(Part 2) Top products from r/SWORDS

Yes, this is possible. However, there are a number of factors to consider and things to clarify.

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First, why do you want a sword, exactly? What kind of sword? What do intend for it? Just some reasons people may want to acquire a sword, all of which influence what sword is right for them, and some of which have overlap:

• Martial arts
  
  • Test cutting
    
  • Solo forms
    
  • Paired forms
    
• Decoration
  
  • Wallhangers
    
  • Iaitō / mogitō (more accurate, still not real)
    
  • Modern budget
    
• Art
  
  • Modern nontraditional
    
  • Modern strictly traditional
    
  • Antique
    
• History
  
  • Vintage, militaria
    
  • Antique
    
• Souvenir
  
• Props
  
  Even making the reasonable assumption that you want a real sword, what counts as real to you? For instance, just in the case of Japanese swords, you can get:
  
  
• Modern
  
  • Production (models made by companies, usually in China)
    
    • Budget (monosteel, no hamon, etc.)
      
    • Premium (folding pattern, real hamon, etc.)
      
  • Japanese-style art-grade custom (made individually by smiths)
    
    • for martial arts (focus is on modern materials, strength)
      
    • for art (focus is on classical techniques, traditional-style activities in the hada & hamon)
      
  • Genuine nihontō (strictly traditional swords made by licensed Japanese smiths)
    
    • for martial arts (focus is on relatively affordable, within the restrictions that licensed smiths must work — meaning they are still very expensive)
      
    • for art (focus is on perfect execution of traditional techniques, excellent shape, polish, hada, hamon, hataraki, adherence to or emulation of a particular school / style, etc.)
      
• Vintage
  
  • WWII-era guntō (military swords), functional, varying degrees of traditional; e.g. may be rail steel, oil quench, etc.
    
  • More artistic gendaitō, basically older version of modern nihontō
    
• Antique
  
  • Munitions-grade stuff, e.g. Muromachi period "bundle blades"
    
  • Average quality, some artistry, maybe base-level papers e.g. NBTHK Hozon
    
  • High quality, masterful artistry, smith is well known / famous, typically has high-level papers e.g. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, Juyo Token, higher
    
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    Second — what is your budget? You can expect stuff around the following just for Japanese blades (all very rough price ranges, use these for order of magnitude rather than reliable marks):
    
    
• Wallhanger: $10–100
  
• Modern chinese production: $100–2,000
  
• Vintage guntō: $300–3,000
  
• Vintage gendaitō: $3,000-6,000
  
• Japanese-style custom art blades by foreign smiths: $3,000–10,000
  
• Modern martial-arts grade nihontō: ~$5,000+
  
• Modern art-focused nihontō: $5k–$30k+ (as in, multiple tens of thousands of dollars)
  
• Entry-level antiques: $1k–$3k
  
• Good-quality antiques: $3k–7k
  
• Excellent-quality antiques: $7k–$100k+ (as in, $100,000)
  
• Top-level antiques: $100k–$1M+
  
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  Also… there's a lot of complexity and semantics involved here, but Korean swords aren't katana. Some of them look quite similar to katana, but it seems fairly incongruous to me that you are ambivalent about whether this hypothetical blade comes from Japan or Korea. That's not to say Japanese blades are better than Korean or vice-versa, just that (meaning no offense) treating the two as equivalent suggests you don't really know a lot about swords in general, and nihontō in specific.
  
  The best metaphor I can think of is someone saying they'd like to buy a premium champagne, and holding up a bottle of actual champagne next to a bottle of prosecco. That person isn't saying they want champagne, they're saying they want a sparkling white wine. There are both good / exceptional prosecco bottles, and mediocre champagnes! The point is they are actually different in a fundamental way. They're made from different grapes, using different processes, and they don't have identical tastes even if they are superficially similar.
  
  To you I would strongly suggest that if you are at all interested in commissioning a shinsakutō (newly-made Japanese sword), you learn a bit first, starting with the wiki here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SWORDS/wiki/nihonto and the book suggestions therein. I also strongly recommend the book Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths.
  
  You should understand that to become a swordsmith in Japan requires a lengthy apprenticeship and a legal government license. There are strict controls on what counts as nihontō, designed to preserve a craft that has been transmitted for centuries.
  
  There isn't anything comparable from a systemic and legal perspective in Korea (that I know of). I cannot say much more about Korean smiths; I know there is at least one researching and making traditional Korean weapons, and they may be making heroic efforts of their own to preserve that craftsmanship. But my point is if you're going to spend a lot of money, you should understand precisely what you are buying and why it costs what it does.
  
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  Finally, if you are still interested in commissioning a blade, especially meeting the smith first… I'd get in touch with Paul Martin. He can help with the arrangements.
  
  Regards,
  
  —Gabriel

Norman, The Rapier & Small-Sword - the classic work. Out of print, but can be found second-hand.

Capwell, The Noble Art of the Sword - available, pretty, and the next best after Norman that I know of. It's a prettier book than Norman.

My wife got me Medieval Islamic Swords and Sword Making for valentine's day a couple years back, and it is fantastic. It's mostly primary sources, with some historical and metallurgical commentary where appropriate

I highly recommend it

Meyer is my favorite German writing, alas the translation is out of print.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Combat-German-Martial-Treatise/dp/1403970920/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1323451221&sr=8-4

(The original price was $80. If you see it at a fair at close to that price, buy it.)

I know about Kusanagi no Tsurugi thanks to Usagi Yojimbo :)

I would imagine any hot-light setup would work.

LED's are just nice as they're (fairly) inexpensive and adjustable without being too physically hot. I thought about just using the modeling lights on my strobes, but didn't think that would put out enough light.

Apparently this book has an entire chapter how to light shiny metal objects, but I've not (yet) had a chance to read it.

For European medieval swords, buy Oakeshott's two books on the subject. I believe his typology is presented in depth in both Records of the Medieval Sword and The Sword in the Age of Chivalry.

I've wanted one of those since I read this book http://www.amazon.com/Heroing-How-Wound-Down-World/dp/067165344X/ref=sr_1_22?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333163943&sr=1-22 and the main character uses one.

But the web site for the beltsword is broken when you click on "purchase". Too bad, I'd have wasted a few bucks tonight.