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Post by xtremetrainer on Nov 5, 2018 22:47:26 GMT
So I am looking to buy a sword from this company that has the option of getting the sword with a brushed finish or a high polish. Getting a high polish costs $100 more. I was thinking, could I polish it myself and give it a high polish? That way I can have a sword with a high polish without spending an extra $100. Is there any specific polish that's best used for blades?
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Post by Jordan Williams on Nov 5, 2018 23:15:23 GMT
You can polish a sword yourself, but it'll take work and time. If you don't really have the time to polish a learn the trade you might find it worthwhile to pay for it, but it can also make a fun project.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Nov 6, 2018 6:08:25 GMT
It is certainly possible to polish the blade yourself, but as Jordan pointed out it’s going to take your time, even more so as it will be a learning curve for you, but a worthwhile skill if you wish to continue sword collecting. Remember that if you plan to cut with the sword the higher the polish the quicker you will see scratches, but these also can be polished out.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Nov 6, 2018 7:52:31 GMT
Agree with the above. Also, what kind of blade is it? European? Japanese? Is it differentially hardened or through hardened? Is it monosteel, folded, pattern-welded? All of those things could have a significant impact on how you'd polish it and what kind of finish would best complement them.
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Post by Ari L. on Nov 6, 2018 7:54:46 GMT
Yes to what they said. I like to do some polishing and while it's nice and meditative, it's also a decent amount of work and you will need to buy an array of sand papers and/or wet stones that will reduce any amount of savings to doing it yourself.
The final finish is part aesthetics. A brushed finish is a more 'working' polish that won't show scuffs and scratches if you plan to do some chopping of things and heavy use. Mirror polished will show scuffs more but has the bonus that fewer things will stick to it so it's less likely to get water marks or stains if not well cleaned and oiled after use, cleaning is quicker on a highly polished surface as well.
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Post by xtremetrainer on Nov 6, 2018 16:04:21 GMT
Agree with the above. Also, what kind of blade is it? European? Japanese? Is it differentially hardened or through hardened? Is it monosteel, folded, pattern-welded? All of those things could have a significant impact on how you'd polish it and what kind of finish would best complement them. Im glad you asked all that, I should fill you and everybody else in with exactly what I want to get. I want to get a two handed sword with a bronze guard and pommel and a 1095 high carbon steel blade. With this particular sword it comes with the options of a brush finish or a polished finish. Since the polished finished is $100 more I was thinking of going with the brushed finished and polishing it myself as $100 is a good amount of money to save. The sword also has what they call a "chisel" edge for hacking through armor but it can also be made with a sharp slashing edge for an extra fee. The company that makes the sword is called Badger Blades and supposedly they've got a relatively good reputation. I've seen reviews and demonstrations with their swords both on the internet and in person at Renaissance Faires and they've all been good.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Nov 6, 2018 16:33:34 GMT
Honestly they seem a little overpriced for what they look to be. Don't think you'll have a hard time polishing one to your standard if you get the right info on how to do it.
Edit: but it is worth noting that my point of view for buying swords is that I want something that looks and handles like an original would have. If durability and strength is your main concern than they tick that box.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2018 16:37:54 GMT
There are endless tutorials on sword polishing and although the Japanese section here has been sanitized a bit, there are a couple of tutorials listed at the pinned thread there. Before a lot of youtube videos came along, there was a page put up that may be helpful www.arscives.com/bladesign/hybridpolish.htmDoing it yourself is only limited to your own efforts. Some start out with no knowledge of tools or craft and become quite talented. Try a practice piece and see if it is for you, or go straight away in adventure with a sword that appeals. Personally? I would skip spending the extra $100 unless it was meant as a decoration. What is your time worth? What are your interests in doing more than one sword? Badger Blades has a great reputation on the Rennie circuit but lack a lot of finesse. If you are just looking at a costume sword, no need to go further in sharpening. Their philosophy on how to make a sword and their representations of swords don't get a lot of appreciation with more experienced sword folk. A lot of money for an "indestructible" sword.
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Post by xtremetrainer on Nov 6, 2018 17:45:25 GMT
Yes to what they said. I like to do some polishing and while it's nice and meditative, it's also a decent amount of work and you will need to buy an array of sand papers and/or wet stones that will reduce any amount of savings to doing it yourself. The final finish is part aesthetics. A brushed finish is a more 'working' polish that won't show scuffs and scratches if you plan to do some chopping of things and heavy use. Mirror polished will show scuffs more but has the bonus that fewer things will stick to it so it's less likely to get water marks or stains if not well cleaned and oiled after use, cleaning is quicker on a highly polished surface as well. I was thinking that all you need is a rag and some polish, not a whole set of sand papers and stones. But I don't know much about polishing swords although I've polished other metal objects using just rags and polish and that was adequate.
