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Post by oblivion123 on Aug 4, 2019 23:35:36 GMT
Hello and thank you for your time, i currently have a sword in my possession, its a little rough around the edges, but the biggest thing, is the handle of the weapon, its very wobbly and frail, and i was wondering how i would go about fixing it, the guard is also very frail so any ideas on how to fix it would be appreciated. Pictures are posted below... sorry fir the bad camera quality.
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Post by elbrittania39 on Aug 4, 2019 23:52:47 GMT
Welcome aboard.
So that sword looks like it probably wasn't made to the highest quality. More than likley it has what is called a "rat tail tang" or a very skinny tang that isnt very stable and can break during use. For this reason, I would not reccomend swinging that in earnest even after repairs.
However, as far as repairs go, if the tang is threaded, you could try twisting the pommel to tighten it. That will put more pressure on the entire hilt and help compress everything to keep it from moving. If the pommel cannot be tightened, you could use epoxy or copper shims to fill the gaps where the blade meets the guard.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Aug 4, 2019 23:59:59 GMT
Welcome to the forum and I'll echo elbritania's advice. Regardless of what works and the sword feels tight I don't recommend swinging it and certainly not cutting with it. Hang it on the wall and admire it if that suites you, but no more.
Also a thin CA glue will be easier to get in the cracks than an epoxy. Get one that is thin with low surface tension and if that doesn't work one that designed for gap filling. I can't see your sword so I can't tell offhand which way to go. CA, if you don't know is sold under many names such as Krazy Glue, Super Glue, Loctite Super Glue, and there are others. In fact Loctite has a number of thread lockers on the market that should get into the joint cracks easily and my very well work. I'd suggest Loctite 242 and should be easier to use that CA. Once applied wipe the surface clean before it sets, an advantage over CA where you have to be quick. Epoxy will work for sure but I suggest giving one of the above a try first.
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Post by oblivion123 on Aug 5, 2019 0:23:13 GMT
I see, but what sword do you recommend for beginners? and where can they be bought?
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Post by elbrittania39 on Aug 5, 2019 0:33:46 GMT
I see, but what sword do you recommend for beginners? and where can they be bought? Heh, now that is a very large question. Okay so where to buy swords? I'd reccomend both Kult of Athena and the SBG store (links below). www.kultofathena.com/sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/index.htmlThe next part of your question depends a lot on you. What kind of swords are you interested in? How much money do you have to spend? Do you want to drill, spar, or test cut? What I would reccomend depends a lot on where you are coming at this from. I would reccomend just browsing Kult of Athena and seeing what catches your fancy for now, then coming back here and seeing if there are any reviews or just straight up asking what people think of it. I'd reccomend staying away from Deepeeka, and bare in mind you tend to get what you pay for, so if a sword is under $200, it's probably pretty poor (with one or two exceptions). A popular beginner line is the Hanwei Tinker swords. These are swords designed by Michael Tinker, a talented custom smith, and mass produced by Hanwei, a company in China. The swords are all about $250, and very basic in terms of appearance, but built from high quality materials and handle quite well in terms of balance, weight, etc.
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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 5, 2019 1:59:35 GMT
I second on elbritt's sword advice. The sword you have is a Pakistan wall hanger with a VERY POOR welded-on rat tail tang. It's basically fit for display only. I would be hesitant to even lightly swing it...especially around people or pets. In short---it's dangerous for anything except to look at. I can say this because I used to have the exact same sword...a long----long----long time ago. I think I bought it from BudK for like $29.95...and I got rooked, even then.
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pgandy
Moderator
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Post by pgandy on Aug 5, 2019 2:26:44 GMT
If you are interested in western swords Windlass is a good old standby and some models can be had for less than $200. Your options increase if you can add another $50. But a decent, dependable Windlass can be had in the $200 or less range. They can be had at KoA and MRL. As a member of the forum MRL will give a 10% discount with the promo code making the pricing of the two about equal. If you watch their site they sometimes put a sword on the DoD (Deal of the Day) and you can apply you discount to that price. In fact at this moment, 4 August, they are offering their Hungarian Saber for $116.95 w/discount. www.museumreplicas.com/hungarian-saber. A review can be found at sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/45386MRL www.museumreplicas.com/KoA www.kultofathena.com/For Windlass as sold by KoA www.kultofathena.com/windlass-swords.aspThe SBG Store mentioned above is also a good one. If you go oriental Musashi™ makes good introduction katanas. Look for the trade mark and not a sword that some vendor decided to stick the name on. True Swords would be a place to look but again there is SBG Store and KoA. True Swords www.trueswords.com/
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Post by bebut on Aug 5, 2019 2:31:56 GMT
www.sword-buyers-guide.com/buy-swords-online.html has some good info. also, Skallagrim on You Tube has videos on good budget swords. Some suggestions-- Figure out what your aim is in buying a sword. Self defense, recreational, historical interest, whatever? Gear your purchase to your need. Read multiple reviews before buying if possible. Manufacturer and vendor reviews don't count for much, look for consumer reviews by actual buyers. Also consider the source of reviews. A sword enthusiast site like this one will tend to have better reviews than Amazon which sells to a broader public. There are a couple other online sword sites, but they are not as friendly and open as this one, but they do have reviews worth reading. For example, I was recently looking online at the Outback Bowie, a very handsome knife. Eventually I came to a review about one that broke because it has a rat tail tang. I found another review that said save your money and buy a Boar's Tusk at KOA in 1095 steel, full tang, for 1/3 the cost and another that claimed Outbacks were made in China which is not suitable to me. So now the Boar's tusk is on my radar. Be realistic in your price range and buy quality. There are a few long swords that are good in the under $200 range, Mostly Windlass, but generally you should be looking up in the $500 range. Short swords have a different price range so $300 should get you fairly high quality. Another thing I learned is to look at the weight. My interest is in short swords and I have found that one with a 17 inch blade should weigh about 1.5 pounds. Anything more is too heavy and slow. Many historical short swords were designed to hit wooden shields and were made quite heavy, some up to 3 pounds. Since I don't plan on banging on wooden shields, they are not right for me but might work for somebody else. Anyway, look twice and buy once, have fun and don't cut yourself!
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