Who currently makes the best western European type swords? Price isn't an obstacle and functionality is all important.

Try here.

I have no reason to believe you are serious but the folks over there are best able to answer. "Best" puts you in a long waiting list in most cases.

I need one too. I've got all these errant knights riding across my pastures, some asking about wind mills, and I'm damn tired of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
I need one too. I've got all these errant knights riding across my pastures, some asking about wind mills, and I'm damn tired of it.

I stayed up too late on eBay one night and ended up with a Cold Steel saber. It is not junk by any means but I have hell slicing summer sausage with it so it does not get much use!

I need one too. Mel Gibson keeps asking me to come help him liberate Scotland. I also need one for Japan to help Tom Cruise, then I'm off with these short guys to drop some sort of ring off in volcano or something....I'm going to be busy, I'll probably need several swords.

Campbell,
Clan Campbell should be helping clan Wallace free Scotland.

You ever hunt with a sword?

Museum replicas limited sells fully functional battle ready swords from many regions and time periods, plus fully functional copies of movie prop swords ie: Kingdom of Heaven

www.museumreplicas.com

You said price was no obstacle.

I had one, but one night Conan came by and needed a back-up. Couldn't say no to the big guy.

I found one stuck in a rock one time, but the damn thing keep me up all night with this strange haunting song so I threw it in a lake.

Scott,
This faction of Clan Campbell is ready when needed.
Never hunted an animal with a sword but there was the one time when I had to go after someone that talked bad about my momma....

How do these Samuri swords from WW2 compare to what's being made today????

DM

quote:

Originally posted by DM:
How do these Samuri swords from WW2 compare to what's being made today????

DM

Today there are a tremendous number of poor Japansese-styled swords being made in China and elsewhere, and there are some extremely nice and expensive ones being made in Japan and the US. There are also some decent and not too expensive ones being made in China, but much research can be required to get the right one.

The swords made in Japan around World War II can be very collectible depending on type and condition but the high point of Japanese sword making was much earlier. That is a long way of saying that there may be some made today that are better than the example you posted and many that are worse.

Once you get outside this style of sword it would be hard to make an exact comparison.

I would think that the improvements in technology and metalergy (sp?) would lend to the ability to have better made swords today than antique ones. However, I'm given to understand that the old style of folding the Japanese steel and pounding it made excellent blades.

The above pictured sword was taken from an Japanease officer after a battle, by a guy my father knew at work. Right after WW2, GI's starting comeing home and he brought it back with his other things.

The story goes, that he personally shot the guy and took the sword. After a time he decided he didn't want it around, and traded it to my father for a BB gun. My father was going to cut it up and make knives out of it, something he never got around to doing!!

As a kid i always liked it, and years later he gave it to me.

DM

quote:

Originally posted by DM:
The above pictured sword was taken from an Japanease officer after a battle, by a guy my father knew at work. Right after WW2, GI's starting comeing home and he brought it back with his other things.

The story goes, that he personally shot the guy and took the sword. After a time he decided he didn't want it around, and traded it to my father for a BB gun. My father was going to cut it up and make knives out of it, something he never got around to doing!!

As a kid i always liked it, and years later he gave it to me.

DM

Always nice to have a good story to go with the blade.

I read of a find where the blade turned out to be much older that the mounts indicated, and thus worth thousands more than it otherwise would have been. What looked like a World War II sword had a much older blade but several hundred years if I remember correctly.

Unfortunately now you also get the opposite -- swords manufactured in Japan to appear to be real WWII blades but are which are just fakes.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan Campbell:
I would think that the improvements in technology and metalergy (sp?) would lend to the ability to have better made swords today than antique ones. However, I'm given to understand that the old style of folding the Japanese steel and pounding it made excellent blades.

The truly old blades are valued not just as such but as pieces of art. Some by particularly well-know smiths are classified as national treaures which cannot leave Japan.

