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Post by twiggy on Jan 21, 2024 5:11:34 GMT
So as a total newbie to swords, I am not looking to spend a thousand dollars, or even several hundred on swords, maybe a few hundred at most.
What are the manufacturers that make a decent product, but don't command a high price, maybe like $200 Canadian to like $400 or $500CAD at max?
I am aware of Honshu, but I hear it depends on the specific product whether it's good or not. I am also aware of Cold Steel, but nothing else.
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Post by noneed2hate on Jan 21, 2024 5:21:59 GMT
What type of sword are you after? Based on your answer, people might better be able to make recommendations.
That said, I will say not to bother with Cold Steel, since their products are manufactured by 3rd party forges, they lack Quality Control. I've had blades with perpendicular cracks in the blade out of the box.
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Post by twiggy on Jan 21, 2024 5:26:16 GMT
I'm not sure what exactly I will specialize in. I bought a Honshu Gladiator Sword, which is on it's way to me.
However, I think the next sword I will want to buy is a Sabre. It'll be a birthday gift for myself as well, so I don't mind spending to my upper limit, like $500 Canadian, etc.
I'm also interested just in general to know which companies make products within affordable prices, and which don't.
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Jan 21, 2024 7:04:11 GMT
Don't go with Deepeeka unless you want wallhangers, else most others are fair game. Windlass has a few cheap sabers, some have issues like small grips but are solid. Unless you get a lemon, which can always happen.
The thing is, we could tell you more if you were more specific. Is it for training or does it need to be a backyard cutter as well, is it going to be decorative?
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Post by larason2 on Jan 21, 2024 7:11:27 GMT
I have two swords by cold steel which are pretty good, but they were both before the change in management! No recent experience, but I wouldn't buy any of their stainless san mai.
I think the two LK chen sabres are in your budget. They apparently have very good distal taper. They are also quite nice! That being said, I love the look of the Cold Steel Polish sabre. It probably doesn't have the right distal taper (others can correct me on this), but if it was me, I might still take a risk on it. I'd also have the facilities to sharpen it though. I like swords with a point of balance closer to the tip, so it might suit me, but I understand sabres just feel better if they have good distal taper.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 21, 2024 7:59:06 GMT
All in all my best experiences are with Hanwei. Their usual better distal taper makes a better handling. My Cold Steel swords weren't bad too, but they became more expensive and have less interesting models for me recently. Windlass has so many different models. Many are too heavy for my taste, but there still are many good ones. As a rule of thumb I avoid heavier swords and try to get models not heavier than 2 1/2 lb, at least for single handed swords. With the years I became more and more weight sensitive. It's too easy to make 3 lb crowbars, it's harder to do this with 2 lb. My latest good saber was the fantasy model Sword of Ezio from Windlass, 2 lb! Long time existing models and often fantasy swords are still relative cheap.
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Post by twiggy on Jan 21, 2024 8:10:40 GMT
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 21, 2024 8:18:05 GMT
I wouldn't buy this. Pattern welded "damascus" can delaminate, there are many cheaply made blades in the marked and this could be one. No advantagees compaed to monosteel blades, except the look perhaps, just risks.
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Post by twiggy on Jan 21, 2024 8:32:29 GMT
I wouldn't buy this. Pattern welded "damascus" can delaminate, there are many cheaply made blades in the marked and this could be one. No advantagees compaed to monosteel blades, except the look perhaps, just risks. Thanks for the heads up! I will focus on mono steel then, maybe 1060 or higher? The Honoshu Gladiator Sword I bought was 7CR13. I found out that isn't the strongest steel at all, and shouldn't be used on hard targets because of that, but on the flip-side it is said to be easier to take care of, and sharpen. Apparently it's used in a lot of knives, so maybe just a simple knife sharpener could work to sharpen it? If that's the case, then I am still happy with that choice, as I won't be backyard cutting wood or metal, or rocks lol, more like bottles, pool noodles, watermelons, etc.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 21, 2024 8:49:59 GMT
Your Honshu gladius is stainless steel which is too brittle for longer sword blades but probably ok for your gladius. The steel type is not very important as long as you avoid stainless (for longer blades) or cheap damascus. I didn't found a sword in this store that I could recommend. Much damascus, cheap or less cheap wall hangers, swords of unknown origin, the few clearly functional not-bad swords are all sold out. For a shorter and cheaper cutting sword I can recommend the Windlass D-Guard Bowie or the Cold Steel Cutlass Machete which I own.
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Post by twiggy on Jan 21, 2024 8:59:47 GMT
Thanks, I took a look at both. The Cold Steel Machete looks good, and is apparently very cheap.
The Windlass looks a lot more fancy and eye catching, and does remind me of a "pirate sword" in my mind. I could seriously consider buying one.
I think maybe Honshu knew that a shorter blade could get away with using stainless steel just fine, and went with that in order to make a more affordable product, which would be smart, I guess. There are VTG10 and D2 versions of it, but I hear the price difference can be up to $100 more, probably not worth it for my use.
