Forge Direct – The Spring Selection

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Forge-direct-spring2016

That is right, this month we add 4 new swords to the Forge Direct line up bringing the Spring Selection to a total of 7 Master Smith Forged Traditional Chinese Swords spanning a time period of nearly 2000 years..

The first one adds a new element, limited customization – with the option to select one of 12 bronze cast pommels representing the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac based on designs that once adorned the Garden of Eternal Spring in Beijing..

The second is also the most affordable but surprisingly spectacular considering the price tag, and that is the Early Han Dynasty Red Ebony Jian..

This sword gets its name from the red ebony scabbard, but it is the unique cutting tip and beautifully leather wrapped handle and traditional ancient style ring pommel that I feel really make this sword stand out. That and its quite amazing speed and handling, weighing only 0.75kg (about 1.65lbs) makes this a must have addition to any collector of antique styled Chinese swords.

The next sword is the most ornate and unique, however – and that is the elite version of the previously popular Kiangxi Horsebane sword.

These powerful blades, more Glaive than sword in many respects, were designed to slay horses and their riders on the battlefield and is a forceful, terrifyingly effective chopping and slicing sword. But this one is truly in a league of its own, with a fully covered rayskin scabbard, gold inlay on the folded and differentially hardened blade, highly detailed fittings and mother of pearl handle..

And finally, a sword that is seemingly straight out of ancient myth and legend, the titanium infused blade of the Fenghuang Phoenix Sword..

The blade is truly unique, differentially hardened edges and prominent folding with crimson titanium coating, reinforcing the blade and protecting its surface against rust and subdued Dragon Phoenix themed fittings and a flash or red tassel, all designed to highlight the beauty of this unique blade.

Do not be fooled by cheap and nasty imitations, these are the best of the best Chinese swords from Longquan, with a rich history as the premier sword forging town for nearly 2,500 years..

Check out the full Spring Line Up Here

Project X – Now Taking Orders!

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Project-X-Now-Taking-OrdersIt has been over a year since we added a new product to the Project X line up – but not only have we just opened up new pre-orders for Project X – but we are pleased to bring you 3 brand new designs..!

The first of these three is model #004 – The Gunto, which is based on a type 98 Shin Gunto. This Master Smith forged Soshu Kitae blade evokes the rare and greatly treasured antique blades that were remounted for use by officers of the Japanese Imperial Army. The Gunto features historically accurate fittings up to and including the tassel which signifies rank and the steel lined, wood core saya.

X-Gunto-mainThe second was made by popular demand, model #005 – The O-Katana with 33″ inches of Soshu Kitae goodness and a 12″ handle.  With a bo-hi to lighten the load and create a terrifyingly loud Tachi Kaze, this is a whole lot of sword for just an additional $100. Size does matter, look no further than this intimidating all black themed giant of a sword for confirmation..

x-o-katana-mainAnd the third, is model #006 – the Dragon which is based on the most popular Katana theme there is, the Eastern Dragon. The work hardened copper and gold plated fittings are a detailed copy of an actual antique and are powerful enough in their own right that the rest of the swords theme is subdued and traditional. Easily the centerpiece of any quality collection.

x-dragon-mainI realized that we didn’t include any direct pics of the tsubas for these in the product listings, so here are some pics of each tsuba as follows:

The Sakura Style Gunto Tsuba

The Sakura Style Gunto Tsuba

Lion Dog Tsuba of Model 5

Lion Dog Tsuba of Model 5

Dragon Tsuba of Model 6

Dragon Tsuba of Model 6

And finally, Project X Chinese also makes a comeback with the stunningly beautiful Dragon Dao..

dragon-dao1What more need I say..?

Naturally, the pre-order window of opportunity that guarantees you a chance to pick up one of these stunning heirloom quality swords is for a very limited time only.. So don’t miss out..

CHECK THEM ALL OUT HERE

New Look Store – Final Modification..!

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Over the years we have changed the look and feel of the SBG Sword Store quite a few times, both to adjust it as it has grown in size and scope, but also just because – as with any website – it is never quite “finished” and always something of a work in progress..

We have done the same with the main site, what you see today is nothing like when it first started – though as always, the essence remains the same..

In the last few weeks we have tried several different approaches and have finally settled on a new look that matches that of the main website. With this new look, the images of the swords we offer are bigger, clearer and the whole layout I think is easier on the eye. But there are still quite a few cosmetic tweaks we need to do – with hundreds upon hundreds of different sword pictures of different sizes it is going to take some time before we update each image to the largest, clearest pictures possible to match the new look. And right now, there are some cosmetic issues with the way some products are displaying – i.e. items on sale just cross out the original price without showing the on sale price unless you click through to the “more info” page, and not everything is lining up the way it should..

We will be getting these issues fixed in short order and then working hard to update the various sword pictures and add some additional functionality, so for the time being, please bear with us if things don’t display exactly how you might expect.

As always, the site itself remains 100% secure and the only changes are cosmetic, so it is business as usual. In the meantime, let’s take a quite trip down memory lane with some pics of the store as it appeared over the years..

SBG Sword Store Over the Years..

November 2006 - Started as a retail store stocking Cheness Cutlery

November 2006 – Started as a retail store stocking Cheness Cutlery (only).

November 2007 - attempting to match the look of the main site..

November 2007 – attempting to match the look of the main site.. Hanwei and Darksword join the line up.

Continuing to evolve, Valiant Armoury and the first generation of the SBG Custom Katana!

