Iori
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Posts: 18
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Post by Iori on Apr 25, 2011 17:52:26 GMT -5
I'm sure this is a fairly common question on the forum, and do excuse if I didn't use the search function correctly, but what vendors do you guys recommend that make a decent, functional, aesthetically pleasing katana? I realize that a well made sword can run from a few hundred dollars to a tens of thousands of dollars depending on the maker. What I'm specifically looking for is sword made of high quality materials, carbon steel blade with a legitimate heat treating, no fake hamon, zinc alloy, or plastic, that I can use for solitary kata and cutting exercises. I'd like a blade that I can revere, that won't fall apart on the first handling. I also have a preference for slightly longer than average tsukas. As for budget, I'm not sure. Something to save for. Perhaps $1000-3000. Nothing astronomical. There are guys in my dojo here in Brazil that are spending R$5000, which is half the price of a car. Import taxes are super high here, so I'll probably wait until I get back in the US to find one. I'm just curious whats out there above the wall hanger range. What is the preferred katana in your collection? -Iori
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Post by Suzuki Ken'ichi on Apr 25, 2011 18:44:22 GMT -5
Bugei offers some that are nice for production line swords. I would regard Kris cutlery as sort of the bottom of the line for meeting your requirements... relatively inexpensive, but made of carbon steel, differentially hardened, sharp / sharpenable. The balance on them is not bad, but they're a touch heavy. Howard Clark of Morgan Valley Forge is a good egg, and a great smith. I aspire to a sword by him, myself. Also, James Raw of South Africa has quite a reputation. And, of course, there are the Japanese smiths. I would recommend poking about the Sword forum if you want the advice of sword fanciers.
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Post by arashi on Apr 26, 2011 9:44:58 GMT -5
If you are looking for a sword to practice with and that will get a lot of use, you may also consider one of the 'practical katana' line from Paul Chen, they are made for use by martial artists and are quite reasonably priced for a forged sword.
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Post by Suzuki Ken'ichi on Apr 26, 2011 10:20:24 GMT -5
In my experience, the Paul Chen (also known as Hanwei) Chinese-made swords suffer from quality control issues. Some of them are very nice, but others not so. If you can view the sword before you buy it, that's best.
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Lash
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perfection isnt an end result but a path to walk upon with your eyes closed.
Posts: 422
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Post by Lash on Apr 26, 2011 13:13:32 GMT -5
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Post by Suzuki Ken'ichi on Apr 26, 2011 14:46:18 GMT -5
I have always been a little cautious with regards the reviews on Sword Buyer's Guide. They seem very focused on, and impressed by, the low end of the market. There are reasons serious martial artists pay thousands of dollars for shinken, and if you get the chance to handle one, you discover some of those reasons. None the less, the low end of the market is certainly suitable for beginners, and there is some good stuff out there at prices that are surprisingly low. Of course, the caveat always applies: before you spend a lot of money talk to your sensei!. Oh, and some of you may find this interesting: Walter Sorrells offers instructional videos on a variety of subjects, including tsukamaki (making your own hilt). I'm planning to remount my own blade in the next few months, health permitting, and I'm using his instructions to do it.
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Post by Miyamoto Takezo on Apr 26, 2011 23:26:09 GMT -5
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Iori
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Posts: 18
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Post by Iori on Apr 28, 2011 5:25:35 GMT -5
Lot's of great links!!! Thanks guys!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 13:09:20 GMT -5
I saw this company over the weekend at a convention: www.dragonsongforge.com/They appear to have a bad reputation because the guy in charge has a bad habit of shooting his mouth off online. In person he's mostly nice, at least if you make it clear you are in the market to buy. Judging by their booth, they also make most of their money selling anime reproductions and things like that, but that's neither here nor there to me; gotta stay in business somehow. Judging by their web site and some videos you can find on YouTube, they are a total cheese fest, but again, in person they act more serious. The guy in charge is very opinionated about what manufacturers are worth buying or not, and he will "discuss" it with you if you disagree. He badmouths his competitors a little more than I like to see in a professional. The buying guidelines he has at this page seem like mostly good advice, so he's capable of rational thought. The core of their business is interesting to me, though. Most places I see on line only sell completed weapons. DragonSong buys all their parts separately, and will assemble a weapon from the parts you choose, including the above mentioned Musashi blades. This kind of service is obviously available from merchants of high quality blades, and you could definitely save a lot of money learning how to do it yourself in any case, but this is the only place I've seen that does this at the same level of the market as the people selling the aforementioned anime blades. I'd be hesitant to buy through their web site, but if you see them at a show of some kind you can carefully examine the blade and all the parts beforehand, and decide if you think it's worth what he's charging. I bought a tanto from him. It wasn't a custom job, but he claimed to have assembled it himself. He could have done a better job gluing on the rayskin. In my opinion, the blade is in the "not complete crap" class, but clearly not great. It has a defined hamon that does not appear to have been applied with a wire brush. The fittings are attractive, and include a horn kurigata and brass (plated?) menuki. The price was OK, but not amazingly good. I guess I saved some money not having to pay shipping. I still have a little bit of "I bought a weapon at a gaming convention" embarassment, so please be gentle. At least it wasn't a store in a mall.
