While stock levels continue to rapidly dwindle away with no restock yet in sight, it’s true that as each day goes by the pickings get slimmer..
But we buck the downwards stock trend here with some cool new blades from our friends at Ryujin and Proleria Knives.
The first item is a beautiful EDC Knife called the ‘Radioactive’
With a distinctive Tanto w/Swedge D2 Tool Steel blade in 6AL4V Titanium fittings, in terms of materials and construction – the Radioactive is an absolute steal at just $112.95 $69.99.
And then there is the latest addition to the Ryujin 1045 carbon steel ‘art should hurt’ line – two matched Daisho Sets consisting of a lightweight and fast (2.1lbs) monotempered 27 1/2″ bladed 1045 carbon steel Katana, 20 1/2″ Wakizashi and complimentary Tanto knife – plus it also includes a three tier sword stand for display..
Here’s a few closeup pictures of the blades common to both of the two available sets:
Whether you want a set for display purposes, light to medium backyard cutting or as a project piece – the blades are where the $$ are with these – for while 1045 carbon steel is the baseline carbon steel required for a functional sword – these blades are well made and properly tempered to such a degree that they could be passed off as 1060 (which sadly is a practice quite common to less scrupulous vendors) – but as usual at SBG you get what you pay for, and with 1045 carbon steel blades, you don’t have to pay too much..
Both sets are available for a crazy low price of just $109.99 for the whole kit and kaboodle and come in two styles, classic Black and Red saya variants.
It has been a very, very rough 12 months for our flagship custom Japanese sword lines Project X and it’s offshoot, Project X – Forge Direct.
By June 2020 it had become apparent that the Pandemic had ground production to a halt and on the 23rd of June 2020 Forge Direct, which was usually available all year round, had been put on hold and remains on hold to this day..
In addition to shipping issues (when in June, nothing was going anywhere – but now simply limit shipments from the Forge to North America only) supply chain issues have been a MASSIVE headache. On top of everything else, the regions only major supplier of sword parts was temporarily shut down, and when it re-opened it found itself – like almost every business in the Sword Making Capital of the world – Longquan, overwhelmed with new orders as online sword sales exploded, draining stock levels down to never before seen levels.
Here’s an Infographic that clearly shows the quadruple whammy we have been experiencing..
As you can plainly see, it is less than ideal..
We have taken quite a few steps to try and get back in the saddle – and while there is nothing we can do about the direct shipping issue, behind the scenes we have been preparing as best as we can – so here is where we are up to now..
PROJECT X
In late August 2020 the shipping situation had cleared enough for us to resume North American orders – and at the time we confirmed with the Forge that everything would be complete within the usual 4 month time frame..
Well, this is what the orders look like running 2 months behind schedule (the reason why is that for a handful of blades a few cracks were found during the polishing stage, and the swords had to be re-made, but first Chinese New Year, and now the sheer number of orders the forge is dealing with – have pushed it back so the last few swords are running 2 months late).
Because it is STILL not quite completed – and yet due to open for new orders around, well, around NOW – we have decided to simply focus on getting these last few orders completed and wait until the forge is not so swamped with production sword orders..
Exactly when this will be is unknown but I would estimate it will be sometime in late Summer/early Autumn this year..
In the meantime:
Forge Direct
Once again, we still have around half a dozen orders that are trapped in a kind of Limbo – mostly due to the ‘great saya shortage of 2021’ and the fact that we need to get these orders addressed before we can take new orders with a clear conscience (we always prioritize existing orders over future ones, business 101 is taking care of your existing customers first – we believe in lifelong customer service, not ‘churning’ and always fishing for new ones!).
Steps have been taken to address this as best we can – for our Forge Direct Custom Katana – we have dramatically decreased the number of available saya options to only the best and most popular our customers have actually ordered in the past – and of course, this means that if we want different blade lengths, we will have to create a dedicated product based around the different length – and so we will start with a fairly generic blade and expand as we go..
Forge Direct Chinese has also been trimmed down – first due to the retirement of Master Michael Yi, who was quite prolific for our project, and then from shortages in parts and supplies. But the good news is that other than the limitation of only being able to ship to North America – Forge Direct Chinese is only held back by the ‘straggler’ orders that are still blocking up the whole thing..
To say it is frustrating for everyone involved is an understatement – after all, this project was a culmination of many years of experience dealing with custom made items – but I must thank our customers for being so patient and understanding..
