|
|
Post by dhall on Mar 18, 2021 14:26:11 GMT
|
|
AndiTheBarvarian
Member
"Lord of the Memes"
Bavarianbarbarian - Semper Semprini
Posts: 10,343
Member is Online
|
Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Mar 18, 2021 17:06:41 GMT
Interesting sword, but I always want to know specs like weight and PoB distance from the guard.
I really like my Honshu two edged ninja sword but I hesitated long time to buy it without those informations.
|
|
|
|
Post by alientude on Mar 18, 2021 17:15:01 GMT
I'm interested to see the review, particularly details about distal taper, handling, weight, etc. It could just be the picture, but the handle looks much more like a bastard length, rather than a single hand.
|
|
AJGBlack
Member
"This world will stress you like Orson Wells on the radio." -RTJ
Posts: 481
|
Post by AJGBlack on Mar 18, 2021 19:13:41 GMT
I'm interested to see the review, particularly details about distal taper, handling, weight, etc. It could just be the picture, but the handle looks much more like a bastard length, rather than a single hand. I thought similarly. It also looks inspired by some interpretations/remainings of the Weta Boromir sword. FWIW I dig it. Not a fan of having "HONSHU" along the blade like that though. A simpler maker mark in the fuller would look more classy, but that's me. |
|
|
|
Post by Kane Shen on Mar 18, 2021 19:49:07 GMT
The hexagonal cross section with double fuller looks quite interesting. That profile taper will also probably make this a functional piece. Also that cord wrapped grip is an interesting direction away from the typical tactical grip. Good for UC trying to step out of the usual comfort zone. 👍
|
|
|
|
Post by swordmaster0813 on Mar 18, 2021 22:34:09 GMT
Does windlass make all the Honshu swords?
|
|
|
|
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 18, 2021 23:35:17 GMT
...looks much more like a bastard length, rather than a single hand. I thought similarly. It also looks inspired by some interpretations/remainings of the Weta Boromir sword. That was my thought as well. It's the Boromir profile, which was also used in the discontinued Windlass Mercenary, albeit with different blade cross section shape. It's a good shape, a XIV turned into a bastard sword, and I think the market needed a good beater version. I'm a little on the small side myself compared to Sean Bean, so mostly two hands for me I think. |
|
|
|
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 19, 2021 1:28:18 GMT
I always want to know specs like weight and PoB distance from the guard. I'll make sure all that's in my review; time to finally get calipers as well so I can accurately report thickness at different points on the blade. Looking forward, I think Drew's taking advice under consideration and I expect we'll see more comprehensive stats on their product pages soon enough. Although I won't complain if they keep sending them to me for measurement. |
|
|
|
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 25, 2021 1:22:28 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 25, 2021 1:28:36 GMT
So... the sword is 4 lbs, 12.8 oz on my scale. Point of balance is 4". I can swing it with one hand but it is quite obviously more of a bastard sword, and a heavy one at that. The WETA Boromir sword itself is like 5 lbs, so they didn't exactly screw it up. It's just a big sword. Like, Mighty Captain of Gondor big. I'm 5'7" myself, and this is a two hander for me for all intents and purposes other than throwing a downward cut here and there.
It's solid, no rattle, feels like a beast of a cutter as well as a wicked thruster. The sword is quite thick all the way to the tip. The double fullers look good, better than I expected to be honest. Grip stitching is kind of rough looking but as long as it doesn't come undone under handling stress, I'll be happy. Grip is chunky wide. Pommel is screwed on and comes off when you unscrew the cap nut. Grip appears to be epoxied in place. You'll get to see the tang but not until after I finish the test cutting.
Feels like a user. Not subtle. Looks good enough on the wall.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kane Shen on Mar 25, 2021 2:04:49 GMT
4.8 lbs on a 30" blade? @.@
This seems to be quite a departure from some of the earlier Honshu line designs. That hand-and-a-half sword Dave reviewed and the tactical katana are a little heavy yet still seem to be well balanced and not clunky.
The point of balance at 4" on this one seems to be rather nice, but the weight is quite over-the-top. A larger specimen of type XIV sword with that broad profile typically comes in between 2.5-3 lbs. This is also quite uncharacteristic for Windlass, which produces sword within a reasonable weight class.
