Newbie - Samurai swords.

camvdcs

camvdcs

Joined
Oct 21, 2000
Messages
89
Hello all,

I'm really more into knives like Spydercos but lately I've been getting the itch to look at getting a samurai sword. I realize that they can get pretty expensive ($10,000 +) but I'm really looking at maybe the $200 - $400 range. If I ever win the lotto, that's a different story. Can anyone give me tips on who would make the best quality katana sword in the price range?:confused: I heard of Cold Steel & Paul Chen. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Cal
 
J-armory and Oni Forge are other options close to that price range. You get what you pay for ;).
Higher-end options are the Bugei (Hanwei) and Dynasty Forge lines.
 
If it were my first sword (Or even a second, third, or fourth sword) I would buy the non bo-hi version of the Tenchi Katana from www.cheness.com It will take some of the abuse of poor cuts. Others may not agree but the Tenchi kat is generally given very good reviews.
 
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-1 on the Cheness. :barf: The tsuka (handle) construction is highly questionable. A Hanwei practical series katana without bo-hi would be a good way to start, and they're very reasonably priced.
 
camvdcs said:
Hello all,

I'm really more into knives like Spydercos but lately I've been getting the itch to look at getting a samurai sword. I realize that they can get pretty expensive ($10,000 +) but I'm really looking at maybe the $200 - $400 range. If I ever win the lotto, that's a different story. Can anyone give me tips on who would make the best quality katana sword in the price range?:confused: I heard of Cold Steel & Paul Chen. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Cal
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Real old blades can go up to priceless and even some pretty average old blades will be several thousand.

Newly made Gendai blades from Japan are in the 5k range. Then you have stuff made here in the US by specialty smiths and in China by unscrupulous smiths that range from 30 bucks up to many thousands. It runs the gammet.

Paul Chen blades arent too bad and the Cold Steel blades look pretty good thought I cant vouch for the quality of manufacture.
 
For your price range i would look at the Paul Chen swords. They handle much better then cold steel. And the Cheness are not very nice looking swords the fitting are pretty plan. Also the wrap is like a shoelace. I have never owned Oni forge so i can not comment on them.
 
Also you might be able to find a Chen shinto in that range for a user. Or for looks maybe a golden oriole.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
-1 on the Cheness. :barf: The tsuka (handle) construction is highly questionable. A Hanwei practical series katana without bo-hi would be a good way to start, and they're very reasonably priced.
Click to expand...


I heard that Cheness upgraded the tsuka to a hardwood for better durabilty. Hopefully this will solve any tsuka issues they may have had in the past. Of course Cold Steel had the same issue as well as other manufacturers.
 
I prefer my cold steel katana to my cheness one. Although cold steel has been known to have bad quality control in the past, if you get a good sword from them it will last. I can vouch for cold steel customer service as well, so if you get a bad product they won't ignore you.

Kris cutlery makes a ok blade in that price range, but I got a bare blade so I'm not sure of the quality of their furniture.

greg
 
Ah yes, Kris Cutlery - they HAVE had complaints of heat treat, though I have only heard of it thirdhand (or further degrees of separation) and generally, it seems to have occurred about a decade ago (or more).
The ones I have handled were solidly built, not especially pretty, nor does the 5160 take to differentially hardening as visibly as say, 1070. If you can find them, the KC Shingen from them was pretty simple and a very nice cutter.

Cold Steel is kind of hit-or-miss, though I haven't handled anything from their Japanese sword line in the last 3 years or so. Generally, they are thicker than is standard to increase their toughness (also the reason they chose 1050 as the blade steel - doubtless the heat treat (through-hardened) was also specfically for that reason).
That said, the CS Chisa I handled was a real beast of a cutter, heavy, somewhat well-balanced, and would sail through targets like they weren't there. Just watch out for the follow-through ;).

Re: Hanwei I have heard good reports of the new and improved Practical line, and handled one of their "XL" line - IIRC, the blade was wider and slightly thicker. Pretty decent... for the money. However, I never did get to cut with it.
 
I don't claim to be an expert, but I was quite satisfied with the furniture on my chen practical katana. Don't have anything appropriate to compare it with in terms of cutting, but it seems to have done just fine.
 
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