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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 3:14:15 GMT
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Post by kidcasanova on Apr 6, 2009 3:32:35 GMT
Wow, that is a beautiful sword. I typically stay away from side-swords and rapiers because too many of them are designed solely for right handed individuals. I am glad to see that Hanwei has taken lefties into consideration with this piece. Well done.
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Post by randomnobody on Apr 6, 2009 3:45:15 GMT
I know you haven't disassembled it, but once upon a time these swords had hollow plastic handles. I'm curious if they still do as this was the only thing that ever stopped me from buying one of these. Can you tell at all?
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Post by shadowhowler on Apr 6, 2009 4:01:07 GMT
I know you haven't disassembled it, but once upon a time these swords had hollow plastic handles. I'm curious if they still do as this was the only thing that ever stopped me from buying one of these. Can you tell at all? I belive it does, yes. I think all of the Paul Chen/Hanwei rapier style swords have the hallow plastic grip. My Solingen did, and every other one I have seen has as well. It's the one and ONLY thing (well, not entirly true... the grips are too small for my large hands) that I don't like about Hanwei's rapiers. Odingaard: Thanks a lot for this review... +1. Allthough I have to say it's a bit bitter/sweet for me... since I ALMOST picked up one of these second hand a great price recently... hesitated just a bit... and missed the chance. Now I regret it, your review cconfirms my impression... that this is MY sort of rapier style sword. Is it, in fact, peened? That would, in this case, be the only drawback to me... because the thing I like about the Hanwei rapiers is that you can replace the blades with blunt top sparing blades and still use the same sword, essentialy, when sparring... and that they sell replacemebt plades for them should you screw up the blade. This benifit would be negated by a peened sword.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 4:09:12 GMT
Under close inspection, it appears the grip is wood under wire. There really isn't anything else I can say here because I don't plan on taking it apart. As for the blade being removable, it does not appear to be engineered to come apart. Being that the pratical version of this same sword is fairly cheap ($80.00 for me), it would not bother me to have both the practical and real versions of the same blade.
I like it. I am going to order the practical and live version for myself very soon I think! ;D
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Post by shadowhowler on Apr 6, 2009 4:17:28 GMT
Under close inspection, it appears the grip is wood under wire. There really isn't anything else I can say here because I don't plan on taking it apart. As for the blade being removable, it does not appear to be engineered to come apart. Being that the pratical version of this same sword is fairly cheap ($80.00 for me), it would not bother me to have both the practical and real versions of the same blade. I like it. I am going to order the practical and live version for myself very soon I think! ;D Interesting... so if it is a wood grip and is peened instead of threaded, that sets it very far apart from the other rapier swords Hanwei is selling these days. Which should not be too surprising I guess, it's not TRUELY a rapier but a side sword... Do you find the grip too small? How big are your knuckes, messured across?
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Post by Dave(utilityslave) on Apr 6, 2009 4:19:00 GMT
Wow, a surprisingly attractive blade......I wasn't even aware of it. Nice review....+1.
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Apr 6, 2009 4:28:36 GMT
I know Mike had a review/thread about these, and his DEFINITELY had a plastic handle...
Can't find the thread right now , though....
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Post by shadowhowler on Apr 6, 2009 4:39:52 GMT
I know Mike had a review/thread about these, and his DEFINITELY had a plastic handle... Can't find the thread right now , though.... Ah, the plot thickens...
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Post by kidcasanova on Apr 6, 2009 4:44:25 GMT
Mike's may have been an older model. It's possible Hanwei has upgraded it since then.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 6:08:17 GMT
My hands are XL, 10.5" around at the knuckles. If the grip were any smaller, it would be too small, but my hand is at the limit as to about how large a hand could be and hold this blade properly.
If it were for some reason wood-colored plastic, I could care less. High-impact polymer would be sturdier than wood. As long as it does not shatter when it hits something, its still a nice ass sword. ;D
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Post by randomnobody on Apr 6, 2009 6:24:26 GMT
I'd be okay with a decent polymer, or just about any material as long as it was solid. The part that worried me about the plastic handle originally was that it was hollow, with a slot in the top and a hole in the bottom for each end of the tang, otherwise completely hollow. Nothing at all supporting the tang. Knowing Hanwei's Euro line back then, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Mike had one of these and one other fellow who I can't remember. I'll have to look around when I have more time... Anyway, if they're making them now with solid wood handles...it might be time to try one out...
