My Hanwei Side Sword
Oct 27, 2008 13:32:24 GMT
Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2008 13:32:24 GMT
First off, this isn’t a review.
Second, this is my first western sword, and so I decided to give back to this forum by sharing my experience.
I chose the Hanwei Side Sword primarily because of the blade, reasoning that the balance should be fairly neutral for combat against those lightly armored. A neutral balance should be easier to control during dry handling and cutting, reducing my chances of causing damage to something unintentionally.
I purchased my sword from www.hanweikatanaswords.com for $165 to my door. It was the last one and Pamela had it on sale.
The sword came double boxed. I inspected it as I was wiping it down and noticed that the pommel was loose. No biggie, as I was going to disassemble the grip to inspect it anyway. The tang was substantial and looked structurally sound. A little red loctite and the sword was ready to handle.
Not wanting to pick up bad habits, I asked this forum if there is a correct way to hold this sword. Going by the answers, I settled on a specific grip.
The edge was pretty smooth, but I hit it with a soft stone anyway.
A week or two after I received the sword, I decided to cut the outer box. By now I’d become confident in my ability to control this sword because I practiced almost daily by cutting twigs off of my mesquite trees. And so I taped the box closed and stood it up and took swings at it. The box cut fine, but after the second or third swing I noticed that something was loose. It was the handle. The loctite didn’t hold (but I guess I was expecting that).
Up to this point I must confess that I didn’t feel completely comfortable with this sword. I didn’t have complete confidence in its structural integrity (kind of like a gun that jams occasionally). The plastic grip has a lot of gap between it and the tang, and it looked like it was secured only at the ends (guard and pommel). So I asked one of my buddies at work if there was an epoxy that works on both steel and plastic and cures without heat. He recommended JB Weld.
I used JB Weld applied with a syringe to fill that gap. I also hit the threads of the tang, knowing I’d have to destroy the grip if I wanted to get to the tang. After a 24 hour cure, the grip was solid and I began to have confidence in this sword. But there was one more test…. So I took the inner box, taped it up, and went outside. I also had three heavy plastic bottles (like shampoo bottles) which I filled with water.
The first cut on the box was pretty good. No rattles. So I took a Conan swing and cut the box in half. The sword still didn’t rattle. The handle was nice and tight. Encouraged, I made a stand out of cinder block and clay pots and set a bottle on top. A short, controlled swing (maybe 30 degrees) and the bottle was in two pieces! The cut was clean. The other two bottles bit the dust in a similar manner. One of the bottles was severed near the top, so I set it on the stand empty and cut it cleanly in half! This is the first time I’ve ever cut bottles, and I was amazed at the results. This is addictive! Very addictive!
Of course, cutting was done after watching a lot of videos from this forum.
The only thing I don’t like about this sword is that it is right handed. I may alter the quillions and guard to accommodate either hand. Time will tell….
KH Cho
Second, this is my first western sword, and so I decided to give back to this forum by sharing my experience.
I chose the Hanwei Side Sword primarily because of the blade, reasoning that the balance should be fairly neutral for combat against those lightly armored. A neutral balance should be easier to control during dry handling and cutting, reducing my chances of causing damage to something unintentionally.
I purchased my sword from www.hanweikatanaswords.com for $165 to my door. It was the last one and Pamela had it on sale.
The sword came double boxed. I inspected it as I was wiping it down and noticed that the pommel was loose. No biggie, as I was going to disassemble the grip to inspect it anyway. The tang was substantial and looked structurally sound. A little red loctite and the sword was ready to handle.
Not wanting to pick up bad habits, I asked this forum if there is a correct way to hold this sword. Going by the answers, I settled on a specific grip.
The edge was pretty smooth, but I hit it with a soft stone anyway.
A week or two after I received the sword, I decided to cut the outer box. By now I’d become confident in my ability to control this sword because I practiced almost daily by cutting twigs off of my mesquite trees. And so I taped the box closed and stood it up and took swings at it. The box cut fine, but after the second or third swing I noticed that something was loose. It was the handle. The loctite didn’t hold (but I guess I was expecting that).
Up to this point I must confess that I didn’t feel completely comfortable with this sword. I didn’t have complete confidence in its structural integrity (kind of like a gun that jams occasionally). The plastic grip has a lot of gap between it and the tang, and it looked like it was secured only at the ends (guard and pommel). So I asked one of my buddies at work if there was an epoxy that works on both steel and plastic and cures without heat. He recommended JB Weld.
I used JB Weld applied with a syringe to fill that gap. I also hit the threads of the tang, knowing I’d have to destroy the grip if I wanted to get to the tang. After a 24 hour cure, the grip was solid and I began to have confidence in this sword. But there was one more test…. So I took the inner box, taped it up, and went outside. I also had three heavy plastic bottles (like shampoo bottles) which I filled with water.
The first cut on the box was pretty good. No rattles. So I took a Conan swing and cut the box in half. The sword still didn’t rattle. The handle was nice and tight. Encouraged, I made a stand out of cinder block and clay pots and set a bottle on top. A short, controlled swing (maybe 30 degrees) and the bottle was in two pieces! The cut was clean. The other two bottles bit the dust in a similar manner. One of the bottles was severed near the top, so I set it on the stand empty and cut it cleanly in half! This is the first time I’ve ever cut bottles, and I was amazed at the results. This is addictive! Very addictive!
Of course, cutting was done after watching a lot of videos from this forum.
The only thing I don’t like about this sword is that it is right handed. I may alter the quillions and guard to accommodate either hand. Time will tell….
KH Cho