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Jan 21, 2024 9:22:08 GMT
United Cutlery also does a Gladius machete in 1065, I prefer it over the CS gladius machete. Quite a fun little sword. The CS Cutlass does not feel like a sword in my opinion, more like a machete. The Gladii both feel good though. The Windlass D-Guard is nice you might need to fatten up the grip a little when you get it and it has a rather small tang, so I would not use it for hard work.
VG10 isn't that much tougher than any other stainless, and D2 is not recommended since it chips easily as well as breking (I was wondering about it and there is actually a thread gouing about D2 in swords >link<). Most cheap damascus comes from the same places and has a lot of issues. Not only the steel itself but also the construction of the hilt might not be sound.
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Post by twiggy on Jan 21, 2024 9:41:17 GMT
From what I am hearing, Windlass commonly uses 1060 or 1095 steel. It is unknown what the D-Guard Bowie knife uses, it will be a good high-carbon steel either way, I assume.
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Post by mrstabby on Jan 21, 2024 9:48:26 GMT
The Windlass D-Guard is 1065@50-52HRC. Pretty standard for Windlass. Some of their sabers are higher carbon steel (1080-1095), I have no idea why though.
EDIT: I think it might be the officers swords that get the "better" steel sometimes. Or it could be mistakes, but the acid etched swords all seem to say 1095.
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Post by twiggy on Jan 21, 2024 9:59:25 GMT
Thanks, how did you find that out? I'm on the D-Guard's page on the website, and it doesn't seem to mention the steel type.
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Jan 21, 2024 10:07:26 GMT
Gotta have a look around, some sites have more information than others, some are more trusted than others. The Windlass homepage is notoriosly bad with information, just a collection of sales slogans for the most part. Kult of Athena is pretty good, marto.es has more information on Windlass swords than the Windlass homepage, I also like theknightshop.com, they have pretty detailed information. Battlemercahant.com and reliks.com also sometimes are useful sites.
In the end Windlass uses mostly 1065, Cold Steel 1055, Hanwei 1566 or 5160.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 21, 2024 10:13:16 GMT
On the Museum Replicas Limited site they say 1055 and 1080, so probably the middle. In the end it doesn't matter if 1055, 10xx, 1080.
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Post by mrstabby on Jan 21, 2024 15:32:05 GMT
On the Museum Replicas Limited site they say 1055 and 1080, so probably the middle. In the end it doesn't matter if 1055, 10xx, 1080. Does matter a tiny bit, although I feel it's less the steel and more the heat treat added to it by the maker. For the first sword just get what looks good to you (just buy from manufacturers who does good heat treats, some things from Deepeka for example are not hardened at all), you can get into the differences between 10-series, spring steel, tool steel and shock steel later.
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Post by madirish on Jan 21, 2024 15:50:08 GMT
Cold steel Hungarian saber gets good press....if you are looking for something sabre-y now.
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Post by glendon on Jan 21, 2024 17:37:57 GMT
So as a total newbie to swords, I am not looking to spend a thousand dollars, or even several hundred on swords, maybe a few hundred at most. What are the manufacturers that make a decent product, but don't command a high price, maybe like $200 Canadian to like $400 or $500CAD at max? I am aware of Honshu, but I hear it depends on the specific product whether it's good or not. I am also aware of Cold Steel, but nothing else. If you are in Canada, look up your fellow Canuck "Skallagrim" on youtube, he's put up a thousand hours of sword discussion and review video. And for goodness' sake check out "Kult of Athena", a replica retailer out of Greater Chicago-land with a decent reputation. They have descriptions of dozens of sword manufacturers, and each sword is listed with multiple photos and a list of stats, which are pretty accurate. Try to have a detailed plan in your head, specifically addressing what you propose to do with a sword, and why. (Forgive the lecturing tone, I'm becoming an old codger and need to perfect my skills.) Buying swords is like buying vehicles, camping gear, sports equipment or musical instruments: Usually its better to wait a bit, save up and get good stuff, because you will save money in the long run. However, there's absolutely no need to buy a Ferrari if all you want to do is get to work. Beware of fanboys and shills on this site, who insist Manufacturer X's sword is the only one worth buying because its soooo historically accurate, it was brought into life by dedicated forge-monks in an underground ceremony, and quenched in the waters of the River Styx, etc., etc., blah, ad naseum blah. Sometimes slicing a melon with a $25 machete is more fun than looking at your $3,000 museum-grade replica on the wall in its glass case. Try not to get wrapped up in debates over steel Y-30 vs. steel Z-40 vs. steel CR@37/*, because the heat treatment matters more than the type of steel. Learn the manufacturers that heat treat reliably, and learn the vendors that will easily allow exchanges in the event of a lemon. I will say I'm generally satisfied with Hanwei and Cold Steel blade quality, although CS prices are now bordering on the ludicrous for what you get. I am still willing to purchase Hanweis. RE the Ferrari example above, I became a fan of Deepeeka as a nice base for extensive modding, because even though the blades were quirky, they were cheap, over- not under-built, and the steel itself was uniformly good and springy. Looking at APOC now for the same reason. Remember, you can still be disappointed with a purchase from anyone. The trick is to let the disappointment lead to greater understanding. Cheers!
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