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Post by shadowhowler on Apr 6, 2009 11:42:21 GMT
Maybe Maz (who bought my Solingen rapier and then made a new wood core grip for it to replace the plastic core grip) could put up a pic of the old plastic core grip... so ya could get an idea of what they look like nowdays. It wasn't 'hallow'... it was a gray plastic core with a hole for the tang.
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Apr 6, 2009 12:47:58 GMT
Here is what I remember.... I doubt the model has been updated ..... still it IS a very attractive sword.... ...A good compromise that caught my eye in my CasIberia/Hanwei catalog was the Paul Chen Sidesword(which also comes in a 'Practical' flavor, that i'm also interested in). Now this is mostly to ShooterMike, since I know he has one, but any other input would be appreciated. What do you think of this Paul Chen sword? From the picture it looks attractive, and the complex hilt, while not my favorite, is far from my least liked(it's actually pretty cool looking). Specifically: How does it handle, how durable is it, how sharp is it, how does it cut, and lastly, is it worth it?
Adam,
You are in luck. I had this very sword out with me while testing the Gen 2 Viking sword last weekend. I liked it originally, but now I am just a little bit disgusted with it. Paricularly with the grip. IT'S HOLLOW PLASTIC FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!!
I flubbed a single bottle cut and the grip shifted. I noticed the pommel was then a little loose so I turned it...and everything went lopsided and looked screwed up. So I unscrewed the pommel and disassembled the hilt to see what was wrong. This is what I found.
The threaded portion at the back of the tang bent, causing everything to become out of alignment. Now I don't even plan on putting it back together. I decided I'm gonna buy another inexpensive ATrim from Lee Reeves and fit this most beautiful of guards on it, to have a durable CUT and thrust sword. But I will miss having a nice scabbard.
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Post by shadowhowler on Apr 6, 2009 13:43:23 GMT
That looks pretty similar to the plastic grip that was in my Solingen. So... if they are still doing that in the other rapiers now, it would seem unlikely that they upgraded the sidesword to wood grip and left all the other rapiers with plastic core. Only way to find out is to buy it I guess... Unless Odingaard still has the sword in question, and can unscrew the pommel and take a look?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 19:20:04 GMT
No can do on a dissassmble, its not my sword!
This sword probably will not do any serious cutting, it will be more for faire ware, but if it does turn out to be plastic and if something goes wrong down the road, I will replace it for her with a wood core grip.
Still a very nice sword for the money. Even if I had to recore and rewrap it, I'd still pay the price I paid for it and be tickled to death!
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Post by shadowhowler on Apr 6, 2009 19:54:22 GMT
Well, if it's not peened but threaded like the other Hanwei rapiers... it's DESIGNED to be dissasmbled really easy... just twist off the pommel and everything comes off/goes back on no problem. Chicken. ;D If it does have the same plastic core mine did... which seems likely because your grip looks about the same size and shape as mine was, and a company like Hanwei isn't going to miss a chance to use a part in as many different models as possible to keep costs down... then I would want to do as Maz did and make awood core for it. The plastic may even be stronger then the wood... some plastics are pretty tough... but it just bugs me.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2009 4:28:31 GMT
Nice review ;D that really is a beautiful sword! I already threw away the plastic core from the Solingen. I have had both apart though and can tell you the grip on the Solingen was more substantial. Partly because it was smaller, so there was less empty space. If you look closely where the thread meets the tang, you can see a weld. I ordered one of these about a year ago and sent it right back. The weld on mine had huge voids in it and the rod was bent as well. The problem was that the shoulders of the tang didn't quite make the end of the handle, and there was nothing inside to support the tang at that point. The pommel should twist right off, it would be worth it to check.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2009 5:08:31 GMT
Thanks for all the input on this sword. I will be sure to pass the information along for my friend to review. I'll leave it up to him to do further evaluation on the durability/quality of it and will most certinally post anything he has to add to this review.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2009 5:55:06 GMT
I just got mine yesterday and unscrewed the pommel and found a plastic core.
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