What do you want it for? Are you going to be sword fighting? or is it for display and occasionally dividing watermelons
Strangely I was looking into medieval practice swords myself just yesterday and found this.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Viking-River-Scheldt-Sword-Full-Tang-Hand-Forged-EN45-Steel-Sharp-SUPERB-/251520857930
It Seems pretty sweet, however I am not after a sharp one.
What they have to say seems pretty on the ball.
From memory I think that in Victoria you must be part of a knives/sword club or a martial arts club to get approval to buy and own a sword.
It may be the same in Tassie.
Up here in merry old Queensland the only requirement is to be 16 and you could own a thousand swords.
you are just not allowed to play with them in public.
so far as full tang goes, most of them will be or the handle will snap off quickly.
With real swords you do need to oil them, keep that in mind if you live near the sea as you will need to be more diligent in your oiling of a *very sharp blade*
Avoid touching the blade(i mean the flat not the sharp edge-though don't touch that either) the grease and sweat from your fingers will act as a corrosive agent.
Store them flat to avoid warping and somewhere where they will not gather dust.
I guess what I am getting at is that swords need a lot of regular care to keep them in good condition. Is it worth the effort to have a real battle ready one for display? or would you be better off getting a cheapo stainless steel blunt display sword that looks pretty but is poorly weighted and useless.
for swinging and practicing I personally use a wooden sword. I have a stainless steel performance sword for demonstrations.
But I am guessing that wanting a sharp one you are not using it for sparring.
If you just want to have some fun slicing things, then get a cheapo Katana from ebay and go hack, the edge wont last long because of the nature of people on a sword chopping binge ("Lets see if it can chop through that!")
Anyway, that's my advice. I know very little about buying real live swords, but have owned swords and was surprised by the amount of effort required to care for them.
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