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Post by xtremetrainer on Nov 6, 2018 17:57:08 GMT
There are endless tutorials on sword polishing and although the Japanese section here has been sanitized a bit, there are a couple of tutorials listed at the pinned thread there. Before a lot of youtube videos came along, there was a page put up that may be helpful www.arscives.com/bladesign/hybridpolish.htmDoing it yourself is only limited to your own efforts. Some start out with no knowledge of tools or craft and become quite talented. Try a practice piece and see if it is for you, or go straight away in adventure with a sword that appeals. Personally? I would skip spending the extra $100 unless it was meant as a decoration. What is your time worth? What are your interests in doing more than one sword? Badger Blades has a great reputation on the Rennie circuit but lack a lot of finesse. If you are just looking at a costume sword, no need to go further in sharpening. Their philosophy on how to make a sword and their representations of swords don't get a lot of appreciation with more experienced sword folk. A lot of money for an "indestructible" sword. I do plan to use my sword as a costume piece but I also want a fully functional sword. Some of the products on the Badger Blades website do look pretty but more important to me is functionality and durability which Badger Blades seems to fit the bill very well although just like with most if not all sword companies there is no doubt lots of controversy about Badger Blades. Nevertheless at least from the demonstrations I see Badger Blades does seem to live up to their claims. At renaissance faires I see them hit jeweler's anvils and tire rims with their swords and there are youtube videos of people smashing cinder blocks with badger blades and even shooting the blades.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2018 18:29:18 GMT
All the showmanship and praise overlooks what most regard aesthetically pleasing. Badger has been around since the 1990s and the discussions as old as the internet. In truth, most well made swords will pass similar "tests". Note that fittings and grips are not warranted.
So, I would say shop around. $500 can buy a Badger, or any other number of qualified and sturdy swords. If you want a sword for destructive testing, Badger may be right up your alley. In the end for what purpose? Spending money with them for showmanship doesn't make much sense for me, when they really aren't doing anything others are as capable of.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Nov 6, 2018 19:28:05 GMT
I was thinking that all you need is a rag and some polish, not a whole set of sand papers and stones. But I don't know much about polishing swords although I've polished other metal objects using just rags and polish and that was adequate. Sandpaper is cheap and is generally my preferred way. There is nothing mystical about the process and you will also need oil, WD-40 is good, and a backing. I also like one that is padded with a slightly compressible material such a mouse pad to go along with a harder backing. The amount of work will depend on several things such as metal hardness, depth of the brush marks, etc. You would probably start with 220 grit and go progressively finer until you reach the degree of shine to your liking possibly ending with 600 to 3000 grit. And if that doesn’t suite your fancy then go to a metal polish such as Metal Glo. There are any number of videos on YouTube showing various techniques. The big thing needed is patience. Also I’d like to point out as Edelweiss has and that is don’t be fooled by showmanship.
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Post by L Driggers (fallen) on Nov 6, 2018 20:19:39 GMT
I use to polish my sword a lot, later it doesn't work as well as it use to. Looks a little shorter to. Sucks getting old, at least almost everything else is still strong.
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Post by Ari L. on Nov 7, 2018 4:49:25 GMT
It really depends on how the blade is finished. When it comes to polishing you're only as smooth as your largest bump. Any blade with grind lines will need to get them polished out before you can mirror shine it. Like 60%-70% of polishing (this goes for wood too) is done at the coarser grains, the idea is that once you are left with only scratches from the coarse grain, you step up through the finer grits to remove each successively smaller scratch mark. Polishing paste can be good for a clean up or a shine, but it will highlight the large bumps instead of making them disappear, this can be quite interesting if done to purposeful pitting or marks but won't get it to a high polish. If you haven't polished hardened steel before it's not the same as other metals who's appearance is mostly based on tarnish, and are soft in comparison. There's a reason manufactures use power driven sanding belts if they have any sort of medium or large volume. Wow it's amusing to see that link after so many years!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 8:22:07 GMT
It really depends on how the blade is finished. When it comes to polishing you're only as smooth as your largest bump. Any blade with grind lines will need to get them polished out before you can mirror shine it. Like 60%-70% of polishing (this goes for wood too) is done at the coarser grains, the idea is that once you are left with only scratches from the coarse grain, you step up through the finer grits to remove each successively smaller scratch mark. Polishing paste can be good for a clean up or a shine, but it will highlight the large bumps instead of making them disappear, this can be quite interesting if done to purposeful pitting or marks but won't get it to a high polish. If you haven't polished hardened steel before it's not the same as other metals who's appearance is mostly based on tarnish, and are soft in comparison. There's a reason manufactures use power driven sanding belts if they have any sort of medium or large volume. Wow it's amusing to see that link after so many years! I dunno about amusing but I miss both Antonio and Brian on the boards. Brian was last seen on the boards at Don Foggs place. I imagine both are on FB, I think I saw Antonio over there and then didn't follow up.
