I bought a sword, got more than I bargined for

**hapkido_keith** · Posted On: 2/22/2006 11:53pm

I'm posting this here in hopes that someone out there can appreciate the uniqueness of my situation.

I've recently taken up a class in kenjutsu on the weekends, and iaijutsu is one of the things covered. I had some cash and I wanted to get a decent iaito, and my instructor linked me to a Paul Chen stress treated stainless-steel iaito on e-bay for about $300 including shipping and handling. I bought it and today it finally arrived. I take it out of the box (it's just in a bag now) and the first thing I notice is that there's no tsuba. As I take it out of the bag it turns out that it's an entirely different model sword, the tsuka and saya are both make of unfinished matching hardwood (I think it's poplar) and the blade is sharp folded steel. Annoyed but understanding, I send a message back to the seller explaining that they sent me the wrong model and I would be happy to send it back in exchange for the sword that I ordered as long as they cover the shipping back.

Then I got the bright idea to look up the model that I DID receive and found the same seller on ebay selling them for about $720 including shipping and handling. The sword that I got retails for $400 or so more than what I paid for.

Now I really don't have use for a sharp sword, the tsuka is too short (9 and 1/2 inches), and it doesn't have a tsuba at all, but there's still a miser inside of me saying "Dummkopf! That's a $400 bargain there!" I am a bit skilled in woodworking, metalworking and craftsmanship in general and I could probably make a functional tsuba and tsuka. But I'd still be out the iaito that I want.

So what say you bullies: should I try and see if the seller will just let me keep the sword that he sent me, or should I return it for the sword that I ordered in the first place?

**Camus** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 12:23am

Maybe I'm missing something, but. . .

Why not sell it back on ebay and make a profit?

Then buy the one you really want. . .

**hapkido_keith** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 12:27am

Originally Posted by Camus

Maybe I'm missing something, but. . .

Why not sell it back on ebay and make a profit?

Then buy the one you really want. . .

That's just what the other guy is selling it for. There's no guarantee I'll GET that kind of a price only if I bought one that’s what I’d have to pay for it.

**Camus** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 12:33am

It's ebay, undersell him

If they're popular you just might make out

Do you have good feedback?

**j416to** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 1:17am

Whatever you do, don't keep this sword. This is just a live blade in a storage case, a shirasaya. You can't use any part of the shirasaya for iaido. The shirasaya doesn't have a kurigata to hang a sagao from. The handle isn't really a tsuka that you can wrap with tsuka-ito, it's not covered with same, so using it to draw the bade would be extremely dangerous.

Building your own koshirae is tricky, just wrapping your tsuka takes time, and it's dangerous, if done incorrectly. And since you're a beginner, you'd probably run the risk of cutting your fingers off with a potentially misbalanced live blade in a crude koshirae. You really need to buy a dull iaito and learn with that, at least for a year, before you start training with a live blade.

Sell the blade on ebay, or return it, but don't keep it. It's useless without a proper koshirae, and it's not a valuable antique blade that you'd really want to display on it's own, in a plain shirasaya.

Good luck.

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 2:28am

Keep that bitch under your bed. You never know when pirate might show up.

**hapkido_keith** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 6:01pm

Originally Posted by Camus

It's ebay, undersell him

If they're popular you just might make out

Do you have good feedback?

I've never successfully sold anything on e-bay, so I have no feed back. I may have use for a live blade in the future, so if I keep it will not be to sell it back.

Originally Posted by j416to

Whatever you do, don't keep this sword. This is just a live blade in a storage case, a shirasaya. You can't use any part of the shirasaya for iaido. The shirasaya doesn't have a kurigata to hang a sagao from. The handle isn't really a tsuka that you can wrap with tsuka-ito, it's not covered with same, so using it to draw the bade would be extremely dangerous.

Building your own koshirae is tricky, just wrapping your tsuka takes time, and it's dangerous, if done incorrectly. And since you're a beginner, you'd probably run the risk of cutting your fingers off with a potentially misbalanced live blade in a crude koshirae. You really need to buy a dull iaito and learn with that, at least for a year, before you start training with a live blade.

Sell the blade on ebay, or return it, but don't keep it. It's useless without a proper koshirae, and it's not a valuable antique blade that you'd really want to display on it's own, in a plain shirasaya.

Good luck.

If I decide to keep the sword, I'm not dumb enough to use it for iai. We will be starting tameshigiri soon and I would keep it for that purpose. I am aware of the dangers of building my own koshirae, but I think I am up to the challenge. Power tools take a lot of the trickiness out of building these thing that traditional methods had to do by hand. A tsuba can be roughly shaped in an out with the aid of a table saw with tiltable blade and a belt sander, the slot for the nakago can be etched out in another hour with the aid of a dremel or similar rotary tool. A drill press makes short work of the hole for the mekugi. If you are content with a non-traditional wrapping of nylon string, you can be done at this point. A traditional wrapping takes loads of time to make sure that it is wrapped tightly and evenly, but isn't inherently difficult. I've never made a saya, but by methods I've described I don't see it as much trouble. A few practice runs on some cheep wood just to get the hang of it and I think I could turn out a decent enough one.

Originally Posted by Yrkoon9

Keep that bitch under your bed. You never know when pirate might show up.

I have a 9mm for that.

**SFGOON** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 6:24pm

Originally Posted by hapkido_keith

I have a 9mm for that.

9mikes have limited power, trust me. Get a .357 with "PIRATE KILLER" monogrammed on the side.

**hapkido_keith** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 6:26pm

Originally Posted by SFGOON

9mikes have limited power, trust me. Get a .357 with "PIRATE KILLER" monogrammed on the side.

The nine is cheaper to shoot, so I got to the range more often, so I'm a better shot.

Small caliber good shot > large caliber bad shot

**SFGOON** · Posted On: 2/23/2006 6:36pm

The quote you want is by Samuel Colt;

"Speed and power are fine, but accuracy is final."

Gotcha

No BS MMA & Martial Arts

I bought a sword, got more than I bargined for

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