November 2007 – continuing to evolve, Valiant Armoury and the first generation of the SBG Custom Katana!

November 2009 - stabilizing and searching for a new look..

November 2009 – stabilizing and searching for a new look..

2010-2013 - We hire a pro to design a new site that matches the main site. Just like what we are doing now.. This look and feel persisted until late 2013..

2010-2013 – We hire a pro to design a new site that matches the main site. Just like what we are doing now.. This look and feel persisted until late 2013..

November 2013 - different browsers meant that we needed to strip it back to basics..

November 2013 – different browsers meant that we needed to strip it back to basics..

November 2014 - we go with a basic "red stripe" and logo style on all SBG sites.

November 2014 – we go with a basic “red stripe” and logo style on all SBG sites.

November 2015 - a temporary style as we search for a new unified theme..

November 2015 – a temporary style as we search for a new unified theme..

Current theme as of today - professionally designed and matching the main site, we will be using this format as our new base for at least the next 3 years..!

Current theme as of today – professionally designed and matching the main site, we will be using this format as our new base for at least the next 3 years..!

It is still early days for this new format – we will continue to tweak it, expanding the right hand column, working on the navigation, graphics, etc. But this is the new base that, if the previous professionally done version from 2010-2013 is any indication, is going to be our look for the foreseeable future..!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE STORE AND SEE FOR YOURSELF

Batch Change – 37 closed, 38 opened

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Just a very quick post – batch 37 has now officially closed and batch 38 just opened.

Right now we are cross checking each order and allowing the most recently submitted orders until Sunday night to make any modifications to their order before we lock them up and send them through to the forge to begin work.

The expected delivery of batch 37 is June 17th and the most recently opened batch, which will run until the 17th of April, is scheduled to arrive on the 17th of July.

Will keep you all updated as we go so talk to you again soon..!

Upcoming Products – Sneak Peak and Store Overhaul..

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Lots going on at the moment, and some cool new swords on the way from some of the newest manufacturers to join the industry, but both have SOLID pedigrees…

The first and newest is Kingston Arms which will be coming to a sword store near you, hopefully sometime NEXT WEEK!

art-kingstonarms

With products over 20 years in the making, they are poised to hit the ground running with medieval swords designed both for collectors and serious HEMA practitioners with both sparring blunts and sharp cutting swords.

Below is a sneak preview of their Tourney Arms Swords – super tough blades made from one of my favorite steels, 9260 Spring Steel, and designed for heavy steel on steel contact.

Tourney Arming Sword by Kingston Arms

Tourney Arming Sword by Kingston Arms

Tourney Viking Sword - Blunt by Kingston Arms

Tourney Viking Sword – Blunt by Kingston Arms

Not only are these the first 9260 Spring Steel sparring swords to hit the market, but the hilt deserves a special mention due to their special “King Peen” system.

In their own words:

King-Peen is essentially a steel tab on the guard under the grip that is pinned through the tang of the sword. This process keeps the guard from going loose after a lengthy campaign without compromising the strength of the hilt. The pommel is pressed into place and hot peened. Combine these two processes and you get a sword that rings like a bell when struck.

And for fans of cutting practice, what could be better than a hollow ground arming sword, especially when it looks as gorgeous as THIS:

Crecy War Sword - Sharp by Kingston Arms

Crecy War Sword – Sharp by Kingston Arms

Here are some stats:

Overall: 38 3/4”
Blade Length: 31 3/4″
Handle Length: 4 1/4″
Weight: 2lb 15oz
Blade Steel: 5160
Handle Material: Wood/leather

The MSRP on these will be $299.99 for the blunts and $499.99 for the stunning Crecy, but do shop around as they will be available for less (and we will be selling them as low as we possibly can when they come in).

Speaking of coming in, a restock of most of the extremely popular and beautifully designed and crafted Chinese and Japanese swords by Dragon King is on the way and should be arriving next week. Here is a sneak peak of the sword that I am most excited about,,.!

Check out this Chinese Jian..

Kungfu Jian Sword by Dragon King

Kungfu Jian Sword by Dragon King

Yes, it is a Wushu Jian – but it is not as thin (and definitely not flimsy) like the typical Chinatown, Fleamarket and Wallhanger crap and is designed for serious Kung Fu practitioners who are looking for something special that they cannot find anywhere else..

Again, here is this swords vital statistics:

Overall: 39″
Blade Length: 28 1/2″
Handle Length: 4 1/4″
Weight: 1lb 10oz
Point of Balance: At Guard
Blade Steel: 3Cr13
Handle Material: Composite

MSRP on this one will be $339.99 but available for less at SBG.

Speaking of SBG, you may have noticed some changes with the store in the last few hours – essentially it is not finished yet, but I wanted to improve the navigation and product image sizes and for now have opted for a fairly basic design to concentrate on what is actually useful rather than just pretty looking. With this philosophy in mind, I have – at least for now – done away with the “responsive” design for the store as I never personally really like responsive sites and tend to do just fine when browsing on my mobile (most of the time I find so called responsive sites annoying, cannot zoom in on the pics, everything displays weird and half of the stuff doesn’t work the way it should).

If you haven’t seen it in the last few hours, feel free to take a gander and let us know what you think:

https://sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/index.html

As always, the site is 100% secure during the overhaul – the software we use is totally rock solid and we aren’t opening up the guts, just moving stuff around. But if you find anything screwy let us know and we will give you a special coupon code for your trouble..!

Update you all again soon..!

  • Paul