Any sword lovers out there??

I have a Scottish Claymore and a Jappanese short sword(i forget what its called. Its the small version of the katana
 
Careful where you buy your swords online, many carry cheap pakistani crap, plastic hardware, and even worse......cast metal alloys (YUCK) They look good on a website, but once you hold it in your hand you'll quickly realize why it was such a good deal.

Then there are the many swords that while they are steel and even through tempered....their 440 stainless that does not sharpen well, they still have cheap hardware, they're too hard.. so they will snap if actually used. (You do NOT want a sword to be through tempered to the hardness of a good pocket knife, or fixed blade.....two completely different things. They can be hard and sharp but very brittle and will very likely snap and possibly hurt you when used for cutting)...and they weigh about twice as much as a real sword to make up for poor quality steal and bad tempering. These will make decent wall hangers but can not be used for cutting, or martial arts.

Also careful where you read up.....many forums on web are affiliated with companies (with no mention of this), so they pretty much are there for the purpose of promoting certain companies wether or not they make a good product.

I suppose it depends on your use. Most people who buy swords just want a wall hanger. Very few people who even say they love swords seem to understand what to really look for, and what is "authentic".....martial artists tend to be the most informed (both western and eastern arts)......and even they sometimes think Katanas should cut through steel & concrete, and that claymore's weighed freakin 6lbs, or that you can grab a rapier with your hand and other Hollywood Fairy tales. (I have never seen one sword fight in a movie that was accurate, you do not slam blade edge to blade edge unless you hate your sword)...........I suggest you keep two things in mind if you really want to collect swords. Read as much as possible (peferably books not web sites). Find out as much about the steel used by any company for each blade (one company may use 6-7 diferent steels for different swords). Find out as much as possible about their tempering process.......;the steel, and tempering will tell you the quality of the blade. Only holding one will tell you the balance, and quality of the sword.
 
Wait, are you guys talking about REAL katana's and swords, or just those reproductions sold at the mall etc. that are only worth $50 to $1000. Cause those certainly arn't the real thing.
 
You can certainly get a very fine sword that is not only functional but superior to what they had historically for under $1000. Most of the over $1000 dollar range items, have more to do with art then function. They are either completely handmade (which does not always mean higher quality just perhaps better collectability), or they use expensive materials for hardware etc. Or perhaps they are folded, or pattern wielded steel.

One note on “Damascus”,in general it comes in pattern wielded steel, and folded billets. In either case it is purely ascetic, and means nothing in regards to reliability or modern forging. The old myth that the number of folds means it can cut through steel and concrete is hogwash. It’s a Hollywood fantasy that no metallurgist, or sword smith buys into. The purpose historically of folding steel was to even out the carbon content. For one they were using very inferior steel to that which we have available even cheaply today. They also had lower temperature furnaces to work with and often had to heat the metal mainly by the pounding of steel the old fashioned way to work it into the shape they wanted.

AS modern steels have a very very even carbon content this is really not an issue. I promise you a very nice modern tool steel has far superior qualities then anything the Samurai, or Viking smiths could have dreamed of.

The real art is not in the folding of steel. The real art is in the temper….the temper decides the hardness and the even distribution of that temper. Breaks usually happen in places where there is either an air bubble in the steel or bad tempering. Now if you want extra eye candy, there are many great well tempered blades with folded steel….and yes they will likely set you back over a grand. However most martial artists are fine using a well tempered forged blade of modern steel as it is superior to most anything ancient warriors had. Differential tempering (different hardness on spine then edge) like that used in a nicely made Katana must be done by hand…..so this is your big cost in a truly functional katana. But it can be had for even under $250.

I would agree that most stuff in the "malls" is suspect to say the least. I would also say that if it costs less then $250 buyer beware.....but I have seen some nice blades even under that occasionally on E-Bay. (of course there’s no return policy there really…=)

It's not always a cost issue. I have seen people spend $500 on a sword that was decorative and pretty to look out but couldn’t withstand a single cutting. Then turn up their nose at a very “plain looking” sword, that was less then half that price, but was a really well forged no nonsense blade that was a great weapon......

Again don’t look at just price. Educate yourself on the type of blade you want and it’s characteristics, then educate yourself about how a company makes that item.
 
Katanas are cool. The one I have is no real beauty, just a cheapy but it displays nicely and it makes a darn nice foliage trimmer. :D You should see the look on the neighbors faces when I bust that out to trim the hedges :twisted:
 
Mod edit: Any further posts that contain ANY racial message or are as blatantly aggressive and useless as this post was will result in immediate action, german. Check your PMs.


