[geeks] Swords

[nimitz at ns1.nimitzbrood.com]

> On Mon, Oct 20, 2003 at 11:38:56AM -0500, Bill Bradford wrote:
> > On Mon, Oct 20, 2003 at 08:19:05AM -0400, Kevin wrote:
> > > Whats your budget?  Decent ones can be had for ~$1k
> > > (maybe a bit less) and really nice ones will run you
> > > $9K - $20K+.
> > 
> > >From what I've seen, you can get no-frills models for ~$200.
> > They're not collectors editions, but decent "working" instruments.
> 
> Any katana you can buy for ~$200 is likely to be ground out of a piece
> of 440C stainless and intended primarily for display.  It'll most likely
> have no temper and bend easily, and won't hold an edge.

Yep.  The flexi-swords.  ;-)

> 
> Oh, and ANY sword whose description says "full-length threaded tang" is
> almost certainly worthless except as a wallhanger.  This is marketer
> speak for "pin tang", meaning the tang is a piece of 1/4" mild steel rod
> welded to the root of the blade, threaded on the end, and the guard and
> hilt are retained by a fancified nut.

You tend to see a lt of fake medieval style swords with this.  Often the standard broadsword and the Spanish fancy hilt style swords (forgot the name at the moment) have this.  These are usually the inserts in the middle of the catalogs on standard paper in BW.  Not worth anything but maybe light stage combat.  Even then they break easily.

These guys:

http://www.starfireswords.com/

make simple combat weapons and are worth every penny you pay them.  Another friend of mine has a large battle axe from them that I fashioned a locust haft for.  We spent some time in the backyard cutting *splitting* blocks of wood with it.  Quite heavy and durable.


> (Most katana I've seen, even the $200 ones, do actually have a real tang
>  and a mekugi (hilt pin, traditionally bamboo).  Ironically, because of
>  how the hilt of a Japanese sword is constructed, trying to fake it and
>  make a katana with a threaded pin tang that still looks right is more
>  effort than just doing it right in the first place.)

I would think that if you wanted the simple made ones that are full-tang you would buy the one with the blade clearly visible through the hilt.  Not as beautiful or as well made but probably good for playing with.

You're right though - it's often easier to just do it right than try and fake it.

Mike Hebel