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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 8, 2017 1:11:03 GMT
I've had about the best luck with DHL - though I've never had a sword shipped by them. Everything else though has been fine, even fragile things from out of country. Out of the "big three", I prefer shipping via USPS, UPS second, and FedEx last. I don't have an account with DHL, but personal items that have been shipped to me via DHL have so far had the WORST service out of the others I mentioned. All of the items in the last 7 or so years have either never arrived, or were delivered to the wrong address. Granted, I've had items shipped with other companies delivered to the wrong address over the years, but compare that to ALL of my items from DHL ending up in the wrong place. Big difference... that's one of the reasons I don't have an account with them. As for FedEx, it all depends on the kind of FedEx service you use - not all FedEx services are the same, and they often use "contractors" (drivers who don't legally work for FedEx, but contract their services to them - legalese to help them with lawsuits, etc) for home deliveries, etc.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 8, 2017 0:21:35 GMT
I'm still not sure about the koshirae... still looking at either a Crane theme (my family crest has a Heron in it - Garza is Spanish for Heron), or an ajiro theme. I have a mumei ajiro tsuba from the 1800's I bought from AoiJapan a few years ago, might use that as the base for the mountings. I'm really not sure though. Here's a professional pic of the ajiro tsuba
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 7, 2017 14:39:58 GMT
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 6, 2017 19:05:02 GMT
I still say its koshi sori as opposed to saki sori, but not as pronounced as most other examples I've seen.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 6, 2017 17:05:25 GMT
Great looking sword... from appearance it looks more saki-sori to me though vs koshi-sori... Just from my eye... but it is a beautiful piece! it is koshi sori, but the curvature is a little bit more towards the center like saki sori than a traditional koshi sori, but not that much... I'll post pics of the sori as soon as I can.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 6, 2017 16:45:34 GMT
Hello fellow SBG forum members... it's been a while since I've done any kind of review here on SBG or on FB of any of my personal items. I just got a new custom Huawei katana, and after doing my own measurements, am pleasantly surprised they were able to do most of the work to my specs. Instead of posting all the pics here, I decided to post a link to my Google Drive page with the pics of the sword since Photobucket isn't working for me anymore: drive.google.com/open?id=0B9Pz1uLWs_OqVUppU013T2RDVUUThese are the specs I sent Jacky at Huawei: -Steel - T-10 -Shinogi-zukuri no hi -Niku Geometry (IMPORTANT!) - for use on medium to hard targets -Nagasa/blade length - 73 cm -Motohaba - 3.1 cm -Motokasane - .55 cm -Sakihaba - 2.2 cm -Sakikasane - .4 cm -Nakago length - 22 cm -Sori/curvature - Koshi-Sori 2.1 cm -Chu kissaki with geometric yokote - 4.2 cm -Haagari-Kurijiri Nakago (http://www.nihonto.ro/e_midokoro_files/nakagojiri.jpg) -Tempering/Heat treating – differential hardening, clay tempered & water quenched -Hamon - Choji (http://www.swordforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=143893&stc=1&d=1463969685) -Mekugi ana - 1 -Polish - tameshigiri (regular) -Habaki - Copper -Saya: shirasaya -Tsuka: regular wood 28 cm -Koshirae: shirasaya These are my measurements using a digital caliper and measuring tape: -Nagasa/blade length - 73 cm -Motohaba - 3.1 cm -Motokasane - .75 cm -Sakihaba - 2.6 cm -Sakikasane - .54 cm -Koshi-Sori - 4.7 cm (surprised by this, but it isn't a deal breaker for me since all the other measurements were damn close to what I sent)-Chu kissaki with geometric yokote - 4.2 cm -Nakago length - 25 cm -Haagari-Kurijiri Nakago -Mekugi ana - 1 -Polish - regular (tameshigiri) -Habaki - Copper -Saya: shirasaya -Tsuka: regular wood 28 cm -Koshirae: shirasaya I haven't decided on the theme yet, but am leaning towards either a Crane theme (my family crest is a Heron), or an ajiro (basket weave) theme since I already have a mumei ajiro tusba from the 1800's. On to the mini review: the sword is heavy - but that's what I wanted. I have several lighter katanas, including a customized Munetoshi Tessen, but wanted something more substantial that had a more traditional feel and weight, which this one does. I did a couple of test cuts through the air, feels good so far, am thinking this will be a beast of a cutter once it's finished. Since it's in shirasaya and doesn't have the koshirae I'm going to put on it, the balance isn't "set in stone" yet, about 6 inches from the habaki. The shirasaya tsuka and saya are well made, haven't seen any sugar deposits or any other problems with it. Huawei did a great job with it. No cutting (obviously), will revisit this post later and will update with new pics and a full blown review in a few months when I finish this sword. Thanks for looking!
