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Post by Matthew.Jensen on Jan 29, 2019 18:54:49 GMT
I hope this is not too taboo a subject. I am looking for examples of the times Ryan Sword has participated in less than acceptable business practices. I am working on a review for a Sword of Northshire katana and it has come up that Ryan Sword is one of their suppliers. In the interests of giving perspective buyers all the information, I feel like including some of that information may be important.
To be clear I am not looking a vendor flame fest, just looking for specific and factual examples of bad. Why only bad? - Because I see lots of people that have provided examples of good. Before putting in anything bad, I want to be sure I have facts and screenshots and such.
If you have examples with screen shots n` such please let me know.
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Jan 29, 2019 19:09:26 GMT
I hope this is not too taboo a subject. I am looking for examples of the times Ryan Sword has participated in less than acceptable business practices. I am working on a review for a Sword of Northshire katana and it has come up that Ryan Sword is one of their suppliers. In the interests of giving perspective buyers all the information, I feel like including some of that information may be important. To be clear I am not looking a vendor flame fest, just looking for specific and factual examples of bad. Why only bad? - Because I see lots of people that have provided examples of good. Before putting in anything bad, I want to be sure I have facts and screenshots and such. If you have examples with screen shots n` such please let me know. I was skeptical till I realized it is thee matthew Jenson. I look forward to seeing reviews you do on ryansword
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Post by Matthew.Jensen on Jan 29, 2019 19:18:43 GMT
I hope this is not too taboo a subject. I am looking for examples of the times Ryan Sword has participated in less than acceptable business practices. I am working on a review for a Sword of Northshire katana and it has come up that Ryan Sword is one of their suppliers. In the interests of giving perspective buyers all the information, I feel like including some of that information may be important. To be clear I am not looking a vendor flame fest, just looking for specific and factual examples of bad. Why only bad? - Because I see lots of people that have provided examples of good. Before putting in anything bad, I want to be sure I have facts and screenshots and such. If you have examples with screen shots n` such please let me know. I was skeptical till I realized it is thee matthew Jenson. I look forward to seeing reviews you do on ryansword To be clear, I am reviewing a blade from Swords of Northshire. Some comments in the original video I put up noted an affiliation with Ryan Sword. The vendor clarified that Ryan Sword is one of the manufactures they use. Not necessary the only one but one they use to supply some swords. So I am not really reviewing a Ryan Sword. That said, given how some people feel about them it is worth noting. The same way I did with Cold Steel, or Angel Sword, or any of the other vendors I have rambled about.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Jan 30, 2019 2:43:20 GMT
The one that stuck out the most to me was when DigsFossils-n-Knives ordered a "sanmai" blade and proved that it was absolutely not what it said it was. www.sword-buyers-guide.com/ryan-sword.htmlOther than that, I can't recall any posts that went to that kind of effort and specificity to show facts, but heard a lot about improper/inadequate nakago, overly soft blades, etc. I've also heard several folks say that they are absolutely overjoyed with their sword, and that it is everything they wanted and more. In the end I think that a very shaky, tentative agreement was reached when dealing with Ryan Sword: stay around $100 with monosteel and you'll probably be okay, but steer way clear of higher priced "laminated" offerings. There was a little bit of a boom for them a few years ago, though that went sideways, but you probably remember that. I personally always hope that companies who offer low-cost options either do well or get better over time. Reports of good or at least acceptable products seem to be more the norm these days, but I think it'll take a long time for them to get to a really good place with some of the older collectors. Anyway, I'm off to check out your review, I'm suer interested in seeing what you think.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2019 5:57:31 GMT
Dont forget us guys who own one of their Atlanteans and are happy to have a quite well constructed (hear me, Windlass?) and useable (by means of weight; hear me, Albion?) interpretation of our favourite movie swordie...
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Jan 30, 2019 6:24:06 GMT
I feel like we've known each other long enough for you to know that I know what I'm talking about.
Quite some time ago, and I do mean years, I had emailed Ryansword. I didn't really like them, and noticed that both them and another sword "company" had a very similar sword for sale. I asked why theirs was considerably higher. The only response I got was a broken English (understandable, really) email basically saying that the quality was different several different times. It was clearly the exact same thing. Just further proved that I should stay away from them.
