Cool. i like that German sword. It isn’t exactly what I want to build though. The hilt on mine would be about where the little horn looking things are on that sword. A long enough handle that you would have about a foot between your fists. It would also be a little wider with more of a tapered blade. I think your sword has reach on it and it looks lighter. Mine has more leverage for chopping rather than swinging. It handles kind of like a double-edged axe, only with a longer blade. … Your sword is most likely better. A battle axe might be better too. I still want to make it someday. I see what you are saying though. It would be in the same category as that sword.
The Spartan swords that I have seen were all double-edged. This falcata sword I found online looks freaking cool though:
If someone was going to buy a samurai sword to use in battle today … stainless steel would be okay?
Monkey,
We used to have a lamb. I don’t think I have ever eaten goat … or any testicles in general. I like manestra, pasticio, spanakopita and saganaki. Greek food is good. I didn’t grow up in a big fat Greek community so I don’t smoke or whatever. I love my family and our heritage. I was born and raised in Indiana though. I like cheeseburgers.
Hey, next year is going to rock for Greeks. The olympics, motion pictures like Troy, Alexander the Great and … I heard about some Hot Gates movie George Clooney is making about Thermopylae. Cool stuff.
Personally I couldn’t care less about weponry history or a swords physical composition. A sword is a sword a knife is a knife a blade is a blade. Sure they may handle a bit different depending on their era and make but shit if someones coming at you with a blade the last thing your gonna worry about is who the fuck made it.
First thing I’m gonna worry about is how to get outta there in one piece and how to disarm my attacker if I can.In other words the important stuff.
Yeah…but if it’s made for shit, you could break it with your hands. If it’s made well, your running theory would be put to good use.
And if anyone wanted to buy a weapon, I’m sure they would care what the hell it was made of and who made it. You wouldn’t want to be chasing a dude with your katana just to have him snap it with a sidekick. Either his chi is whack or you got yourself a piece of shit for a sword.
Stainless just means there is a bunch of stuff in the mix that prevents oxidization. It doesn’t mean that the steel is inferior as far as hardness goes. ATS-34 for example is a stainless steel that gets up to 61RC which is pretty damn hard. However, a lot of the cheap stuff you see for sale is made out of the same stainless you get in spoons and forks. ATS-34, 154CM, etc. are considered designer stainless and are pretty pricey.
Good stainless is generally harder to work with and some you cannot forge properly. As well, their heat treat is much more precise and usually done at much higher temperatures. Therefore, getting a true hamon on designer stainless may require more work than it is worth, or even impossible. That’s why I don’t think you see many smiths making high-quality swords out of this stuff.
The purpose of folding steel in traditional Japanese sword-smithing is to homogenize the metal since the tatara process of extracting steel did not melt the metal into a liquid but more like a sludge. As such, the sludge needs to get folded and mixed up manually to get a near homogenous material. As mentioned above, modern steel is homogenous. So anyone that sells a modern steel “folded” blade is merely taking a few sheets of modern steel and folding it around to get a pattern (the hada) which does not add any functional value to the sword. Folding only makes sense if you are working with tatara (which they still do in Japan).
A modern carbon steel blade is probably the most cost-effective and functional solution for a sword these days. Most smiths work in 1050-1095 range. They are easier to forge as well as easier to heat-treat and if done properly can easily match the older methods as far as performance.
If you are a real sucker for getting a hada (the tree-grain pattern from forge-welding tatara) it’s gonna cost ya and doesn’t add any performance increase. I don’t recommend getting a mass-produced folded modern steel blade as it is unlikely that the hada will look correct. You end up with just a bunch of squiggly lines in your sword. There are also times were the layers delaminate from poor forge-welding.
All swords break. Some just take more than others.
The local knife shop in kelowna had a folded steel katana for 2100, said it was imported from one of the islands around the japanesse mainland. Man it was cool, its a good thing my bank account has less than 100 dollars in it, and not 2k, otherwise I prolly would have bought it!
My friends all looked at me like I was crazy, the same way they looked at me when I almost paid 60$ for a lord of the rings “the one ring”, which was gold plated and had the same writing on it as in the movie.
Maybe I need help…
Any true nihon-to (ie: Japanese made sword that is sanctioned by the NHBTK or something like that) start at around $6K. So a certified nihonto at $2100 is not very possible.
There is an island of the mainland of Japan that does make swords in that price range. Quality goes from very good to very poor. It’s called China.
I import Shinken made by a very respectable smith based in China. I’ve cut through 2inch thick hard-bamboo with it no problem. All his work is by hand so it is a bit pricier than the factory stuff. Although his fit and finish is much more superior and completely traditional (rather than automotive paint instead of lacquer, plastic instead of ox-horn, buffing wheels instead of polishing stones). He also works in tamahagane with true hada. Custom pieces, 2-3 month waiting time.
If you are looking for something more affordable, Cold Steel makes some solid katanas. I think they go for around $400-500. Bugei and Hanwei forge make some low-end stuff as well. Just be careful with what you are getting. I read on sword-forums that Hanwei (Paul Chen) was using plastic for his habaki (the copper thing at the base of the blade) on his practical katana, which breaks upon cutting anything. Dunno if that is still the case. The online reviews of Paul Chen’s stuff was mixed. Short tangs, improper folding, etc. But he may have improved his work since then. I haven’t had a chance to disassemble a recent piece and no one wants to let me use theirs to cut stuff.
Price and quality go hand in hand, just don’t get ripped off.
You know that scene in Kill Bill where she cuts down that kid’s sword with her Hanzo sword? Well, you get a real sword and you can do that to your friend’s $30 one.
be careful with those crappy swords. if it doesn’t have a full tang and the handle is a shoddy fit the thing can break apart in your hands.
an iaito is a sensible, affordable choice for sword training purposes. tozando.com and e-bogu.com have a pretty good selection. they’re not sharp, but they’re constructed properly so they’re safe to use for iaido practice.
sorry guys, but a real folded steel sword is WAY more pimp than a modern one. the astronomical price reflects the pimpification you receive upon purchasing one, not the actual combat worth.
Yah, i use wooden ones and metal ones. Weapons are great and people underestimate them alot. But frankly if you understand the concept of weaponary,it can make you a rather effective street fighter.Seriously , it enables you to use pretty much anything as a weapon, even dirt, coins, edges of tables etc etc. Its all applicable.