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M.Clay
26th July 2006, 04:04
Hello,

For my first Iaito I bought a steel one because eventually my sensei will teach us tamishigiri. So I wanted the weight. I was wondering if any one knows if the blade is one of there practical katana's with the edge knocked off...just curious.(wondering if the blade is forged and tempered)
Thanx, Mike

socho
26th July 2006, 04:45
the Chen line 'steel' iaito are not tempered, not made to be sharpened or used, except for forms. They are steel just to provide a more realistic weight (marketing gimmick, IMO). I would not recommend thinking about cutting with one.

yoj
26th July 2006, 10:11
Dont try cutting anything with it! They bend really easily.

pgsmith
26th July 2006, 18:29
They are steel just to provide a more realistic weight
Actually, the ones I have handled seemed to weigh pretty much the same as an aluminum iaito. To achieve that, the blade was quite thin, which made them all feel pretty whippy to me. They felt pretty strange to me actually, which is why I generally don't recommend them.

ScottUK
26th July 2006, 20:52
Dunno about the Go Rin Iaito, but I have tried a PC Nami Iaito and I have a couple of PC PKs. They are very different. The Nami is not dissimilar to an alloy iaito, but the PK is much shorter and heavier.

M.Clay
26th July 2006, 20:53
the Chen line 'steel' iaito are not tempered, not made to be sharpened or used, except for forms. They are steel just to provide a more realistic weight (marketing gimmick, IMO). I would not recommend thinking about cutting with one.
Thanx Socho, that clears it up....although to the other comment about weight made, the other students in my class said mine was alot heavier than their zinc/aluminum.

M.Clay
26th July 2006, 20:59
Dont try cutting anything with it! They bend really easily.
Whoops, I hope that piece of cardboard didn't kill it!
Actually to tell the truth I think it came a bit twanked. But I cant find a Meirin Sangyo Iaito that is steel with out an edge, I'm not ready for the Dragon Fly Katana I want.

knghtazrael
28th July 2006, 18:59
Hello,

For my first Iaito I bought a steel one because eventually my sensei will teach us tamishigiri. So I wanted the weight. I was wondering if any one knows if the blade is one of there practical katana's with the edge knocked off...just curious.(wondering if the blade is forged and tempered)
Thanx, Mike


While I don't strictly practice sword and haven't practiced for very long I will tell you what I have been warned about by friends and my sensei with what I found looking up the Go-Rin. According to what I have read it seems to be made out of stainless steel which is great if you dont want to have to clean your blade problem is stainless is notorious for shattering when struck, so no I wouldn't cut with it. A few people I know have personaly had stainless blades break on them. For my first Iaito I also ordered a paul chen blade but through chenessinc just a "type 8" 1045 carbon steel blade. It's been good to me. As for some peoples claims about marketing gimmiks and them not weighing more then zinc/aluminum iaito, while these are personal opinions I like my steel blade and compareed with the aluminum ones i saw theres a good difference in wieght and balance.

Ray Bellville

M.Clay
28th July 2006, 22:11
While I don't strictly practice sword and haven't practiced for very long I will tell you what I have been warned about by friends and my sensei with what I found looking up the Go-Rin. According to what I have read it seems to be made out of stainless steel which is great if you dont want to have to clean your blade problem is stainless is notorious for shattering when struck, so no I wouldn't cut with it. A few people I know have personaly had stainless blades break on them. For my first Iaito I also ordered a paul chen blade but through chenessinc just a "type 8" 1045 carbon steel blade. It's been good to me. As for some peoples claims about marketing gimmiks and them not weighing more then zinc/aluminum iaito, while these are personal opinions I like my steel blade and compareed with the aluminum ones i saw theres a good difference in wieght and balance.

Ray Bellville

Yeah thats what the other students in my class said also, mine is quite a bit heavier(and one day I WILL have a Shinken). They have the eguchi Iaido, but I wieghed mine and not even Meirin Sagnyo has one as heavy. Although I have seen some companies say 830Grams and up, or what not. But I just perfer the Idea of steel aswell.Mine weighs 980Grams, Sangyo has two at 920 and 960 if you have the money, but still aluminum/zinc. Guess I can wait abit longer to cut... so far I've just cut throgh two foot sections of card board(though heavy card board) it's not wara...eventually as the class progresses Sensei will teach us tamishigiri, by then hopefully I'll be able to afford the 1,000 to 2,000 dollars for a good one.
M.Clay

yoj
29th July 2006, 01:54
The chen iaito's i've seen have been a low carbon steel, chrome plated, less resilient that stainless.

rottunpunk
7th August 2006, 21:25
hmmn.
what style of iai are you practising?
i wouldnt recommend using a heavier one.
as a beginner it can cause strains and bad habits.
i noticed in your profile you do shotokan. am i right in assuming thats shotokan karate? if so my experience of karate folk is that they use shoulders a lot, this wont help with a heavy blade.
plus the lighter the sword, the more practice you can do.

as for shinken, when im ready to get one (probably in about 20 years or so time) ill be wanting to spend around £6,000-£8,000
or get an even better one as a prezzy from someone.
and id have to go to japan to pick it out.
and then whilst im there id need more money for super sugary japan sweets

chidokans sword is too long for me, or else id have that. oh and its not that heavy either :D
:p

M.Clay
8th August 2006, 00:19
hmmn.
what style of iai are you practising?
i wouldnt recommend using a heavier one.
as a beginner it can cause strains and bad habits.
i noticed in your profile you do shotokan. am i right in assuming thats shotokan karate? if so my experience of karate folk is that they use shoulders a lot, this wont help with a heavy blade.
plus the lighter the sword, the more practice you can do.

as for shinken, when im ready to get one (probably in about 20 years or so time) ill be wanting to spend around £6,000-£8,000
or get an even better one as a prezzy from someone.
and id have to go to japan to pick it out.
and then whilst im there id need more money for super sugary japan sweets

chidokans sword is too long for me, or else id have that. oh and its not that heavy either :D
:p

Not for about 15 years but it's still there...the shoto-kan, I still respond the same when play fighting and stuff. You nailed me though, sensei says I use my shoulders way to much...he attributes it to the weight lifting I was doing at the time and of coarse the nervousness of being a newbie...I'm lifting again now but lightly and am working hard on relaxing and dropping those shoulders...Musahi said if you try to swing the long sword fast...your not using the true way, that book and you more experianced ones are hitting me all at one time. LOL. That Iaito is a piece any how, it came a lil tweeked and nows more tweeked as I couldn't resist slicing some card board to see if I was swinging right(I did that before I started this strand...if I only wiaited) I do ZNKR Iai...If I could go to Japan or Canada I'd Go Hyoho...as it is I'd have to travel at least 300 miles to a Iaijutsu/Kenjutsu school,

Thanx for the advice Mike