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Post by tancred on Apr 24, 2019 4:53:45 GMT
Ugh, I might have to wait a bit longer for that Italian Longsword. I keep telling myself, "its only money." But, as it turns out, I'm a bit of a miser. Ha, ha! Or, maybe its just that I want too many swords and/or armor. Hope there are still more to go around in a little bit.
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Post by crl2 on Apr 24, 2019 4:54:59 GMT
I agree. Handles great in hand. Good balance. I hope all the problems on the Balaur swords are this minimal. I plan on getting a few. I will let you gentlemen know how my second longsword and Teutonic sword look like when they get here in a few days.
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Post by Croccifixio on Apr 24, 2019 5:59:10 GMT
Interested to see how the Teutonic feels like. It's a rare combination of elements that appeals to me.
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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 Apr 24, 2019 12:36:26 GMT
I just got mine today as well and instantly purchased another one. The blade is not bad at all. Very slight warp at tip. VERY slight. The peen on the pommel is a little off. Not bad. The guard looks fine. I have seen way worse that were not "seconds". Super sword for the money. I ordered a Teutonic as well. I'll be anxiously waiting for your thoughts and impressions of the Teutonic. You just don't see many crescent pommels on the market, and I bet it will be super comfortable in hand for swinging. And it just looks cool as hell....
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Post by crl2 on Apr 24, 2019 13:38:15 GMT
They should be here Thursday or Friday. I will let you know.
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Post by elbrittania39 on Apr 26, 2019 4:05:58 GMT
I like the look of the arming sword a lot. Guard might be a tad long for my taste but shaving off a half inch on each side would be easy.
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Post by crl2 on Apr 26, 2019 15:14:54 GMT
I have two of their 2nd grade 13th century fullered longswords (the one without the langet) and 1 second grade teutonic arming sword coming in today. I'll post my thoughts. I would be interested in you thoughts on the 13th century longswords. I have one as well which is not a 2nd grade.
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Post by crl2 on Apr 26, 2019 16:52:56 GMT
So got two more Balaur 2nd quality swords today. First, I liked the Italian Longsword so much I purchased a second one. The two negatives found on the new one is the pommel is definitely more rough then the first one. Serviceable but not as aesthetically pleasing as the first. Also much more rattle between blade and scabbard. Probably an easy fix. Blade is really good. Really can not find much of a fault with it. Crossguard is fine as well. Again, cost to performance level is to me quite high. Now the Tuetonic sword. Super happy with it. Blade is fine. Guard is fine. Pommel is a little off but with the half moon or boat style pommel is hard to tell. Totally comfortable in hand. Lots of epoxy present between fittings but easy to clean up. Sword feels light, pretty well balanced and the edge profile is thin. Should be easy to sharpen. My only other single handed swords to compair to see MRL/Windlass and an older Tinker. This sword seems really light and quick in comparison. Also noted is the scabbard is the same as the longsword. But does not rattle and seems to fit ok. This thing is definitely worth 119 dollars in my opinion.
So far the Balaur 2nd quality swords to me seem a pretty good deal. I plan to use them so cosmetic problems really are not bothering to me. And the cosmetic problems do not seem that bad. I do feel like I have to say that "your milage may vary". The pommel on today's longsword was a little bit of a bummer but still a hell of a sword for 150 dollars. I definitely will pick up a few more of the 2nd quality swords. Good value. I would like to see some more normal quality swords from them.
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Post by joeybones on Apr 26, 2019 18:03:11 GMT
I was always hesitant on ordering a "second". I might consider what one person things is minor to be a major defect.
I know it's probably not possible but I would be nice to know what defect or defects are on the particular sword being purchased.
In any event they do look tempting
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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 Apr 26, 2019 18:12:26 GMT
Okay, I'm convinced. I'll be getting a Teutonic in the near future. Sounds too good to pass up.
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Post by crl2 on Apr 26, 2019 20:23:02 GMT
Interesting as I thought my Teutonic blade was on the stiff side. When I get home I will have to do some measuring.
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Post by snowbite on Apr 27, 2019 17:13:45 GMT
I was all set to find a H/T for my first longsword, then nternal pointed out this brand to me.
If I chose KoA's sharpening service on one of these 2nd quality versions, maybe they'd select one that wasn't twisted (since they're sharpening it themselves)? That's my hope, anyway.
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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 Apr 27, 2019 17:33:10 GMT
KOA usually tries to cull out anything *really bad* as twists and warps go, and put them in the 'munitions-grade' category. I'd be fairly confident you would get a decent blade.
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Post by Matt KOA on Apr 27, 2019 20:37:10 GMT
snowbrite: I haven't seen every single one of these Balaur Arms swords we have in stock, but I have seen a good sized sampling of each and all the ones I have seen have some degree of blade twist with some more apparent than others. The twisting is (on the examples I have seen) not so bad that they typically can't be sharpened and have a decent edge put on them. What makes these Balaur Arms swords into Factory Seconds is a consistent occurrence of cosmetic fit and finish issues coupled with a consistent tendency for there to be some twisting present. - but the twists in general are not bad enough that they can't be sharpened unlike blades which typically get made into munitions grade items.
