Post by Tiers1 on Sept 8, 2021 4:24:07 GMT
So there were really only two more items that I was interested to test from Budk- the Iron Rule Mace and the Forged Warrior Nagamaki. The mace is for some reason banned in my state so I was only able to get the Nagamaki. I also picked up another one of the Forged Warrior katanas just to have.
The forged warrior nagamaki is a sword length spear that is too heavy to use with a shield...so just kinda pointless. I knew that going in, and bought it, as I did with the other items, to see whether or not it was functional. This item is, shockingly, constructed with a full tang -I confirmed this by removing the handle- it is a 19" kukri hybrid blade with literally 21 inches of tang. I file tested it at around 52hrc, same as the katana. However, this one readily took a set when bending 25 degrees, and I couldn't get the bend out. Given the hardness, I would assume that this was quenched, but not tempered. It ships with a thin, synthetic scabbard the does fit well and the handle is comprised of two wood slabs affixed with bolts, the fit of the slabs to the tang was a little sloppy, but decent enough and certainly fine given the price point. I dispensed with the half measures and, after putting an edge on, immediately starting beating the crap out of the kettlebell I used last time. There was the expected damage to the edge. I then started to stike the recently re-sharpened katana. The Nagamaki took gouges of around 2mm and one very large chip, where around an inch of steel flaked off the edge.
I then secured the Nagamaki and started stiking the katana into it. The katana also, of course, took deep gouges, but no chipping. I then flipped them and started striking the spines into the kettlebell. They stayed together. The katana, in particular, continued to impress me. It looked like a saw, it was really beaten up. But despite striking the areas of spine above the worst of the notches over and over, the blade stayed together, and did not bend. None of the notches widened into cracks, and the handle wrap stayed tight. To be totally honest, I think if a multi-thousand dollar custom was abused and performed similarly, that would be deemed sufficient durability. I have already removed the damage. This still has enough meat left to be used...the performance will be reduced as there is less width and less weight, but it can still perform as a functional sword after all of that.
While I am certainly not on the level of our forum's most prolific collectors, I have owned some quite good stuff over the years, and to me, despite all the stereotypes that afflict BudK and most of what they sell, not a single item I received from them was junk...far from it. They were all hardened, put together with the intent of surviving use, and they all held together through abuse. I have had much more expensive things that didn't hold together as well. To me this likely represents the efficiency of the Chinese mass production apparatus, which to seems to now have the capability to produce functional edged weaponry that can be sold at a profit at 65 bucks. For better or worse, that is pretty amazing.
The forged warrior nagamaki is a sword length spear that is too heavy to use with a shield...so just kinda pointless. I knew that going in, and bought it, as I did with the other items, to see whether or not it was functional. This item is, shockingly, constructed with a full tang -I confirmed this by removing the handle- it is a 19" kukri hybrid blade with literally 21 inches of tang. I file tested it at around 52hrc, same as the katana. However, this one readily took a set when bending 25 degrees, and I couldn't get the bend out. Given the hardness, I would assume that this was quenched, but not tempered. It ships with a thin, synthetic scabbard the does fit well and the handle is comprised of two wood slabs affixed with bolts, the fit of the slabs to the tang was a little sloppy, but decent enough and certainly fine given the price point. I dispensed with the half measures and, after putting an edge on, immediately starting beating the crap out of the kettlebell I used last time. There was the expected damage to the edge. I then started to stike the recently re-sharpened katana. The Nagamaki took gouges of around 2mm and one very large chip, where around an inch of steel flaked off the edge.
I then secured the Nagamaki and started stiking the katana into it. The katana also, of course, took deep gouges, but no chipping. I then flipped them and started striking the spines into the kettlebell. They stayed together. The katana, in particular, continued to impress me. It looked like a saw, it was really beaten up. But despite striking the areas of spine above the worst of the notches over and over, the blade stayed together, and did not bend. None of the notches widened into cracks, and the handle wrap stayed tight. To be totally honest, I think if a multi-thousand dollar custom was abused and performed similarly, that would be deemed sufficient durability. I have already removed the damage. This still has enough meat left to be used...the performance will be reduced as there is less width and less weight, but it can still perform as a functional sword after all of that.
While I am certainly not on the level of our forum's most prolific collectors, I have owned some quite good stuff over the years, and to me, despite all the stereotypes that afflict BudK and most of what they sell, not a single item I received from them was junk...far from it. They were all hardened, put together with the intent of surviving use, and they all held together through abuse. I have had much more expensive things that didn't hold together as well. To me this likely represents the efficiency of the Chinese mass production apparatus, which to seems to now have the capability to produce functional edged weaponry that can be sold at a profit at 65 bucks. For better or worse, that is pretty amazing.