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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 20:46:42 GMT
I have a few wall hangers but since I love Japanese culture and swords so much I decided to get a working katana. I have found one sword that I think is just the coolest but it is made of Damascus steel instead of carbon. Is that bad? I'm not looking to cut branches or barrels just a few bottles and some news paper maybe. So is getting this one with Damascus Steel ok? Any other suggestions towards my first katana will be considered. Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 20:59:18 GMT
What is the sword? what is your price range? and how quickly do you want it?
If you can wait 2 months there are 2 good options the 300 dollar SBG custom sword which you can buy on here, and pretty much any Ronin sword which go for 200 and up. If you just want to get into a beater sword, that you dont want to spend much money on I would suggest getting a 60 dollar Musashi to start. Or if you want bang for you buck I would get a Tenchi or Kaze from cheness.com if you dont want to wait say more than a week.
There is a lot of good swords out there, and lots more crappy wall hangers. Go into the review section and have a look around
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Jan 3, 2009 21:01:00 GMT
I have a few wall hangers but since I love Japanese culture and swords so much I decided to get a working katana. I have found one sword that I think is just the coolest but it is made of Damascus steel instead of carbon. Is that bad? I'm not looking to cut branches or barrels just a few bottles and some news paper maybe. So is getting this one with Damascus Steel ok? Any other suggestions towards my first katana will be considered. Thanks! Yep, we really need some guidelines about what you want to spend etc.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 22:50:48 GMT
About $100 to $200 for my first sword. The one I found has the following measurements and stats
Blade: Damascus blade 10 times folded, heat tempered; Edge: Sharp, hand sharpened by Japanese whetstone; Tsuka(Handle): Genuine Rayskin & wrapped with black Japanese cotton Ito; Saya: Black and red piano lacquered wood with black Sageo; Tang: Full tang engraved with black smith¡¯s signature; Tsuba: Fuji tsuba; Condition: Brand new & can be fully disassembled and assembled; Blade Thickness: 0.3" Blade Length (with Habaki): 28.3" Handle Length: 10.7" Overall Length (with Saya): 42.5" Weight (with Saya): 3 lb 3 oz Weight (without Saya): 2 lb 8 oz Package weight: 6 lbs
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 23:14:57 GMT
Who makes the sword? The process is as important(if not more) as what it's made of as well so the maker is an important info. This is especially true of folded steel and pattern welded blades.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 23:20:17 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 23:39:29 GMT
www.chenessinc.com/mokko.htmPretty much any of the Musashi Swords are good, I dont think the one you linked is a Musashi sword because I have never seen a folded steel Musashi sword. You can always try and pick up a nice used sword i the Classifieds section.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 23:59:00 GMT
Ok well then I guess I should just wait and save my money for the Kaze or Tenchi. I did like this one I was mentioned cause the saya is black and red and it was tempered with full tang and in my price range.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2009 0:17:41 GMT
I would suggest getting a musashi from the forum member Sam I Am here, check out my review on the musashi wind dragon. It is a great sword, and only 80 dollars. I have some cutting videos with it, let me know if you want to see those. Contact Sam if you interested in purchasing musashi's. If you want something higher quality, I would get a Hanwei practical series blade. www.wiwingtiswordsupply.com Check that out for great deals on hanwei blades. As for the tenchi, it is just a though sword but from my experience not as sharp as a musashi or a hanwei blade. If you are looking to abuse your sword however, tenchi is a good sword.
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Jan 4, 2009 0:20:39 GMT
If it's 'folded' but that cheap...it's worthless. Unless you plan on spending $500+, folded steel/damascus steel swords are normally just weak.
Don't get me wrong, they look great and are fine for display, but NEVER hit something as the folding process, when not done very well (as you would expect from a low end sword), weakens the steel considerably.
It was only done in olden times to purify inequalities in the steel; however, with modern steel being so pure, we don't get the benefits, only the downside of weakining.
I hope this helps, mate, and welcome to the forums!
-Slayer
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2009 0:24:00 GMT
Right! I was going to get a Musashi Wind or Poison ivy or even bamboo but all are sold out or discontinued... where can I contact this Sam I Am guy?