And lets not even BEGIN to touch the fact that they decided to use the ever-egotistical Donnie as their US rep... That decision alone should show all the shade you need to not buy from them.
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Post by zabazagobo on Jan 30, 2019 9:04:40 GMT
Donnie? I forget that name. Maybe for the best, but what's the story there? I vaguely recall something from years ago, but it didn't reach the level of hilarity of some of the other misfires so I don't remember so well. I've always thought they look like 'just another ebay sword seller', and a somewhat shady one for katana. I remember addertooth 's foray into finding genuine laminated blades, which was very well documented, and oh boy did Ryanswords combust several times over during the proceedings. He'd probably be happy to chat with you about the experience, and there should still be the thread around here somewhere. If I find it, I'll add it to this thread.
Also, you might want to ask Lonely Wolf Forge, the video I remember has been taken down but he's been pretty thorough with his critiques and tests of ryanswords stuff and it didn't do so hot.
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Feb 11, 2019 12:46:39 GMT
I hear that Addertooth guy is a rare and elusive creature, not frequently stopping by here. But yes, I will be happy to chat about my experience.
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Feb 11, 2019 13:28:06 GMT
My direct experience with Ryan Swords was a mixed one. After trying several manufacturers offerings in San Mai, I learned that most of the blades which were sold as San Mai were Maru Damascus (a solid billet of Damascus/pattern-steel) rather than San Mai. I had done detailed Ultra-Violet micro photographs to determine if there was a core material different than the side steel. I discovered most E-bay sellers had deceptively polished the edge to give the "appearance" of a different middle layer. Simply polishing the blade creatively did not fool the UV microphotographs. I ended up wondering if cost was the defining factor, to that end I purchased Ryan Swords most expensive offering, the "Handmade Katana Clay Tempered Shihozumi Japanese Sword with Kozuka+Kogai Shinken". It was supposed to come with a hazuya finish, and I paid extra for the handle to include Hishi-Gami (paper under the wrap to increase the fullness under the grip). I figured if I paid top dollar, I would get the top experience. I was also stoked to get a sword with Kozuka and Kogai (a knife and a pick) in the Saya. What arrived was correct in many areas, they did indeed do the Hishi-Gami in the TSUKA, and the ITO wrap was tight (synthetic not "genuine silk" as advertised. It did have a Kozuka and Kogai as advertised, but appeared to be steel which was not heat treated. And the Hazuya polish was very muddy on the blade. But the greatest sin was the blade was Maru (a solid billet, and not laminated of separate steel), it was a solid piece of Damascus. I contacted Ryan Swords, and they demanded proof it was not the promised Shihozume Lamination. I did detailed microphotographs of the blade under UV light and the provided them to the company. This is where the story gets a bit happy. They admitted they made an error, and when I asked for a replacement blade, they responded by sending me an entire sword, with kozuka and Kogai, a better Hazuya polish, a new saya, AND they let me keep my existing Maru blade. I did an examination, and the blade did appear to be at least San Mai, and most likely Shihozume lamination. How is this different than most Ebay sellers? Most did not want to admit they had sold me Maru blades, even when photographs were provided. One that did admit it, wanted me to pay the 100 buck shipping back to their forges of the old swords before they would send me a replacement for their mistake (one of these vendors was Ninja-Katana, which sent some really nice replacement San Mai blades). In that case, I simply asked them to send me some blades-only at a bargain price, it was only slightly more expensive than the shipping. One vendor Kaze99 would only send me a refund (minus their shipping costs to me for the blades, I had to pay shipping back to them) for the 3 blade matched set I had purchased (once they admitted they could not actually forge San Mai blades). Of the ten Ebay purchases, only one got it right on the first attempt, with NO squabbling required, that was Hanbon. Keep in mind that was Hanbon's top flagship blade. By the time I got to Hanbon, I had given up on the notion of an inexpensive San Mai blade through Ebay. The Hanbon was a Gyaku Kobuse blade, which is a thing of beauty. A side note to purchasing novices; always specify Hishigami (Hishi-Gami), as it forces them to use their most experienced Tsuka-Maki (handle wrapping) people to build it. You tend to end up with a prettier and tighter wrap for a few bucks more than the standard offering.
