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LKH9 said:
Authentic Katana is only for collection, way too expensive to be used for real!
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Not quite.

It is not at all uncommon to use Nihonto as training blades. All swords other than Nihonto are illegal in Japan, so within Japan there is no other option for tamehisigiri, or if you want to train in Iaido with a live blade. The only factor which differentiates and art blade is the level of polish. It is impossible to avoid maring a fine polish through use.

Artistic considerations can adversely affect usability, such as a wide hamon, but this was only common during a small time period.

A properly forged and heat treated Japanese blade will not bend if used properly. There has been a lot of discussion over the last decade regarding L6 blades by a certain American master blacksmith which are heat treated to give a Bainite body. The blades are almost impossible to bend under any semblance on normal usage, but given that traditional blades do such an admirable job, the improved material properties are being used to produce blades with different geometry.

I actually own a 28" hirazukiri (unbeveled) katana by an American master bladesmith which is only about 5mm thick at it's thickest point. It has no issues due to modern metallurgy and the skill of the smith. This geometry is not seen in traditional blades over about 12".

Traditional blade are plenty strong enough, due to the geometry of the blades. Modern metallurgy allows us to make the sword requirement of "lasers".
 
Cold Steel 1055 springy Katana > A bit softer, less edge retention, impossible to bend, and cheap.

Real Japanese Katana > Very very artistic, heap loads of efforts put into the birth, fully hardened for edge retention, extremely sharp, but can't withstand too much abuse + very very expensive.

Actually, I wonder how well a Nihonto fares against hard objects like bones. Does it chip as easily as kitchen knives, talking about traditional steel. Since they are the same with traditional kitchen knives, you don't want to cut too hard objects?
 
Most swords were moderately brittle because post-quench temper was fairly rare, but they were a relatively beefy convex geometry. With decent technique, they could cut living bone with little problem. They also did not have super refined edges throughout most of the history in which they were used. Whitney Houston's scarf wouldn't be impressed by a real sword. They were made for their purpose and did it well, though with limitations.
 
people also grossly misunderstand the folding of the steel... it was about carbon distribution
 
JBroida said:
people also grossly misunderstand the folding of the steel... it was about carbon distribution
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This was caused by the NatGeo film about samurai sword. The steel had to be folded because of it's bad quality, it's like mixing molten metal thoroughly. Now in modern times, folded iron cladding is only for decoration sake, if the edge steel is folded, it ruins the good modern steel instead of improving it, from what I understood.
 
LKH9 said:
Actually, I wonder how well a Nihonto fares against hard objects like bones. Does it chip as easily as kitchen knives, talking about traditional steel. Since they are the same with traditional kitchen knives, you don't want to cut too hard objects?
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A friend of mine was interested in kendo. They taught them to aim for the soft spots and also it was mostly stabbing - cut an artery, tendons so on. He also insisted that the best close combat weapon was a bow from more than 50 yards away.
 
JBroida said:
people also grossly misunderstand the folding of the steel... it was about carbon distribution
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Also folding squished out impurities from the tamagagane, resulting in a cleaner and more homogeneous steel. I agree that most people dont understand it and many think there is some sort of magic involved.
 
JMJones said:
Also folding squished out impurities from the tamagagane, resulting in a cleaner and more homogeneous steel. I agree that most people dont understand it and many think there is some sort of magic involved.
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Because NatGeo said the sword is folded multiple times and it becomes a super godlike sword afterwards, never properly explains why it's done. That's one biased film.
 
gic said:
Bonhams had an auction recently called "Arts of the Samuri" which had a pretty amazing catalog. The sold katanas ranged in price from about 20k to about 300k I believe . They ranged in age from late 19th century to 14th century I think.
You can see the catalog here:

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21404

also there were katanas in this more recent catalog

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21861/
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wow, i wish i was a millionaire, then i'd get myself some of such fine samurai armour and some katanas just to look at the pure elegance...
 
Stuart Branson in Canada has been doing some Asian style blades that are pretty impressive.
Not sure what his current pricing is, but he has always done very nice work at prices I thought were considerably lower than they could be.
This was his first Katana.
Katana_8_zps5b570630.jpg

Katana_6_zps371461e2.jpg

Katana_9_zps90c00e2f.jpg
 
I would second the CCK watermelon knife on Chinese Chef Mall. 14" wood handle 72.12. The right tool for the job. I would use my 270mm Gyuto to peel & cut up watermelon for banquet fruit salad.

Jesus Hernandez makes nice swords. He is really into Tameshigiri targets. Straw Tatami Omoto mats. He forges his target swords out of a bar of W2 carbon steel with differential heat treatment. W2 makes for some very nice Hamons. He not only forges the blades, he crafts all of the parts including the saya's.
 
keithsaltydog said:
Jesus Hernandez makes nice swords. He is really into Tameshigiri targets. Straw Tatami Omoto mats. He forges his target swords out of a bar of W2 carbon steel with differential heat treatment. W2 makes for some very nice Hamons. He not only forges the blades, he crafts all of the parts including the saya's.
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Jesus Hernandez does make some excellent pieces, I have one of his tsuba which is very nicely made and was priced very reasonably.

Incidentally, I also have a tsuba from a gentleman who Bob Kramer studied metalworking techniques from earlier this year.

I guess it's a small world.
 
You know, I am getting flashbacks of when I was a little boy. I always wanted a samurai sword. I don't have the need for it, and would likely hurt myself. But boy do I get a pang thinking about it.
 
MAS4T0 said:
Jesus Hernandez does make some excellent pieces, I have one of his tsuba which is very nicely made and was priced very reasonably.

Incidentally, I also have a tsuba from a gentleman who Bob Kramer studied metalworking techniques from earlier this year.

I guess it's a small world.
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Hello Mas I found our about Jesus Hernandez through a forum knife maker Pierre Rodrigue. Hernandez made me one of his Tameshigiri target katana's with black leather tsuka. On his site under Katana is a series of pictures of the blade. It is the Bamboo Leaves Katana with Red laquer saya painted bamboo.

My other real sword is a Muromachi period Wakizashi (short sword) forged in the 1490's. I am just a steward of this blade, just wipe polish & lighty oil that's it. The Hawaii Japanese Sword Society guys have some truly stunning blades as far back as the Heian periods Jogan and Fujiwara. Kamakura.

They had An Exhibit Of Japanese Swords at the Soto Mission here couple years ago. That got me hooked.
 
Just received a Cold Steel 1917 style cutlass machete today. Other than the blade pattern, no where near historically accurate to any thing but I think it is the best cheap "sword" you are going to find.
 
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