I really enjoy your sword reviews, it's always nice to hear someone who actually knows Chinese martial arts and Chinese culture to review Chinese swords, not merely usual enthusiast, a bit rare in foreign countries.
Those fittings do look really nice! But the nut is not the most attractive thing. Do you think ryan sword would consider using a nut similar to the ones found on dynasty forge jian which are round and blend into the fittings much better?
I actually liked the feature on the Rodell Laoshi's jian which is hidden in the pommel and tightened using an Allen key. That way you get the benefit of being able to tighten up quickly and still keeping the historical esthetics.
To be fair, the answer is going to be at least in part a matter of person taste. Jian do vary slightly in their POB, being slightly more to the tip for a more robust cut, or a bit back for livelier play. And of course, swords vary from one to the next as each is individual forged and polished. And we should also keep in mind the the Double Dragon Jian is about $300 USD more. Having said all this, I prefer the Double Dragon to LK Chen's Gale Wind. The I also prefer Fire and Iron's version of the same Ming Jian, and my Hanwei Cutting Jian to the Gale Wind Jian. There is no a grand difference between them, but the finish of the fittings on these three is a level up from that of the Gale Wind. As I mentioned in the Gale Wind Review, the fittings could fairly easily be cleaned up by the end consumer if wanted. However, personally, when I purchase a sword, I want it the way I want it. I don't want to buy a project. This is not to in anyway suggest the Gale Wind is not a good sword. Just it would be my person second choice compared with the others mentioned above.
One thing I've found about the nut secured pommel, if it loosens up, it's very easy to find an appropriately sized lock washer. Just put one on there and tighten the nut. It'll stay tighter longer. I personally don't mind a nut securement for that reason. Also, you can find or make a more attractive nut.
greetings from Scotland, i had heard of you before i found this video Ruan of Ryan Sword posted it, love this review! Ryan Sword are my own trusted forge after being introduced to them by a fellow NinJutsu practitioner from America. definately a thumbs up and new subscription sir.
@@mugenGRTC thoroughly enjoying looking at a lot of your past videos now i have found your channel, i particularly liked the short history lesson about Ryan Sword forge in this video, i did not know they had well over 100 years experience and tradition.
nice sword :) construction wise traditional jian usually had 2 mild plates san mai'ed to a harder core since they where making them from high copper around a high tin core for bronze ones so if you want full resilience in blade you really NEED it to be pattern welded so it has the mild steel as a spine for the cutting edge
Looks like a nice sword. But pattern welded isn't Damascus. I'm sure you know this already. The 2 shouldn't be conflated as the difference is significant Pattern welded steel certainly isn't superior to a modern homogeneous steel with regard to function, so I'm not sure it's a good selling point outside asthetics
I agree. Was interested until I saw the steel. The problem is that different carbon content steel (which includes other alloys as well) will temper at different rates/temperatures. Therefore some of the steel in the blade is suboptimally tempered by the nature of the construction. Kind of an exaggerated example, but this is like trying to cook a steak and a baked potato with the same heat and time, only 1 of them can be done right, and the other would suffer the difference.
And with regard to pattern welded steels.. the more variation you see in pattern, the less homogeneous the steel. The purpose of repeated folding is to homogenize An example of something that "looks cool" but will perform poorly is a blade with welds that terminate at the edge like "tiger tooth". These different steels require different temps for tempering. One layer will may be correct, but the others will be too hard or soft (which is why edge packing is done)