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Feb 13, 2019 17:05:13 GMT
Donnie? I forget that name. Maybe for the best, but what's the story there? I vaguely recall something from years ago, but it didn't reach the level of hilarity of some of the other misfires so I don't remember so well. I've always thought they look like 'just another ebay sword seller', and a somewhat shady one for katana. I remember addertooth 's foray into finding genuine laminated blades, which was very well documented, and oh boy did Ryanswords combust several times over during the proceedings. He'd probably be happy to chat with you about the experience, and there should still be the thread around here somewhere. If I find it, I'll add it to this thread.
Also, you might want to ask Lonely Wolf Forge , the video I remember has been taken down but he's been pretty thorough with his critiques and tests of ryanswords stuff and it didn't do so hot. Donny was a guy that showed up some years ago. He was very egotistical and arrogant. He jumped in our Game of SWORD, and ended up losing on a technicality that we all agreed on. (except him, obviously) So he went and created a group called AllSwords on Facebook so he could make his own version of the game that he offered prizes for. (and won said prizes himself, mind you.) It kind of ended up as a "worship lord Donny" kind of group for a while until my buddy Tom Kinder and a few other guys became admins. Donny, after having several swords sent to him to sharpen, suddenly disappeared. For... I dunno, about a year? Well, in that time Tom n' the gang had turned AllSwords in to a really nice and informative group. Great people, good historical info, and all about educating in the use and creation of swords. Then, out of nowhere, Donny just showed up again one day. Had some kind of sob story and was empty handed with all of the blades that he owed people. He told Tom to give him AllSwords back, but Tom said no. Throwing, yet again, another tantrum he wend and made another group called... All Swords and Knives? Something along those lines. But that group never gained any traction, and basically died out. I haven't seen/heard from Donny since, and I'm really not upset about it.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Feb 13, 2019 17:21:19 GMT
Lol I remember when he came back, it was kinda funny
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Feb 13, 2019 17:27:59 GMT
Lol. It was quite comical.
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Feb 13, 2019 17:47:00 GMT
Lol. It was quite comical. he comes back like hey guys I'm back one month later new post hey guys I'm out lol
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Post by zabazagobo on Feb 25, 2019 17:20:04 GMT
That is a fairly amusing anecdote- completely missed that one when it happened. The ego scratching 'make contests so I win the prizes' is actually pretty darn funny
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Mikeeman
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Post by Mikeeman on Apr 1, 2019 16:41:50 GMT
I have a clay hardened folded 1095 O-katana which bent. Id be willing to donate it in the name of science. It'd give you an additional example for testing if you wanted. Differentially hardened blades are designed to bend. Just bend it back. Should be good.
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Post by warriorpoet on Apr 27, 2019 16:11:33 GMT
I'm interested in their destroyer model, but very hesitant to pull the trigger due to some of the concerns raised. I wish reputable US vendors carried their wares.
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Post by Silent on Apr 28, 2019 7:58:38 GMT
In theory even ryansword should have increased quality over the years. But I wouldnt venture my "hard earn dollars" on something possible of unknow quality , and without seller support in case of needing to send it back.
Thats just me.
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reptaronice1
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 12, 2019 3:55:39 GMT
I hope this is not too taboo a subject. I am looking for examples of the times Ryan Sword has participated in less than acceptable business practices. I am working on a review for a Sword of Northshire katana and it has come up that Ryan Sword is one of their suppliers. In the interests of giving perspective buyers all the information, I feel like including some of that information may be important. To be clear I am not looking a vendor flame fest, just looking for specific and factual examples of bad. Why only bad? - Because I see lots of people that have provided examples of good. Before putting in anything bad, I want to be sure I have facts and screenshots and such. If you have examples with screen shots n` such please let me know. I actually bought from swords of northshire a week ago. I can provide pics if you want.
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