|
|
|
|
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 25, 2021 2:28:43 GMT
4.8 lbs on a 30" blade? @.@ This seems to be quite a departure from some of the earlier Honshu line designs. That hand-and-a-half sword Dave reviewed and the tactical katana are a little heavy yet still seem to be well balanced and not clunky. The point of balance at 4" on this one seems to be rather nice, but the weight is quite over-the-top. A larger specimen of type XIV sword with that broad profile typically comes in between 2.5-3 lbs. This is also quite uncharacteristic for Windlass, which produces sword within a reasonable weight class. It is heavy. For what it's worth, I was actually quite surprised when I set it on the scale, because from dry handling I had estimated just under 4 lbs. It was actually a full pound heavier than I thought. The weight is well distributed. It "flows" pretty okay. No normal type XIV approaches this weight, but then again the other type XIV repros available are all quite a bit smaller and are dedicated one-handers. The old Windlass Mercenary was more than a pound lighter, but it was hollow ground and had a more delicate crossguard. As of now I'm sort of classifying this as a niche sword. Do you want a Boromir sword you can actually cut with? This is it. Are you a freak who bends barbells and drinks a gallon of milk a day? You'll have a lot of fun with this one as a casual cutter. My cutting video/review will be up in a few weeks. That'll be some data to go off. I know Drew has other Honshu Historic blades in the works. I would hope none of them trend any heavier than this. This is kind of a line in the sand as far as that goes. |
|
|
|
Post by Kane Shen on Mar 25, 2021 2:37:48 GMT
4.8 lbs on a 30" blade? @.@ This seems to be quite a departure from some of the earlier Honshu line designs. That hand-and-a-half sword Dave reviewed and the tactical katana are a little heavy yet still seem to be well balanced and not clunky. The point of balance at 4" on this one seems to be rather nice, but the weight is quite over-the-top. A larger specimen of type XIV sword with that broad profile typically comes in between 2.5-3 lbs. This is also quite uncharacteristic for Windlass, which produces sword within a reasonable weight class. It is heavy. For what it's worth, I was actually quite surprised when I set it on the scale, because from dry handling I had estimated just under 4 lbs. It was actually a full pound heavier than I thought. The weight is well distributed. It "flows" pretty okay. No normal type XIV approaches this weight, but then again the other type XIV repros available are all quite a bit smaller and are dedicated one-handers. The old Windlass Mercenary was more than a pound lighter, but it was hollow ground and had a more delicate crossguard. As of now I'm sort of classifying this as a niche sword. Do you want a Boromir sword you can actually cut with? This is it. Are you a freak who bends barbells and drinks a gallon of milk a day? You'll have a lot of fun with this one as a casual cutter. Hahahaha. I one-handed a Del Tin zweihander to cut. In all seriousness, feeling lighter than its scale reading is a sign it's balanced well. |
|
Aikidoka
Member
Monstrous monk in training...
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Aikidoka on Mar 26, 2021 1:03:28 GMT
So... the sword is 4 lbs, 12.8 oz on my scale. Point of balance is 4". I can swing it with one hand but it is quite obviously more of a bastard sword, and a heavy one at that. The WETA Boromir sword itself is like 5 lbs, so they didn't exactly screw it up. It's just a big sword. Like, Mighty Captain of Gondor big. I'm 5'7" myself, and this is a two hander for me for all intents and purposes other than throwing a downward cut here and there. It's solid, no rattle, feels like a beast of a cutter as well as a wicked thruster. The sword is quite thick all the way to the tip. The double fullers look good, better than I expected to be honest. Grip stitching is kind of rough looking but as long as it doesn't come undone under handling stress, I'll be happy. Grip is chunky wide. Pommel is screwed on and comes off when you unscrew the cap nut. Grip appears to be epoxied in place. You'll get to see the tang but not until after I finish the test cutting. Feels like a user. Not subtle. Looks good enough on the wall. Wow, that's a big one!
Just FYI, the WETA master swordsmith Boromir sword is under 4 lbs. It has a point of balance at 1.5 inches, making it wieldable in one hand if you can handle the weight. This was accomplished by distal taper and deep fullers.
|
|
|
|
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 26, 2021 5:20:23 GMT
So... the sword is 4 lbs, 12.8 oz on my scale. Point of balance is 4". I can swing it with one hand but it is quite obviously more of a bastard sword, and a heavy one at that. The WETA Boromir sword itself is like 5 lbs, so they didn't exactly screw it up. It's just a big sword. Like, Mighty Captain of Gondor big. I'm 5'7" myself, and this is a two hander for me for all intents and purposes other than throwing a downward cut here and there. It's solid, no rattle, feels like a beast of a cutter as well as a wicked thruster. The sword is quite thick all the way to the tip. The double fullers look good, better than I expected to be honest. Grip stitching is kind of rough looking but as long as it doesn't come undone under handling stress, I'll be happy. Grip is chunky wide. Pommel is screwed on and comes off when you unscrew the cap nut. Grip appears to be epoxied in place. You'll get to see the tang but not until after I finish the test cutting. Feels like a user. Not subtle. Looks good enough on the wall. Wow, that's a big one!
Just FYI, the WETA master swordsmith Boromir sword is under 4 lbs. It has a point of balance at 1.5 inches, making it wieldable in one hand if you can handle the weight. This was accomplished by distal taper and deep fullers.
Good to know, not sure where I saw 5 lbs. Your WETA Boromir is truly a masterpiece. As for this one... the good is that they used quite thick stock for it. My estimate is 5-6mm thickness. I'll get calipers. The bad is there is little or no distal taper. Cutting tests to follow but my main recommendation to UC will be to either have Windlass spend a little longer grinding the last half of the blade much, much thinner in a lenticular shape, or start with thinner stock. The first option will make a much better sword, especially if they can get it down to around 3.5 lbs with distal taper and maybe slight reduction of the guard and pommel. Probably wouldn't even have to change the fittings - thinning down the blade would probably shift POB to mimic the WETA sword better anyways. There's going to be added production cost to do that, but I can't imagine it would be that expensive to have a Windlass craftsman spend an extra 30 minutes thinning it on a extra coarse slack belt before the whole polishing process. I can't imagine it would bump cost over $275. But it would suddenly make this sword a serious budget performance cutter that people might actually seek out for its handling. There's also the possibility that the user could thin it, but most people aren't looking for that kind of project. Maybe I'll give it a try. But the order will be - cutting and durability tests as is, then potentially destroying the grip to check the tang structure, then modding the blade for performance. |
|
|
|
Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Apr 6, 2021 14:05:48 GMT
 Video is being edited together this week. It's still heavy but it did prove itself very durable. |
|
|
|
Post by cearball on Aug 24, 2022 15:09:38 GMT
|
|
