel...if they only knew how to make a really good (sword) product out of it. I actually have some Paki-made armor, and it's pretty damn good quality. Other than that...India or custom.
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Post by stopped1 on Aug 20, 2017 11:44:19 GMT
BTW, if we are talking about Katana only, I think it may go back to how it was like 15-20 years ago, you either get a sub $300 plain Jane but functional katana, or you save up and get a Nihonto made or polish up a Gunto/Shinto sword. Another possibility is the fittings still coming out of China and blade made and mounted else where.
Actually, if the market is big enough (it will be if China doesn't make production katana), it is even possibly for the Japanese to relax the sword laws a little for the export market. After all, very few civilians there own guns and many guns are made in Japan (think Howa and Miroku). They already know how to mass produce iaito with nicely fitted tangs and good ito maki, tooling up to make a sword should be fairly easy. Won't be cheap tho, a good Iaito is $400 plus, even if they do a cheaper TH blade, I say at least $700 for a basic model.
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Post by William Swiger on Aug 20, 2017 12:50:25 GMT
Wonder if China would covertly open forges in other poorer countries and the other countries would export the swords without Chinese affiliation? Could also have other countries take receipt of swords and rebrand them.......
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Post by Voltan on Aug 20, 2017 18:18:07 GMT
The Czech Republic comes to mind first, as far as production Euro swords go. There's a Lutel I have my eye on presently in fact. We still have Windlass out of India as well. Otherwise, as already mentioned, saving more coin for a custom would be the last option; although that is much easier said than done...
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