# Anyone have a sword?



## slowtyper (Mar 15, 2012)

I've always had interests in them (what kid hasn't) but know nothing about them really. 

Are any made with the same kinds of steels as our kitchen knives?


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## l r harner (Mar 15, 2012)

i have a tuna sword hahahah but that dont count i think 
one of these days i keep telling myself that i will make a cpm3v sword (then beat the hell out of it )


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## Eamon Burke (Mar 15, 2012)

My favorite Swordsmith is actually here! Michael Rader.


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## Eamon Burke (Mar 15, 2012)

The tuna sword totally counts. That thing is a beast.


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## Taz575 (Mar 15, 2012)

I have a Wakizashi I got from the Sword Buyers Guide deal where you can pick out the various fittings and stuff. It's T10 steel, differentially heat treated. Very sharp, too! I had a Cheness Kaze, but ended up selling it and getting the Wak. Now I'll prob sell the Wak and get another Katana or Wak, but a bit better grade in the next year or so knowing me! I have a thing for wild hamons and the Wak and Kaze are kinda blah in that respect.


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## slowtyper (Mar 15, 2012)

Taz575 said:


> I have a Wakizashi I got from the Sword Buyers Guide deal where you can pick out the various fittings and stuff. It's T10 steel, differentially heat treated. Very sharp, too! I had a Cheness Kaze, but ended up selling it and getting the Wak. Now I'll prob sell the Wak and get another Katana or Wak, but a bit better grade in the next year or so knowing me! I have a thing for wild hamons and the Wak and Kaze are kinda blah in that respect.


Any pics? Do you sharpen it the same we we do for kitchen knives?


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## Taz575 (Mar 15, 2012)

No pics yet. Had it over a year now and haven't taken pics, lol. I haven't touched the edge; it's fairly sharp, but the edge is polished in as the bevel is put onto the blade, so it doesn't have an edge bevel; it's a convex down to the edge itself. The Kaze katana had more niku, which is more convexing. More Niku means more of a dramatic convexing to the side, less Niku is getting closer to a flat grind. Less Niku means less resistance when cutting through things, but slightly sharper and weaker edge. More Niku makes the edge more durable when cutting harder things. The Kaze didn't feel really sharp, but I was able to cut pool noodles cleanly with it. The Wak hasn't been used to cut anything and the edge is much sharper/thinner.


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## HHH Knives (Mar 15, 2012)

Rick Barrett is making some amazing swords! Traditional *** styling and some of the Sickest hamons and fittings I have seen! He also does contemporary stuff that amazing!! I currently dont own one of his swords,, but am proud to say hes working on a couple made from some of our damascus! irate1:

http://www.barrettcustomknives.com/japanese_gallery


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## jmforge (Mar 15, 2012)

I have a W2 wakizashi that has been sitting on my bench for the past two years because I don't have a big enough oven or forge to heat treat the thing. I guess it is technically still a "sword shaped object":biggrin:


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## slowtyper (Mar 15, 2012)

Very cool info. I wonder if people who collect and use swords usually sharpen themselves and how their methods differ from ours. 

I've been watching a bunch of samurai movies which is why I've been thinking about swords lately!


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## jmforge (Mar 15, 2012)

As far as steel, unless you are talking about a tamahagane sword, most of the good customs ones made in the US tend to be made out of some kind of decent carbon steel like one of the 10XX steels that have low manganese, W1, W2 or in the case of Howard Clark's competition cutters, bainitic L6. If you want a funky hamon, you need to use a shallow hardening steel with not a whole lot of manganese.


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## ecchef (Mar 15, 2012)

Nah...just a few bayonets.


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## Taz575 (Mar 15, 2012)

Drool Randy!! Those Hamons are what I am talking about!!


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## sw2geeks (Mar 16, 2012)

I was on the fencing team in collage, being 6'4" I had a lot of fun poking people (that is until I met A nice man from Scotland that was over 7'6" from SMU.) With my hight, I was more of an epee man, but still have a Saber and a foil.


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## Eamon Burke (Mar 16, 2012)

sw2geeks said:


> I met A nice man from Scotland that was over 7'6" from SMU.



No joke, I think I know that guy. Worked with his girlfriend. Ewan, I think?


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## joec (Mar 16, 2012)

I have a pair of working samiari swords made in China with carbon steels. They are working swords and do cut well.


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## HHH Knives (Mar 16, 2012)

Cool swords, Joec


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## Marko Tsourkan (Mar 16, 2012)

******* said:


> I have a W2 wakizashi that has been sitting on my bench for the past two years because I don't have a big enough oven or forge to heat treat the thing. I guess it is technically still a "sword shaped object":biggrin:



I have one in my head, but that technically, also doesn't count.


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## Lucretia (Mar 16, 2012)

Marko Tsourkan said:


> I have one in my head, but that technically, also doesn't count.



That's gotta hurt! :lol2:


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## JMJones (Mar 16, 2012)

I have one sword.





















I bought it directly from Jim Hrisoulas of Salamander Armory http://atar.com/joomla/ , he is a very impressive bladesmith to say the least
It is 1060 and L6 damascus. I figured if I ever wanted to make a katana style sword, it would be very helpful to have this handy to compare to.


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## Shinob1 (Mar 16, 2012)

I have a replica wakizashi and Ninjato. 440 Stainless, nothing to write home about. I also have a folding knife collection with a few nice pieces. I have been collecting knives since I was 5, but mostly stopped adding to the collection in my twenties.


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## slowtyper (Mar 16, 2012)

Last week I kept going back and back and back to this ebay auction....they are short but I thought they were so cool. However the price was hovering only around $30 or so until the end, and I had no idea how much they are worth so I didn't want to get caught up in a bidding war at the end without knowing what something is worth, so I forced myself to stop looking at it.










http://www.ebay.com/itm/320860272993?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2648#ht_500wt_948


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## kazeryu (Mar 16, 2012)

I have a fair number of them back home, mostly made of 5160 and made in Nepal without the aid of power tools. My favorite one has an elaborately engraved dragon on one side of the blade and a phoenix on the other - beautiful. 

I also have a Paul Chen Practical Katana, which is rather ho-hum considering what I paid for it. Their Practical Dao, on the other hand, was a very nice surprise for the price. (Note that actual price and MSRP bear no relation to each other)

I think you will find that while there are lots of people who collect swords, there are very, very few who do enough cutting tests to bother with sharpening.


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## BobCat (Mar 25, 2012)

This one by Ron Best


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