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Post by shepherd214 on Dec 28, 2021 6:07:51 GMT
Does anyone have experience with these wakizashi? The size of the munetoshi interests me. 17 inch blade with a roughly 6 or 7 inch tsuka. Heat treat quality? Durability, sharpness, geometry, mount quality, etc? Lost my entire sword collection. Looking to rebuild slowly. Here is also the Cold Steel Crane wakizashi, I really like the blade on this one and the cutting video I saw of it. But haven't really seen people talking about either sword much at all. Any input or conversation would be awesome. Thank you.
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Post by shepherd214 on Dec 20, 2021 2:22:10 GMT
Believe your missing the point here. True FedEx lost packages. The point is SnA even after receiving the FedEx claim payment didn't send the refund without PayPal and eBay getting involved. Ok, so FedEx covered the lost items and sent the refund to SnA who as middle man didn't send you the refund from their end. That makes a little more sense. Why didn't they just resend new models of the items you ordered? Did you request a refund rather than a re-shipment of the items you ordered? Seems things were delayed by middle man operations as it was FedEx's responsibility to cover the lost items but it was SnA's responsibility to get you the items you ordered. Did you not want the items anymore, or did they not offer to resend them when you reported them lost in transit? This is a frustrating thread to read because you guys aren't comprehending what he's saying. SnA didn't reply to him for over a month, by that time I'm sure he was over it and just wanted his money back. He couldn't request a replacement because he wasn't even getting a single word back from the company that sent him the swords. Yes FedEx lost them but as he said the seller has to get involved with a claim and the seller, SnA was ignoring him
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Post by shepherd214 on Dec 17, 2021 4:40:51 GMT
Thank you Karl and TS, The double hi are not of a type I have experience with...they do look more shallow than the standard single bohi on my Jkoo/Sino's. I'll take a closer look at the kissaki, thanks. That ko-katana looks to be more active than that katana. Karl, I do think the hamon is real. I have a dozen or so Jkoo/Sino's that they said were DH and they all were...hamon's real. I had, long ago, a brand X katana, that had a fact hamon and so it ended up in the trash can. I do see that curious "bland" spot on the ko-katana. Think that is a tempering issue? Trick of the light? Polish flaw? Thanks, RinC It's not that the double Bo hi is shallow, if you look closer the double Hi runs off of the shinogi and into the primary bevel. It's not even straight. That would probably factor into the discounted price. The polish wouldn't be awful if it was simply a monosteel DH blade but for a tamahagane blade the activity and details of the steel are non existent. I don't think the blank spot in the hamon would be related to "tempering". I see you misuse that term all the time. Tempering is simply softening down the blade a bit after the hardening quenching process. It could be that some clay fell off during the quench which is very common, or the polish failed to to bring out the hamon there, or the steel in that area isn't very good quality folded steel and there's less carbon on that specific area meaning less hard and no hamon difference.
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Post by shepherd214 on Nov 30, 2021 19:37:25 GMT
Still waiting to hear back from the company I bought my first sword from, understandable with the holiday. Because I'm a compulsive tinkerer I've put a lot of work into it over the fast few days (which means I'll have to keep it) reffiting, refinishing and lots of sharpening. It's turned out quite nice, though we'll see if it holds up to cutting and once I hear back from the seller I may do a write up. Btw, I picked up a black friday musashi 1060 mantis at sword n armory after some recommendations, I'll be interested to see how a 100$ sword stacks up. They are having a 15% off deal and free shipping but are getting cleaned out quick so check it out if you wanna make an impulse buy I'm very interested to hear which company this is so I can make more informed decisions lol.
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Post by shepherd214 on Nov 11, 2021 23:43:28 GMT
I generally agree with that. that today handles are a little bit longer on average than they generally were historically, I was just pointing out there's no shortage of evidence for a longer handle. My chief grievance with my one mounted antique wakizashi is that I feel like the 7" tsuka is way too long. I have no idea how old it is, but it's safe to say it's been around a while. I remember, years ago, 14" tsuka were shaping up to be the Next Big Thing, so I bought one, and I hated it. I'd been feeling like the 10-11" tsuka on my other two katana at the time was a bit small, but after handling the 14" I felt much better with the 10-11" size. 14 inches is way too long. 11-12 is my max. 7 inches on a wakizashi can feel good if the blade is a tank. Just depends what it's mounted to.