The good news is that we do seem to be on the home stretch for Forge Direct – and if all goes well, we could see it return next month. But for now, our priority remains on getting those last orders fixed up – and when we do, I think a celebration will be in order as we re-launch.
When the you know what hits the fan – you will likely find that a hefty, utilitarian and rather brutal cutlass will serve you well – and just one look at the latest edition to the Doomsday series designed by esteemed sword tester and designer Jason Woodard will tell you that if the fifth seal is broken, you could do a lot worse than to have one of these beasties strapped to your side..
Behind the Scenes: How it is Made
Hand made from start to finish at Chris Palmers Workshop in Springfield, Missouri – the Doomsday Cutlass was sketched and designed by Jason Woodard using a 1:1 scale blueprint hand drawn on butchers paper.
Chris takes the design into the workshop, creating a template and cutting a sheet of 1095 carbon steel to shape.
Note the characteristic ‘knuckle duster’ hand guard – this bad boy sure does pack a mean punch along almost every inch of its surface!
From here, the sword blank is hand shaped and hardened by heating the steel to 1500 degrees until it becomes non-magnetic and then quenching it in brine. Each blade is then hand tempered, heating the steel to 500 degrees for 2 hours and letting it air cool – resulting in an even HRC of approx 57 for the entirety of the blade. Below you can see how the heat treatments have changed the base color of the steel.
Finally, before the blade is polished, the blade blued and the sword itself finished up, the walnut wood sandwich tang handle is affixed in place with a combination of several metal pins and a generous coat of epoxy – essentially making these swords of solid one piece construction with no weak points or ‘moving parts’.
And here, the end result!
Exclusively available at Sword Buyers Guide for just $269.99!
If you are going to make mistakes practicing HEMA (and when you are just starting out, you will by default make a LOT of mistakes) it makes sense to minimize your personal risk by training with an unsharpened sword.
If you look at some of the standard basic HEMA Longsword drills it is easy for a beginner to forget to move a leg back out of the way, clip their shoulder or thigh when performing a flourish or otherwise get injured by training with a sharpened sword. Just look at the video below and imagine how many accidents and close calls it would take until the level of speed and technique shown is reached.
Of course, there are already quite a few nice steel and synthetic training swords already on the market – and we list what we feel are the best ones right here in the training tools section of our store.
But today we are delighted to announce 3 new options for HEMA practitioners designed by Sword expert David Rawlings in the UK and his company, Red Dragon Armoury.
INTRODUCING – the Red Dragon Unsharpened Combat Sword Line
All of the swords in this line have several things in common.
All are made from hard wearing EN42J steel, tempered with a core HRC of approx 45 and an outer hardness of HRC50. All are styled forged guards and pommels constructed from steel, and wooden grips that are masterfully wrapped in leather cord. And all come with attractive wood core, leather bound scabbards including an integrated belt and suspension system that is worth the price of admission for that alone!
From here though, each of the three swords is quite different. The first is the most purpose-built, with a thick 2mm edge and rounded safety tip and is called the Combat Hand-and-a-half-Sword
The second, called the Combat Temple Church Sword, is the most ornate and is based on a 14th century Templar Sword found in the river Thames and features more ornate decorations and embellishments than the other two and has a narrower 1.5mm edge.
And finally, the Combat Bastard Sword with a much thinner 1mm edge. This is the kind of sword that you could train with as a blunt and, because it is made from good steel, can later be sharpened if so desired.
The MSRP price on these swords is $300 for the Hand and a Half and the Bastard Sword, and $390 for the more ornate Church Temple Sword. But as usual we have offered them at a special discounted introuctory price of just $229 and $284 respectively!
Check out all these are more in the Training Swords & Gear section of our store by clicking the link below:
Following hot on the heels of the SanMai Laminated Baika Tanto by Dailan based artisan Frenchie Jin is the more affordable – and almost as stunning – alternative – the Bamboo Tanto.
Sporting a beatufilly tempered, stunningly executed T10 Tool Steel blade with distinctive Choji hamon packed away into what appears to be a short length of stylized bamboo..
And should you ever have doubts about where the blade is when you draw it, simply place your thumb on the circle on the saya to know the direction of the blade edge, and your other thumb on the highly detailed mon on the handle to draw it open.
Released with a retail price of $275 you can get it for just $199.99 right here at the SBG Sword Store.
