Replica Props

Sword fighting movies have a long and proud tradition in Hollywood. Even back before the introduction of color films, moviegoers were treated regularly with great pirate films, medieval adventures or historical epics. For most, however, nobody cared about the sword themselves. Only recently has the hobby of collecting the proposal and replica film memorabilia become a common phenomenon, perhaps due to the explosive growth of home entertainment and the ability of viewers to "own" film.

Today, there is a wide range of replica weapons and the proposal will be available for almost all movies that include a fight scene, but the quality of these replicas varies substantially, and it is important to understand what exactly, you pay.

Perhaps the biggest difference between cheaper and more expensive swords is the type of steel used to compensate for the blade. The cheapest replica weapons will use some type of stainless steel, steel that is mixed with chromium to prevent rust, and never designed for display. The main qualities of replica weapons used are 420, which is the cheaper type commonly used for cutlery, and 440, which is more expensive and is used in tools such as knives and razor blades. Most decent reproduction weapons use footnote 440, which can be sharpened, particularly 440C, which has enough carbon in its mix to make a sword blade strong and flexible.

While stainless steel has the advantage of resisting corrosion, and polishing easily, it lacks sufficient carbon to be heat treated to hold a good edge, while maintaining sufficient flexibility. Carbon steel blades are the "real" and are used in replica weapons of high quality, swords used for re-enactments, and traditionally real swords intended for martial arts training. Carbon steel corrodes easily, however, and must be kept oiled. Traditionally, the carbon was mixed with steel steel bent repeatedly, that the Japanese and Damascus forged blades, but now the carbon is almost always properly mixed as standard, folding is only for properties aesthetic it produces.

Some carbon steel swords will quote the hardness of the blade. A value of 20-30 RC is typical of "mild steel" and not enough for practical use. 30-40 RC is good enough for cheaper sword intended for re-enactments, like the sword Dent, but no chips. 40-50 RC is good value for most European-style swords, and the spines of Japanese swords and other processed differently, while a value of 60RC is ideal for the tip of the sword for example.

Finally, attention to Tang swords. This is the part of the blade is inside the handle. A full tang that runs the length of the handle is required for any weapon that is intended to be used. Several display swords will be better to use a push-tang, which is perhaps half the length of the shaft and resist using light, for example, non-contact training. Finally, a taste of rat tail is made by welding the blade to a metal bar in the handle, and is definitely only for display.