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Post by shepherd214 on Nov 11, 2021 23:04:41 GMT
That's not true at all, someone made a big thread on a forum one time showing all the evidence for longer tsuka. It's not a recent thing. I think we've already found and shared at least similar threads. Pretty sure I'd read that more than a few places, and there surely must be some trend at work, so it seemed logical. Obviously historic swords would feature an array of sizes, but I'm assuming the "standard issue" most modern replicas aim to mimic must have averaged 10-11". I generally agree with that. that today handles are a little bit longer on average than they generally were historically, I was just pointing out there's no shortage of evidence for a longer handle.
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Post by shepherd214 on Nov 11, 2021 20:21:21 GMT
True, Huawei charges quite a bit for any changes. In my case...asking for a 1/2" longer tsuka and a full rayskin tsuka wrap and one mekugi changed price from $268 to $480. Top quality production swords for sure, maybe the best, but getting custom features from Huawei currently is difficult, expensive and best I can tell, increases turn around. I have a friend who ordered a high end Huawei with minor changes....was told about 2 months and it is now going on 8 months and still nothing. The Jkoo forge swords have been what I have been buying because all my orders are custom specs and I can't afford big bucks outfits (or I'd already have a Motohara...wowser!) Other makers also offer a goodly menu of customization options. There's so much wrong with everything that you say, all the time. $268 sounds like their base price for a differentially hardened katana. When you ask for a longer handle, and a full wrap, you're asking them so make a sword from scratch outside of the normal ones they have made available for sale on their site. When you go to someone who hand makes swords and knives and you ask them to make something special outside of what they normally offer, they almost always charge more. Because it's just more effort no matter how simple it seems to you. Then we have the issue of the full wrap which you just will not let go. You bring it up every chance you get. The $40 full wrap that sinosword makes for you is not nearly as good as the full wrap that Huawei will give you. You really want a human being to do a full wrap of stingray skin for only $40? And expect it to be good? $40 doesn't even cover the cost of the ray skin. Maybe barely. Then you have to take into account labor to do it correctly and make the seams look good. Go email Cottontail Customs and ask him how much he will charge for a full wrap. I bet it will be at least 150-$200 minimum. For average/decent quality rayskin too. And then you want somebody in China to do a similar job, for a quarter of the price. And thr way Sino does it doesn't even strengthen the tsuka like it's supposed to because it's not done right. Idk how you can look at 480 and think that's too much. You are getting a handmade katana that could easily go for 900 dollars for UNDER 500 BANANAS. How is that not insane to you? Sinosword can make a decent sword, but every single category takes a hit. Not as good blade geometry, not as good habaki fit, not as good rayskin fitment, not as good fittings or polish. Which is reflected in the price, many of their models don't go over 400. But the fact that you can get a katana from Huawei for just 100-200 more and yet its twice or even triple the quality, idk what your mission is but you're actually turning people off of Sinosword with how much you promote them, to a point to where it just doesn't doesn't make any sense at all.
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Post by shepherd214 on Nov 11, 2021 20:01:33 GMT
Simply put, 10" is the average length required/recommended by most JSA schools, and seen in most antique Japanese swords. Only in recent years has anyone felt the need to go longer, and even then, as a person with a large body and not-small hands, I find 10" perfectly adequate and anything much longer to be too much. That's not true at all, someone made a big thread on a forum one time showing all the evidence for longer tsuka. It's not a recent thing.
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Post by shepherd214 on Oct 30, 2021 21:34:38 GMT
Looks like a solid option for under 300. Just test it out and make sure it's heat treated well. Quick tip though, mono tempered doesn't make sense. It's a mono steel(its not laminated so only one steel type), through hardened blade. Tempering is letting the blade soak in low heat for a few hours to soften it down a bit after the hardening oil quench.
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Post by shepherd214 on Oct 11, 2021 22:55:29 GMT
Setting aside RiC's weekly sales pitch, I've had 6 or 7 each of both Sinosword and Huawei. I've never had a Sinosword Where I felt like I got cheated out of my money. Sometimes they are average and sometimes they are actually above average. Huawei is consistently better of course especially in their niku execution. But I still like both brands for different reasons.
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Post by shepherd214 on Oct 11, 2021 22:43:33 GMT
Both are carbon steel so they will equally rust sort of fast if you don't take care of them And will be even worse if you live in a really humid climate like I do. Neither of them has much ingredients like stainless steel properties to help prevent corrosion. Some modern steels have added ingredients in the steel recipe to make them sort of stainless But not those two. What's going to make a bigger difference I think is the quality of polish. A really fine high high shine polish is going to keep rust away faster than a low grit satin polish on carbon steel. The finer the polish the more that the pores of the steel are closed up to prevent moisture from creating tiny pits.