Mod re-edit: Adios, 5150.
 
Mod edit: Do not start or join any sort of flame war here, no matter how hard it may be not to react to something. Inform a moderator and we will take care of the problem.
 
Keist IV said:
:D You should see the look on the neighbors faces when I bust that out to trim the hedges :twisted:

:lol: thats funny!! I'm moving, and I'm wondering what my new neighbors (not to mention the woman I'm renting from!) are gonna think when they see my katanas and daggars... *LOL* Not to mention all the wicca supplies.
 
mvilla2426 said:
Hey everyone......

I have one sword....... a katana to be exact. Dexter bought it for me and insists I learn to use it while he's gone (he 's got all sorts of swords, and alot of other weapons)

Anyway, I've read a little about Japanese swordsmanship, particularly Ia-do (don't know if I am spelling it right) and I do like the philosophies behind it........

Any sword lovers out there?

Be careful those things are very sharp.

I own a set of Rapiers, which I use constantly, fencing is the name of the game.

They are thicker than a normal saber and can cut a man's head off if you want to put tremendous stress on the blade.
 
Yeah, I hate swords ... the giant claymore broadsword and other swords I have hanging on my wall are a bunch of FILTHY LIARS!! The Clay is the prettiest, but there's a lovely katana, several rapiers ... basically I'm a nut.
 
Depends on whether you're interested in having a decent selection of historically accurate swords. Most of those aren't really true copies of what you'd have found in history.

This site is good if your looking for a broader selection of swords and weapons that are more like the real things: http://www.museumreplicas.com/webstore/homepage.asp The quality is not absolutely top notch, but better than most sword makers. These you could actually use if you wanted.

The addition of the ridiculous is sortof unavoidable. If they didn't use a thing in ancient history, either they didn't think of the idea (rare) or it was a stupid idea that is just designed to look cool. A lot of the swors that add wings and spikes all over the place ... well if you used it you might slit your own wrists.
 
I collect swords and knives(mostly knives) but i am thinking about stopping because nowadays it is so hard to find a good sword or swordmaker, one of my friends just had a sword sepcially made for him by some sword maker in China, the guy will only make swords for you if he knows you personally so i can't get one, but he makes quality swords not like the ones you find here, if you want a good sword you should ask everything you can about it, find out what type of steel they made it from, the method of which it was tempered, and how many layers it is made out of.The majority of swords you buy in the States are display swords designed to look good so you can hang it on your wall, but if you want a sword of perfection you should probably go to China or Japan or try to find a swordsmith from China or Japan who has an ancestral history of swords.
 
i like swords and love the straight sword ,is nice. i like the katana as well.
the clay more is amazing not designed to cut just to break bones!!
 
Im a bit of a sword nut too. Im a fencing instructor at my local village club and have a collection of katanas and medieval swords(although none of them original or valuable).But my real passion is the cavalry sabre.
I have bought a 17h2 Clydesdale x shire,as close as I could get in size and build to a belgian warhorse and spend a few hours a week training in mounted swordwork. its harder than you may think!
 
When I was about 10 or 12 years old, my Cousin who had landed on Iwo Jima as an 18 year old Marine, showed me souvenirs from 1944 and two were Japanese swords. As I remember, there was very little difference in the two but he remembered that one came from one Island and another from a different location. The blades were not rusted even though he took no care and never sharpened them. The handles were loose on the tangs and there were Japanese characters cut into the metal under the handles. The blades were incredibly sharp after so many years and had some etching along the edges, The handles were laced with a black silk cord and each had carved ivory talismans laced under them. One was a feather and the other looked like a fish. He got rid of them after that, probably threw them away with the way he felt about Japanese.
 
Missileer

You should check just in case your cousin still has them.

Japanese officiers carried swords that came from their families. These families were all samurai which means the swords they used were very often passed on from one generation to the next. Depending on the age, the artisitry of the sword, and most important if the swordmaker was well known. Your cousin might have thrown out a Renoir or Picasso without evening knowing it. Some of these very old Katana's and Wakazashii (which were used in WWII) are worth thousands of $.
 
I've been a bit slow to respond to this one. I love swords as well, as does my wife. Current collection:
Scottish Claymore (Two-hander.
Replica of one of Robert the Bruce's many swords)
Rapier
2 Smaller decorative rapiers
1 Katana
1 Wakasashi
1 Battle Ax
1 Warhammer
1 Dirk
1 Plain ol' Buck Hunting Knife (counts I guess)
 
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