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 5, 2017 20:00:02 GMT
Mine got here today... super excited, but really busy. Will post some pics in the New Acquisitions thread when I can, and might do a "review" post later with stats it has compared to what I sent them.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Aug 5, 2017 0:28:34 GMT
I checked EMS tracking yesterday and my custom Huawei has left San Francisco heading to my corner of the world, Deep South Texas. I'll post pics in the New Acquisitions thread once it gets here.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 29, 2017 14:25:01 GMT
I have not handled the Lotus katana, but do know that Dragon King has a matching wakizashi for that model as well as the Pine Crane katana
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 29, 2017 14:20:47 GMT
I ordered a custom sword from Jacky about 3 months ago too... he shipped it out a couple days ago, now waiting for it to arrive. Hope yours doesn't take much longer.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 23, 2017 19:14:13 GMT
Welcome to the forum!
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 21, 2017 16:25:38 GMT
Welcome Jon!
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 18, 2017 0:37:20 GMT
Dammit! It looks like Photobucket did it to me too - all of my images from that hosting site have been co-opted by I guess I'm going to have to find a different hosting service and redo as many of my posts on here as possible before the school year starts in a few weeks. GRRRRRR!!!!
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 9, 2017 20:10:44 GMT
Sword related: "Hawk the Slayer" and "Krull" Non-sword related: "Reservoir Dogs" I tried streaming Hawk The Slayer last week, but my FireStick didn't like it... only saw about 1/4 before the stick semprini down and restarted. Streamed other movies since then with no problems. I guess it's just not meant to be. Anyway, aside from some that have already been mentioned, you can't talk about cult movies without adding Gojira, Super Inframan, or The Sword and athe Sorcerer.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 7, 2017 22:33:00 GMT
Unfortunately, shipping anything down under is super expensive. The best thing (if possible) is to do if you live in Australia is to do a group buy and have all the items shipped together.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jun 12, 2017 17:09:00 GMT
Heard about this a few days ago... RIP Adam West. ☹️
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jun 7, 2017 2:36:43 GMT
By hilt, do you mean grip? If so, Steve Huerta Huer-Ta has a great reputation for making and wrapping grips, and for good reason.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on May 30, 2017 1:20:51 GMT
You can also try contacting Fred Lohman. I got 2 solid silver crane menuki from him (Grey Heron is part of my family crest, figured the crane is close) a few years back, very high quality pieces. I'm sure he could also do some silver plating work. www.japanese-swords.com/menuki-gallery/pages/menuki.htm
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Post by LG Martial Arts on May 25, 2017 2:03:55 GMT
update on my update: still have both knives, still incredibly sharp, still beyond fantastic!
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Post by LG Martial Arts on May 23, 2017 18:55:15 GMT
Just like the archetypal hero of old, Jack acts heroic for the people he loves and hose who can't defend themselves. As the hero, he never wants compensation for his actions. As the hero, he will only obtain happiness for a very short amount of time before losing that happiness. The archetype is as old as time, and yet remains timeless, which makes this one of the better shows imho. Think about it... what heroes throughout the stories we've read/heard have truly found happiness and remained that way for an extended period of time? Gilgamesh? He found happiness with his friend Enkidu, but lost it after Enkidu's death. Arthur? He was happy with his Round Table and Gwenevere as his wife, but we all know how that turned out. Superman? Loves Lois, but they can never truly be together. Batman? Loves Selena, but can't be with her. The Red Wedding... yeah, I'll leave it at that. And then there's Jack and Ashi... you get the idea. Aragorn True, but Aragorn is not the norm... and yes, there are other heroes who have also found long term happiness, but if you stick to the heroic archetype, you will find that those heroes will only find a fleeting happiness.
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