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Post by Mori Takeo on Jun 28, 2011 19:41:10 GMT -5
Thanks for asking this question. I also am looking for a good carrying around sword. The one i carry around now (cause my knight says i should be armed when we do guard duty for the king and queen now that i have an AoA) is a cheepo knock-off of Himura Kenshin's Sakabato. (yeah i know bad Bushi no meat bun.)
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Post by Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa on Jun 28, 2011 22:50:14 GMT -5
One of my fellow kenjutsu students owns the Crane Katana and Wakizashi from Bugei. They look and feel very nice, and have attractive fittings. They also perform very well in target cutting.
I was impressed enough by my interactions with those swords to purchase a katana and tanto from Bugei. I have not received my swords yet, but based on my friend's blades, I expect to be very happy when I get them.
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Post by Takeda Sanjuichiro on Jun 29, 2011 22:26:46 GMT -5
Thanks for asking this question. I also am looking for a good carrying around sword. The one i carry around now (cause my knight says i should be armed when we do guard duty for the king and queen now that i have an AoA) is a cheepo knock-off of Himura Kenshin's Sakabato. (yeah i know bad Bushi no meat bun.) That brings up a interesting point... Royal (imperial) guards would be dressed and armed quite different than shogun's or lord's guards. There is some differing opinions of what a SCA King is in relation to the Mikado... but here's my take: 1. The Crown of a Kingdom is the penultimate source and authority of awards and their structure within a Kingdom. One can argue the laws and corpora superceed that, and yes... but we do not portray that in the "game". Thus King=Emperor.... that could be taken further as Coronet=Imperial vs. "clan" authority. 2. Your being a guard is really to be impressive eye-candy for the Crown, and a ready to hand assistant when needed. So both a practical application and cool "schtik" If you weren't a helpful open person, well you would not be a squire So make your presentation, the "schtik" awesome. It matters less about fine details like exact sword... (you can do a slip on cover and modify easy and inexpensively) After all, your likely not going to have to draw it, and if for some reason there is a need, a quick talk with your fellow guards and the head of retainers and a solution will be presented to you "Basic" Imperial Guard What I think is an often misunderstood idea is just because the stereotypical samurai in the SCA is armed, they are ready to be on guard duty... Even in Europe-centric perception this tradition gets jumbled. There is 2 kinds of guards, guards of person and guards of honor. Just because some fop wore a dagger and a rapier in Elizabeth's court didn;t mean he was a guard... her guards were either in uniform (Guards of Honor) or for keeping her safe, and those people wore normal clothes and blended in. Japan was not much different. Daimyo and the Shogunate to my spot knowledge did not have the same sort of formal uniformed guards and used either people kitted out (like in the sankin kotai), proscribed something at their whim, or just had his loyal buds around his person. (wearing whatever their whims where and the lord's temperament) I find myself growing older and lazier... Except on formal guard duty for royalty, or in some sort of "schtik" capacity I just carry a big tanto now, and leave the daito in camp/car/home. I'm a Lord...so presumably I have guards.... somewhere, luckily they have not showed up to ask for payment -Takeda
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2011 7:25:51 GMT -5
I find myself growing older and lazier... Except on formal guard duty for royalty, or in some sort of "schtik" capacity I just carry a big tanto now, and leave the daito in camp/car/home. I'm a Lord...so presumably I have guards.... somewhere, luckily they have not showed up to ask for payment It has been observed by many that, at least in the SCA, those with the most "right" to wear weapons tend to do so the least often. That is, you'll see a greater percentage of teenagers wearing swords than you will see knights wearing swords. I'm not criticizing anybody, but there it is. It was probably true in period, too. After all, didn't Musashi tire of swords and dispatch opponents with whatever was at hand? As you say, formal and ceremonial situations are different. I bought my tanto because it was requested I wear one for ceremonial purposes. I still feel a little silly for doing so, though. Maybe we could start a trend of guarding royalty while armed only with boat oars?
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Post by Mori Takeo on Jun 30, 2011 7:52:43 GMT -5
i like the boat oars idea When i first started in the SCA I (pre japanese persona) wore no less than 3 blades on my person....of course i didn't go to court so i never ran into that pesky approaching royalty thing. When i became more involved, and had to do the court thing, i was lucky to carry a small knife on my person. Now that i am a "Lord" and a Squire, i have to force myself to remember to be armed. (and yes we do wear uniforms of a type when on duty though i had to adapt to keep to my persona.) ( I the only bushi in a household of vikings) -Takeo now getting back to the thread topic at hand...checked out the sites ya'll have listed, awesome, and many thanks!!
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Saionji Shonagon
New Member
One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Jun 30, 2011 10:28:31 GMT -5
SOME of us just need a fan and an attitude. ;-D
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