Caveat: I am not the blade sharpener and I do not sharpen swords myself, but I do talk to our in-house sharpener and from what I understand it is the blades which are wavy, bent, unacceptably twisted or exhibiting edges with substantial variances in thickness which are either difficult to sharpen and get results that don't look strange or sloppy (uneven, waving bevels, notches appearing in the edges etc) or are so difficult to sharpen that it simply isn't economical to spend a great degree of time and effort to do so when weighed against the sharpening fee. These are downgraded into "munitions grade" swords and sold at discount. Some of these munitions grade swords don't look all that bad at a glance but a trained eye can see that they would be difficult to sharpen. Mileage varies however (particularly from brand to brand) and some are certainly more warped than others.
Our few shipping department people are pretty good at catching swords with quality control issues and I think it might surprise people if they really knew just how much stuff in general doesn't pass and either needs to get sent back to various manufacturers for replacements or sold at discounted loss prices. They are human so they don't catch everything every time necessarily, but the substantial amount of stuff being marked for issues proves they are catching a lot of things. Also - the standard for what qualifies as good, standard items varies between brands. What passes for standard quality in a low-price brand could be considered a blowout level issue for a high priced item. It doesn't make sense to hold 200 - 300 dollar swords to the same standards that you would give an Albion or Angus Trim - otherwise they all would be considered sub-par. They need to get judged against their peers in their respective brand and price point.
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Post by crl2 on Apr 27, 2019 21:32:37 GMT
snowbrite: I haven't seen every single one of these Balaur Arms swords we have in stock, but I have seen a good sized sampling of each and all the ones I have seen have some degree of blade twist with some more apparent than others. The twisting is (on the examples I have seen) not so bad that they typically can't be sharpened and have a decent edge put on them. What makes these Balaur Arms swords into Factory Seconds is a consistent occurrence of cosmetic fit and finish issues coupled with a consistent tendency for there to be some twisting present. - but the twists in general are not bad enough that they can't be sharpened unlike blades which typically get made into munitions grade items. Caveat: I am not the blade sharpener and I do not sharpen swords myself, but I do talk to our in-house sharpener and from what I understand it is the blades which are wavy, bent, unacceptably twisted or exhibiting edges with substantial variances in thickness which are either difficult to sharpen and get results that don't look strange or sloppy (uneven, waving bevels, notches appearing in the edges etc) or are so difficult to sharpen that it simply isn't economical to spend a great degree of time and effort to do so when weighed against the sharpening fee. These are downgraded into "munitions grade" swords and sold at discount. Some of these munitions grade swords don't look all that bad at a glance but a trained eye can see that they would be difficult to sharpen. Mileage varies however (particularly from brand to brand) and some are certainly more warped than others. Our few shipping department people are pretty good at catching swords with quality control issues and I think it might surprise people if they really knew just how much stuff in general doesn't pass and either needs to get sent back to various manufacturers for replacements or sold at discounted loss prices. They are human so they don't catch everything every time necessarily, but the substantial amount of stuff being marked for issues proves they are catching a lot of things. Also - the standard for what qualifies as good, standard items varies between brands. What passes for standard quality in a low-price brand could be considered a blowout level issue for a high priced item. It doesn't make sense to hold 200 - 300 dollar swords to the same standards that you would give an Albion or Angus Trim - otherwise they all would be considered sub-par. They need to get judged against their peers in their respective brand and price point. Matt, thanks for the information. Any idea when you are going to get 1st quality Balaur items in stock?
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Post by Matt KOA on Apr 27, 2019 21:55:42 GMT
Matt, thanks for the information. Any idea when you are going to get 1st quality Balaur items in stock? I don't know when we would have them. No sooner than a few months at the least is what I would expect, though the wait could be substantially longer. Hard to say for sure due to the wide range of variables involved in production time (which necessarily vary depending on level of manufacturer staffing, work backlog, etc) - not to mention time involved in packing and shipping. Also - the wide range of time a shipment can spend in customs makes it very difficult to make any precise predictions even when you know a shipment is en-route.
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Post by illustry on May 2, 2019 16:03:02 GMT
I just ordered the teutonic as well and will post findings here when it arrives.
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Post by crl2 on May 3, 2019 5:32:42 GMT
I just ordered the teutonic as well and will post findings here when it arrives. It will be interesting to get another review.
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Post by Deep on May 4, 2019 0:12:48 GMT
Hi guys, I just joined the forum today. This topic made me join. I ordered a Balaur Arms 14th Century Long sword 2nd. Also bought a Ryujin Katana from the SBG store. I like just about all European and Japanese Swords. Cheers.
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Post by William Swiger on May 4, 2019 0:26:32 GMT
Hi guys, I just joined the forum today. This topic made me join. I ordered a Balaur Arms 14th Century Long sword 2nd. Also bought a Ryujin Katana from the SBG store. I like just about all European and Japanese Swords. Cheers. Welcome to the forum!
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