I'm not Henry V, but...
Nov 13, 2008 13:51:34 GMT
Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2008 13:51:34 GMT
FedEx delivered his sword yesterday. ;D
This is the Hanwei (CAS Iberia) version from KofA for $142 to my door.
This blade is hollow ground, with the central ridge slightly wavy. Also, if I take an oiled rag and run my fingers down the length of the blade on either side of the central ridge, the thickness varies slightly. This suggests the grinding was done by hand.
Oddly, the secondary bevels look quite precise against both edges, both sides. As expected, the worker bees are much better at sharpening than hollow grinding.... This blade has a chisel edge, so I don't expect it to be much of a cutter even after I smooth the grind.
My calipers tell me there is no distal taper to this blade as measured at the ridge. The blade is very stiff; more due to blade geometry than temper, I'm sure.
The pommel is quite large as well and obviously peened. I don't know if it's hollow. Nor do I care.
Overall weight looks to be 2.5 to 3 lbs. I'll weigh it on my digital scale some day if it bothers me.
Construction wise, everything checked out. Solid. Nothing rattled. The grip was tight. So I took it outside and began to dry handle it.
Taking my Side Sword in one hand and the Henry in the other, the Side Sword is quicker and slightly lighter. Switching hands, I find the same to be true. This is reasonable, since the Henry's blade is wider and thicker than the Side Sword's.
That said, this sword isn't much slower than my Side Sword, but has a more pronounced blade presence. POB is about 1.5 to 2 inches from the cross, so lack of distal taper could be intentional (but what do I know? I'm a total noob!).
I commenced to hack at one of my trees' branches. This sword isn't an axe by any stretch of the imagination, but I eventually cut through the 1.5 inch branch with no damage to the blade. I then stabbed a piece of plywood several times with very little blade flex. I could probably do the Cold Steel thang and through-and-through a car hood with this sword. Maybe they'd let me be in their next video!
I noticed the grip is slightly loose after abusing my tree. Two small holes, a syringe, and some epoxy should make this problem go away.
One thing about this sword - if the blade touches anything solid, it begins to sing. The ringing is the same pitch every time, and will dampen over time or if I touch the tip. Touching any other place on the sword does little to dampen the ringing.
Bloodwraith and ShooterMike recommended Windlass' Type XIV. I'll pick one up some day.
But for now (assuming I don't have a firearm), if I have to defend myself against someone with no shield or armor, I'll grab the Side Sword. But if he or she has a shield, I'll grab the Henry and not feel inadequately armed. It should bash his shield and helmet just fine until my arm wears out, or much more likely, I get cut in half.
This is the Hanwei (CAS Iberia) version from KofA for $142 to my door.
This blade is hollow ground, with the central ridge slightly wavy. Also, if I take an oiled rag and run my fingers down the length of the blade on either side of the central ridge, the thickness varies slightly. This suggests the grinding was done by hand.
Oddly, the secondary bevels look quite precise against both edges, both sides. As expected, the worker bees are much better at sharpening than hollow grinding.... This blade has a chisel edge, so I don't expect it to be much of a cutter even after I smooth the grind.
My calipers tell me there is no distal taper to this blade as measured at the ridge. The blade is very stiff; more due to blade geometry than temper, I'm sure.
The pommel is quite large as well and obviously peened. I don't know if it's hollow. Nor do I care.
Overall weight looks to be 2.5 to 3 lbs. I'll weigh it on my digital scale some day if it bothers me.
Construction wise, everything checked out. Solid. Nothing rattled. The grip was tight. So I took it outside and began to dry handle it.
Taking my Side Sword in one hand and the Henry in the other, the Side Sword is quicker and slightly lighter. Switching hands, I find the same to be true. This is reasonable, since the Henry's blade is wider and thicker than the Side Sword's.
That said, this sword isn't much slower than my Side Sword, but has a more pronounced blade presence. POB is about 1.5 to 2 inches from the cross, so lack of distal taper could be intentional (but what do I know? I'm a total noob!).
I commenced to hack at one of my trees' branches. This sword isn't an axe by any stretch of the imagination, but I eventually cut through the 1.5 inch branch with no damage to the blade. I then stabbed a piece of plywood several times with very little blade flex. I could probably do the Cold Steel thang and through-and-through a car hood with this sword. Maybe they'd let me be in their next video!
I noticed the grip is slightly loose after abusing my tree. Two small holes, a syringe, and some epoxy should make this problem go away.
One thing about this sword - if the blade touches anything solid, it begins to sing. The ringing is the same pitch every time, and will dampen over time or if I touch the tip. Touching any other place on the sword does little to dampen the ringing.
Bloodwraith and ShooterMike recommended Windlass' Type XIV. I'll pick one up some day.
But for now (assuming I don't have a firearm), if I have to defend myself against someone with no shield or armor, I'll grab the Side Sword. But if he or she has a shield, I'll grab the Henry and not feel inadequately armed. It should bash his shield and helmet just fine until my arm wears out, or much more likely, I get cut in half.