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Jan 4, 2009 0:27:05 GMT
All three are discontinued, mate. They'd be incredibly hard to find. I'd suggest the Cheness Mokka. It's cheaper, but still very high quality (at least, that's what I've heard , lol)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2009 0:36:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2009 3:27:56 GMT
The hada isn't fine enough for 10 folds. Basically handmadesword.com is a crap shoot. And nothing they have posted means anything because, well they lie.
Well, the musashi 1045 DH swords are very nice and under 100 bucks to boot. Unfortunately you'll have to wait till end of january or so to get one. If you can wait, you can get the ronin sword fold steel katana for 200 bucks also.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2009 3:45:54 GMT
Only one left in stock for each. I don't have 175 or even 100 at the moment but I will think of a way. Thanks for all the help guys!
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Jan 4, 2009 3:54:41 GMT
If it's 'folded' but that cheap...it's worthless. Unless you plan on spending $500+, folded steel/damascus steel swords are normally just weak. Don't get me wrong, they look great and are fine for display, but NEVER hit something as the folding process, when not done very well (as you would expect from a low end sword), weakens the steel considerably. It was only done in olden times to purify inequalities in the steel; however, with modern steel being so pure, we don't get the benefits, only the downside of weakining. I hope this helps, mate, and welcome to the forums! -Slayer I disagree with some fo this. it is true that a poorly done forge weld (process used in making these mis-named "Damascus" steels) would present a weak point but the fact is that these cheap sword makers mostly just stock-remove from billets of pre-made "Damascus" steel. the billets of folded steel are made in a foundry and welded by machine/power hammer and typically done quite well. I have not heard of one single case of a production "Damascus" sword failing from a bad weld. something you should be aware of on the Handmadesword you linked above though: there have been many doubts about the quality and honesty of that company. we have seen some positive reviews of their $400+ swords but under that make and we've heard a lot of un-impressed customers. I suspect most people will be dis-satisfied with their cheap stuff. for $200-ish I would reccomend an hanwei practical light katana from Wiwingti, I just got one and I love it. and it's a great buy at $177. other options would be a www.Roninswords.com Hana Kage model. yes it's folded "damascus" but I can personally say they are very tough. I like what I hear about the mid to low range Musashi swords too. I'm becoming less enthusiastic about Cheness all the time, though I still love their Kaze model pretty much everything else they have is not something I reccomend anymore except maybe the Oniyuri. it's not their blades, those are quite good but the rest of the package that I think falls short. if you want the best bang-for your buck go with Roninswords.com but understand that he is backed up a bit, but it sounds like he's catching up. I'd ask him what he expects as a wait time before ordering and then add a few weeks to it. but still his stuff, by all reports is top-knotch.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2009 14:44:26 GMT
I agree. As dealers sell out of their stock of Zhou Zheng Wu swords that Musashi used to deal with such blades will not only become more difficult to acquire but the price will go up as well. Its a shame though - that Musashi no longer deals with Chris.
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Jan 4, 2009 17:59:07 GMT
Hey Tom! Well, you're the master, so you're probably right. I was just copying some of what I've seen Paul say (in my words though, so translation may have suffered). I think that 'most' damascus swords in the low end of the market are bad, with some notable exceptions such as Ronin's.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Jan 4, 2009 18:31:37 GMT
the problem with low end "damascus" blades is more likely to come from the manufacturer and how they make the blade rather than the folded billet it is made from. Handmadesword.com is not one of our favorite sellers but some of their stuff is ok. I'm not saying they'll ever get my money but I don't think you need to worry about delamination. still the Cheness Kochou might be a safer bet. here it is: www.chenessinc.com/kocho.htm at least Cheness hasn't been known to make their nakago (tang) too short. there's a guy here who recently told us he had a sword from handmadesword.com that had that problem. I'd be much more worried about the short tang than a folded blade. here's the thread that mentions the short handmadesword.com tang: /index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=8089
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Jan 4, 2009 18:41:17 GMT
A friend of mine had a Kochou that delaminated nastily
Delamination can indeed be an issue with cheaper F/F swords.... yes even Cheness
sometimes smiths don't get the sword up to temp to make the steel hoomogenous
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