# Blade metal



## roryneil (Jun 22, 2003)

I don't know much about swords or metals. Is 440 J2 good, crap or somewhere in the middle for blade?


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## roryneil (Jun 22, 2003)

Oops
I meant 420 J2


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## Bob Hubbard (Jun 22, 2003)

http://ajh-knives.com/metals.html

specs on properties, working temperatures, hardening and tempering temps for certain types of steels 

Might have something in there.

:asian:


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## Despairbear (Jun 23, 2003)

Just a general rule I tell people who are looking into a sword. 

Avoid stainless steel unless you are looking for a wall-hanger

Despair Bear


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## Charles Mahan (Jun 23, 2003)

If it's stainless, it's crap.  Good enough to hang on the wall.  Not good enough for anything else.  Quite dangerous for active use as a weapon for ANY kind of training.  And by dangerous, I mean it is dangerous to the user and those around him.

If your goal is to cut things with your sword, check into at the very minimal level a Paul Chen Practical Katana or a Practical Katana Plus.  

If your goal is to goof around with your buddies, then buy a decent shinai and save yourself the trip to the emergency room.  Or if you must buy yourself a bokken and at least the injuries will be limited to broken fingers, empty eye sockets, and the occasional concussion.

If your goal is to do solo practice forms, your best option is to pick up an iaito from Swordstore.com or Bugei.com.  

In any case, you should seek proper instruction.   Metal swords are a lot like guns.  They can maim and even kill accidentally.   And don't tell me you know enough about what you are doing to not need instruction.  Nobody who knew what they were doing would ask if stainless was a suitable metal for a training weapon.


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## roryneil (Jun 24, 2003)

Don't worry, I'm humble enough not to think that. Just wanted to know what a good REAL sword would be made of. As for learning, I would most likely want to learn Kendo.


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## Charles Mahan (Jun 24, 2003)

So if you're looking for Kendo why are you looking for a sword at all?  Kendo uses shinai the vast majority of the time.  If you also wanted to take the ZNKR Seitei Iaido stuff you would have use for an iaito, but you would not need a steel blade anytime soon.

Iaito are for all practical intents and purposes the same as katana with one key exception.  They are typically imported from Japan.  They will usually have very high quality and durable wraps on the handles.  The handles themselves will be very well built.  Basically Iaito are built for extremely heavy use so there fittings are top notch.   The balance on these are usually quite superior to any steel blade in their price range.  The key exception I mentioned earlier is that the blades are made of a zinc aluminum alloy.  As such, they are not able to withstand contact with pretty much anything.  They are solo practice weapons.  Because they are traditionally styled they typically make far superior display pieces as well.

Check out http://www.swordstore.com for more info.


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