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Post by xtremetrainer on Nov 7, 2018 15:17:20 GMT
All the showmanship and praise overlooks what most regard aesthetically pleasing. Badger has been around since the 1990s and the discussions as old as the internet. In truth, most well made swords will pass similar "tests". Note that fittings and grips are not warranted. So, I would say shop around. $500 can buy a Badger, or any other number of qualified and sturdy swords. If you want a sword for destructive testing, Badger may be right up your alley. In the end for what purpose? Spending money with them for showmanship doesn't make much sense for me, when they really aren't doing anything others are as capable of. In the video a Badger Blade is able to take a shot from a .45 ACP and it only gets dented a bit. Im not sure if most swords would be able to take a shot from a .45 ACP without breaking or at least having a hole in the blade. A 9mm I would think would leave a hole since its a smaller and faster round but the Badger Blade is able to take shots from a 9mm and a .45 ACP and hardly get dented.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 15:27:56 GMT
All the showmanship and praise overlooks what most regard aesthetically pleasing. Badger has been around since the 1990s and the discussions as old as the internet. In truth, most well made swords will pass similar "tests". Note that fittings and grips are not warranted. So, I would say shop around. $500 can buy a Badger, or any other number of qualified and sturdy swords. If you want a sword for destructive testing, Badger may be right up your alley. In the end for what purpose? Spending money with them for showmanship doesn't make much sense for me, when they really aren't doing anything others are as capable of. In the video a Badger Blade is able to take a shot from a .45 ACP and it only gets dented a bit. Im not sure if most swords would be able to take a shot from a .45 ACP without breaking or at least having a hole in the blade. A 9mm I would think would leave a hole since its a smaller and faster round but the Badger Blade is able to take shots from a 9mm and a .45 ACP and hardly get dented. Spending money with them for showmanship doesn't make much sense for me, when they really aren't doing anything others are as capable of. There is nothing magical about Badger but far be it from me to deny you your passion. I will repeat though that the videos don't show anything most any similar sword can't handle.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Nov 8, 2018 17:00:16 GMT
All the showmanship and praise overlooks what most regard aesthetically pleasing. Badger has been around since the 1990s and the discussions as old as the internet. In truth, most well made swords will pass similar "tests". Note that fittings and grips are not warranted. So, I would say shop around. $500 can buy a Badger, or any other number of qualified and sturdy swords. If you want a sword for destructive testing, Badger may be right up your alley. In the end for what purpose? Spending money with them for showmanship doesn't make much sense for me, when they really aren't doing anything others are as capable of. In the video a Badger Blade is able to take a shot from a .45 ACP and it only gets dented a bit. Im not sure if most swords would be able to take a shot from a .45 ACP without breaking or at least having a hole in the blade. A 9mm I would think would leave a hole since its a smaller and faster round but the Badger Blade is able to take shots from a 9mm and a .45 ACP and hardly get dented. But you'll never need to block a bullet with a sword. If you want it go for it, but 500+ dollars is a lot to put down for what they are.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Nov 8, 2018 19:20:25 GMT
I saw the demonstration and see the commentaries. All are meaningless to me without the load being stated. For example I could, not now but in the past, take a .357 Mag and load it down to sub .38 S&W Special velocities, use a HP pure lead bullet and be justified in saying look how this stood up to a .357. I could even show the cartridge before hand and most people wouldn’t know what they were looking at, only the effect or the lack thereof, on the target. But really, what does that prove? I’ll bet after a sufficient amount of cutting the Badger blade will need to be polished to remove the scratches, if that sort of things bothers you.
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Post by xtremetrainer on Nov 8, 2018 20:19:39 GMT
In the video a Badger Blade is able to take a shot from a .45 ACP and it only gets dented a bit. Im not sure if most swords would be able to take a shot from a .45 ACP without breaking or at least having a hole in the blade. A 9mm I would think would leave a hole since its a smaller and faster round but the Badger Blade is able to take shots from a 9mm and a .45 ACP and hardly get dented. But you'll never need to block a bullet with a sword. If you want it go for it, but 500+ dollars is a lot to put down for what they are. I suppose it depends on what you want. If you want nothing more than a wall hanger than I would recommend spending about $25 on a stainless steel SLO (Sword Like Object) which can look really good on the wall but doesn't function well as a real sword.
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