A blade can be made today which is an exceptional cutting instrument, but not very many can make the whole package, blade and fittings, to the same degree of quality and art as was done hundreds of years ago. Of course, if you do reproduce that you are unlikely to want to cut anything with it!

You may want to have that sword checked by a true sword collector, DM.

You may discover that you can't afford to keep it.

If you really want a Swordmakers Email.Pm me and I will give you his Email address.He is a Master Craftsman who makes them right. OB

DM,

Here is a link to the very best website on the web concerning Japanese swords.
http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm
It will tell you about your sword. They are like guns as the condition is everything and so much is determined by the age that it's best not to clean it at all or use steel wool or anything on the blade as it obscures details that determine value.
The handle has a small peg holding it on and sometimes the blade is signed on the tang underneath. While it might not be signed the condition of the tang and how it rusted is very important. hope this helps.

Thanks guys,

I'm going to check it out more, now that i have some leads...

DM

Rod Chappell(SP)in Arlington, Wa. is one of the best in the country. But expensive. Last time I saw Rod, he was making a three sword set for a guy in New York. Actually it was a broad sword, a fighting sword and a big ass knife and the price tag was $40,000.00 but very nice.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan Campbell:
I would think that the improvements in technology and metalergy (sp?) would lend to the ability to have better made swords today than antique ones. However, I'm given to understand that the old style of folding the Japanese steel and pounding it made excellent blades.

The truly old blades are valued not just as such but as pieces of art. Some by particularly well-know smiths are classified as national treaures which cannot leave Japan.

A blade can be made today which is an exceptional cutting instrument, but not very many can make the whole package, blade and fittings, to the same degree of quality and art as was done hundreds of years ago. Of course, if you do reproduce that you are unlikely to want to cut anything with it!

sir I believe it is illegal to have these in japan and they will be cut up if returned there under the terms of the treaty that ended the war. all known colections of these are held outside of japan. even those owned by the japs.

quote:

Originally posted by CRUSHER:

sir I believe it is illegal to have these in japan and they will be cut up if returned there under the terms of the treaty that ended the war. all known colections of these are held outside of japan. even those owned by the japs.

From Samuraisword.Com

MISSING NATIONAL TREASURE SWORDS OF JAPAN
Somewhere in an attic or basement in the U.S.A. there are 11 missing National Treasure Swords and 24 swords designated as important cultural properties of Japan. These swords have a value range from 30,000 to a quarter of a million dollar s each.

At the onset of the occupation of Japan (1946) an order was issued by the army of occupation that all weapons be surrendered, i.e., guns, daggers, swords, etc. In the beginning no exceptions were allowed. The Japanese complied with the order to the letter, surrendering (in most cases to local prefecture police stations) not only guns and military swords but the majority of their prized family heirlooms and national treasure swords. Upon realizing that many of the Japanese cultural treasures were being surrendered our government (together with the Japanese government) formed a committee to screen the swords, with the hope of locating the surrendered treasures and returning them to their proper places. This effort was indeed successful as many of the swords were returned. Unfortunately there were approximately 35 that could not be located. It was assumed that they were brought to the U.S.A. by returning service men as souvenirs or trophies.

Sorry guys ... but Museum Replicas are not real swords.

"Best" is a big word. For the real deal (and very expensive):

Phil: http://www.phillhartsfield.com/HOME2.html
Scott: http://www.slobodianswords.com/
Steve: http://www.steveschwarzer.com/index.htm
The Doctor: http://www.atar.com/

and of course for general information:

http://swordforum.com/forums/

Hey Gentlemen,

It's not illegal to have samurai swords in Japan, actually most if not all of the most valuable swords are in Japan. However, they will only allow pre 1945 good quality swords to be registered back in to Japan for work. They currently make swords now but are controlled by strict guidelines and they generally start at ten thousand bucks.

It strikes me a little odd that they have only recovered one or two of those national treasures in the last fifty years. I honestly believe that those swords never left Japan and were hidden during the occupation. I think that is why they have never turned up.