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Post by shepherd214 on Sept 30, 2021 2:02:49 GMT
It could be that the machines they used to sand and sharpen the blade "burnt" the very thin and fine edge, causing a small portion of the steel to be soft and dull easily. Sharpening the blade once or twice can remove the softer burnt steel and reveal the good hard steel underneath. Its a very common thing in production knives, it could be what's happening here. I can tell you that at the price they are pumping those things out they are definitely not taking their time when running these blades against really fast and aggressive machines that can overheat the blade very easily.
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Post by shepherd214 on Sept 23, 2021 4:45:21 GMT
I have 6 and 9 year olds. I just have a sword rack and lean the rest up neatly in a corner. My kids are very well behaved and know to never touch my swords and pocket knives without permission. Never had any issues.
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Post by shepherd214 on Sept 22, 2021 3:55:06 GMT
Your sword looks nice for a lower budget offering, but you are playing a risky game spending over 600 bucks from a place like Hanbon. Generally with most sellers like that you wanna stay below 300-400 dollars. I know there's the lamination method used, but hilt construction and fittings are all what you'd normally see on 200 dollar offerings.
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Post by shepherd214 on Sept 22, 2021 3:26:16 GMT
Hey guys, Got a quick question; How soon does a katana lose its value? I want to buy one, and won’t use it for heavy cutting, maybe a few bottles or just fruit and stuff, but nothing more than that. Does this affect its value? Also wondering how to maintain a sword? Do I need to clean it or oil it a lot, or just once a month or something? Will the sword still be worth around the same amount of money after a few years? Hope you guys can help me out!! Thanks in advance Unless there's something really special about it, it loses its value the second you order it lol. I've seen really good swords struggle to get sold for a value anywhere close to original price. Depends on who and when someone is looking second hand.
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Post by shepherd214 on Sept 21, 2021 1:04:18 GMT
Thanks Andi, that helps to explain to price. Not to mention the skill and patience of the smiths involved. Never, ever underestimate how much free time people had back in the day after their basic needs were met.
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Post by shepherd214 on Sept 11, 2021 22:34:42 GMT
Some have the flare, some don't. Cold Steel swords have a massive flare towards the tip, it's extremely noticeable and I think looks very cool. I'd rather have the flare but as long as it looks reasonably thick towards towards tip it's not a big deal if there's actually a flare there, for under 500 bucks. Still would be pretty robust if it's around 4-5mm thick.
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Post by shepherd214 on Aug 27, 2021 16:35:56 GMT
I don't have mine to measure right now; It might be in the car. This is what I was able to find through a dealer, though, and it looks pretty accurate to me. Mind you, this tan handle version, I believe, is discontinued, and they only have the black. Measurements:Nagasa: 19.6 inches Tsuka: 9.6 inches Motokasane: 0.25 inches Sakikasane: 0.20 inches Motohaba: 1.36 inches Sakihaba: 0.96 inches That's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for that. I was hoping to get one to mess around with in the woods and hiking. Sucks the tan is no longer available though, I really like that one.
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Post by shepherd214 on Aug 27, 2021 7:17:20 GMT
A great result overall. Things have come a long way, even for pieces like these. It reminds me of how much fun I had with this thing. $80 2018 Musashi Tactical Wakizashi, One of my favorite under $100 pieces ever. If you have time, could you tell me how wide the blade on this is? And what the spine thickness is? Looks wider than normal wakizashi. Thank you.
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Post by shepherd214 on Aug 12, 2021 3:20:49 GMT
Yea but see, they say they use a chemical etch to make the hamon pop more. Way earlier in this thread, Braindead Merchant already trashed that technique and claimed its a fake wallhanger sword Agreed my paranoid friend, It’s a bad technique that etches a sword and leaves it will little pits and cl residue that might rust. Do it too much and you weaken your sword from etching. It’s also a lazy technique to simulate a polish. Do it on a collectible sword and you’ve harmed value, maybe only a little if bolf, but terribly for antiques as now you’ve pitted it and condemned it to rust. Both cheap makers, and shoddy restorers like Showa22 use it, it’s half the reason his sword are worthless destructible testing tier. So yeah, if you can do a foundation polish instead, it’s incomparably better and won’t worsen your sword. Edit: to everyone else, unless you’re buying a sword like Hanwei where the acid wash is a mandatory part of the process, avoid acid. Not only does it cover up a hamon’s quality but worse off it means the sword has been etched and full of little pits and internal corrosion that could get worse in a year. Get a sword in foundation polish and uchiko it, way less damage than an acid etch. It's not a bad technique, Ferric Chloride when properly neutralized with ammonia, creates a protective patina on the steel that actually helps to prevent rust. Like a forced rust patina. If you need any more good advice or knowledge, feel free to contact me.
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