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Post by metinemre on Nov 26, 2023 19:08:13 GMT
Looking for sub $600 trusted sellers with consistent good blades and tempering.
Not worried about authenticity or kissaki shapes or fittings quality. Basically after many forges shutting down or disappearing or Huawei being 2 years wait and order cancel/money refund scenarios.
Are there any decent sellers left on ebay/ali express to trust and buy entry to mid level katana?
Where do people go nowadays for their beaters? Dragon sword, dragon king, Jkoo/sinosword?
How about hanbon, ryan sword etc any better/worse? Been googling and searching but seems like demand is rising again and options are less.
Any way to still acquire kaneie/kurin? (banging my head fo not buying a few when they were close out/fire sale everywhere few years ago)
Is 5160/9260 spring steel still the safest or t10`s and 1060,1070`s popular for beaters and rookie backyard cutters with bade technic?
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Post by larason2 on Nov 26, 2023 20:32:05 GMT
I may be wrong, but Ali Express is just an alternative distribution network for the big companies. From what I gather, manufacturers make a deal with their local distributors in China that part of the package for accepting their merchandise is they will ship the odd item to customers that order from Ali Express. My wife has ordered items from Ali Express, and sometimes it takes 3-6 months to get the item! She often didn't have to pay for it, but the manufacturers seem to be willing to take the loss, since they seem to be paying basically nothing to have the item shipped to the consumer.
Ebay is a little different, since you have some companies like Wang2011 selling things direct to the customer through there.
You'll probably get a different list from everyone, but I've bought from Wang 2011 and Jkoo, and I was very pleased with the experience. I'm also a Ronin fan, but not everyone else seems to be these days! Ryansword and Dragonsword (swordcn.com) seem to be reliable and often used by those on the forum.
All of these seem to be from the same small number of forges in Longquan, so with all of them they are fairly reliable, but you do get lemons. They are all made to roughly the same specs, and all use roughly the same furniture. There's some things that are never perfect, such as the finishing or the kissaki, but I wouldn't expect that kind of perfection from them!
5160/9260/T10/1060/1070 from them are all probably pretty reliable and have reasonable heat treat. They are all relatively similar steels, and are probably all treated interchangeably at the forges. You can always get the odd lemon with a failed heat treat. As usual, through hardened is probably a bit more reliable than differentially hardened, just because it's easier to heat treat well. The main difference between 5160/9260/T10 and the 1060/70 carbon steels is the alloy steels will hold an edge a bit better and be slightly tougher. The low carbon steels are unlikely to break, but you have to sharpen them more and they're more likely to bend. However, carbon steels are easier to polish and you get a better result.
So personally I'd always take a real carbon steel over an alloy steel, but everyone has different tastes!
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Post by treeslicer on Nov 26, 2023 20:48:13 GMT
Looking for sub $600 trusted sellers with consistent good blades and tempering.
Not worried about authenticity or kissaki shapes or fittings quality. Basically after many forges shutting down or disappearing or Huawei being 2 years wait and order cancel/money refund scenarios.
Are there any decent sellers left on ebay/ali express to trust and buy entry to mid level katana?
Where do people go nowadays for their beaters? Dragon sword, dragon king, Jkoo/sinosword?
How about hanbon, ryan sword etc any better/worse? Been googling and searching but seems like demand is rising again and options are less.
Any way to still acquire kaneie/kurin? (banging my head fo not buying a few when they were close out/fire sale everywhere few years ago)
Is 5160/9260 spring steel still the safest or t10`s and 1060,1070`s popular for beaters and rookie backyard cutters with bade technic?
I've had good luck and decent service with wang-katana2011 on clay tempered (DH) folded steel blades. www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=wang-katana2011&store_name=wang-katana2011&store_cat=18748056010&_ipg=240
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Post by fogofwar on Nov 27, 2023 18:56:53 GMT
Wang-Katana 2011 has always delivered what he advertises, and has done some very nice semi-custom blades.
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Post by metinemre on Nov 28, 2023 3:03:46 GMT
is wang-katana 2011 and Master_forge (product pictures say vansword) ebay seller same people?
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Post by treeslicer on Nov 28, 2023 15:46:09 GMT
is wang-katana 2011 and Master_forge (product pictures say vansword) ebay seller same people? I don't know, but don't think so. They may have some suppliers in common. Wang-katana2011 is notable for having a single, unbroken feedback count and identity since 2011. I've been buying from them since around 2014, without any complaint..
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Post by pellius on Nov 28, 2023 16:41:29 GMT
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Post by metinemre on Nov 28, 2023 18:41:36 GMT
how about katana-sword.com ? Reliable?
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Post by jckang on Nov 29, 2023 23:12:42 GMT
is wang-katana 2011 and Master_forge (product pictures say vansword) ebay seller same people? No, different people.
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Post by metinemre on Dec 27, 2023 3:42:43 GMT
Wang-Katana 2011 has always delivered what he advertises, and has done some very nice semi-custom blades. +1 Bought a Kogarasu maru special request was 9260 and top also sharpened. Ariived 5 weeks after order in excellent condition and everything was tight and well done for its price point. It made a perfect Christmas gift to a friend.
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