[Angel Sword 1.0.2 Data ...
Addison Mauldin
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Angel Sword have been in business for many years doing the Renaissance fair circuit in the USA and are well known for producing sturdy custom blades their own unique way. Many people have either first encountered them at the fairs or perhaps seen the extremely impressive world record cut of 26 tatami mats in one swing with a giant Angel Sword Nodachi Katana.
However, in some quarters it would seem that there are people who really seem to dislike them - and with two polarizing opinions out there about them, it has been hard to be able to really get a sense of what they are really about and what kind of sword and what kind of service you will get if you actually buy one from them.
This impartial review by SBG member and popular YouTube sword review channel owner Matthew Jensen documents his own experiences with Angel Sword, but with their product and meeting the owner in person. So for you to be able to form your own opinion, simply read on..
Again, I am no authority on thesituation but I thought it was important to give context to my opiniongoing into the review. There are a lot of folks that seem to have anopinion about Angel Sword without ever having held one. I know thereare also several people out there who have asked for a firsthandnonbiased review but the price point is inhibiting. So.. I figured Iwould take a crack at it. I am guessing they are doing something rightbecause they are still in business and will alone does not pay thebills.
Full Disclosure
Iam not an employee of Angel Sword and I am not being paid to do thisreview. I have considered applying to work for Angel Sword or Arms andArmor at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival but never got much pastthinking about it. I do frequently buy and sell swords but I am not anemployee of any organization or company that would affect my review.
Ipurchased this blade second hand on eBay so it is not from Angel Sworddirectly. I do not believe this will affect the review but it does meanthat I bought second hand and cannot speak to the customer service orsalesmanship of Angel Sword.
I have a collection list on SBG thatoutlines what I have had in the past. I have owned $5 wall hangerkatana all the way to a Howard Clark L6 katana and about 200 othersin-between. I acknowledge that owning a lot of something does not makeme knowledgeable about that something but I hope it allows me to have awell rounded opinion in the eyes of whomever might be reading.
The bladeis also sharper than most other blades I own and I do not see asecondary bevel along the edge. The one odd thing, there is no habakiat all. It seems constructed like a fixed blade knife more than akatana. The blade goes into a seppa and it could be fitted better in myopinion.
I also think there are other benefitslike a warranty or trade up deal that Angel Sword has. I am less timidabout trying this one out knowing that they will fix it if I break it.
Pros
I went to the Ren Fest today and I got to have a long talk with Daniel Watson.
Forthe folks that were asking for a bend test. Simple answer is, we didnot do one. Daniel Watson said that the sword would likely take apermanent bend of some kind and that he did not have the tools at theren fest to fix it. He was happy to try it but I took his word for itand opted not to hassle with it.
He also noted that the polish onthe blade had been modified by the previous owner. I looked overseveral other Bright Knight blades and while they all had similarconstruction to mine, the polish was more even. Still rough but notlike it was done with a dremel.
Daniel offered to fix it for free. He took the blade and sharpened it while I walked around the fair.
Whenit was done Daniel Watson offered to test the katana. He did ademonstration with my blade on 4 rolled tatami mats. After he was donehe let me cut it at the shop.
Iknow this is not the testing everyone was hoping for but I did not wantto damage the blade. Daniel Watson was willing to do it, and fix itbut I opted not to. Daniel Watson also said he thought it would take abend and was very honest. He also called his blades artisticinterpretations. He said his stile is not for everyone but it was hisintention to make them look the way they do. He is happy with theresults as the artist.
I can tell you from the tatami I cut theblade moved well. I am not used to the size or balance but still itmoved with ease and cut a 4 tatami mat roll with little effort... veryvery little effort. I have cut a 3 mat roll with my Bamboo Mat beforeand it was a bit harder. The blade performed well, in fact it was oneof the better cuts I have made. I wish I had it on video.
While Iwas there, I got a chance to talk with Daniel Watson for a while.First off, I understand his personality might rub some folks the wrongway. That said, I found him to be a perfectly pleasant person. He didnot try and sell me anything on crazy claims nor did I hear it fromanyone in his shop. There were lots of blades being sold but I did nothear any crazy claims selling the swords. I was in his both for a goodtwo or three hours.
Also, Daniel Watson seemed transparent aboutwhat he thought his blades were good at. He said if you are looking forsomething more traditional you should probably buy from someone else.He said his blades are about performance. Daniel seemed like a guy thattook a great deal of pride in his work and thought the info he providedabout the resilience of his products was honest.
I don't want toget into a battle over the claims but Daniel seemed honest and willingto give data to substantiate his claims. He said people should expectperformance for what the blades cost and he was confident they coulddeliver. Anyway, I don't know enough about metallurgy to be able todebate the topic so I wont. Folks on the internet call BS, and DanielWatson is confident it is not BS. (at least about resilience) I'mgoing to stop on that side of things because I don't understand itenough to debate. I have a vague understanding but I am not able toproductively add to that side of the conversation. You guys can atleast see it cut a big roll of tatami with relative ease.
I have some notes on a few other things that came up in our conversion that other SBG members asked me about:
1.How long do the blades take to make? Daniel Watson estimated that theirwere around 100 man hours in most of the blades. I don't know if thatcovers administration time or just time in theforging/treating/polishing/mounting ect.
2. If the heat treatmentis so special, why not use it for industrial purposes? He said hedoes. He said that is a big part of his business.
I hopethis helps the conversation. I have to admit, I am happier with mypurchase after going to the Angel Sword both at the ren fest. I thoughtI was treated with respect. Daniel Watson was receptive to my thoughtson this sword and some of this others. He sharpened my blade for freeeven thought I told him it was a second hand used blade. He gave me sometasty whiskey while we chatted. He was generous wit his time andknowledge. He did not dodge my questions and did his best to explainthings to me candidly. He let me cut a big roll of tatami in the middleof his booth. And he offered to exchange the sword for something thatfit me better if I wanted to upgrade.
I can only speak from theexperiences I have had and this one was very good. I even looked at afew L6 blades from Angel Sword and found some I like. I might thinkabout doing a trade in at some point.