# Communities > Modern-era Swords and Collecting Community > Modern Production Katanas >  List of Manufacturers...

## B.Blackwell

I was sitting here today as usual staring at this lifeless box of images scouring the web for katana and the like and I thought to myself, " ***damn there is alot of manufacturers out there, wouldn't it be nice if there was a list of known manufacturers/forges/smiths etc. "

 I thought maybe we could all pull together a list. Forges, manufacturers, smiths, categorized into Production, Authentic/Nihon-to, Custom etc. Maybe even estimated price ranges and products offered, katana, broadswords, rapiers etc.  

 So what do you all think? If this has already been done, please point me in the right direction, otherwise lets put one together!!

Blackwell

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## Remi C

on almost every post dealing with katana, we have 1 or 2 links to manufacturers, but I didn't find any list..

If it's going to be done, there are the two I had to deal with ^^
(no comments or reviews, just contacts..)

Zhi Sword
http://www.zhangsword.com/ WEB
http://stores.ebay.com.cn/zhisword STORE
Production swords ; Chinese
Japanese and chinese swords
Average price range : 150 - 500 USD

Cheness Inc.
http://www.chenessinc.com/
Production swords ; Chinese made, US based
Japanese swords
Average price range : 150 - 400 USD

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## Ruud B

custom:

http://www.moonlitforge.com/

http://www.oddfrogforge.com/

http://www.mvforge.com/ (howard Clark)

http://home.comcast.net/~jeshern/index.htm (jezus Hernandez)

http://www.asaswordworks.com/

http://greatwaveforge.com/index.html (Dan Pfanenstiel)

http://www.goldmountainforge.com/  (David Goldberg )

http://www.seelenschmiede.de/  (s.Roth in Germany)

http://www.smederijatelieralkmaar.nl/ (The Netherlands)

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/catalogue.html (Japan)

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## Loren Graves

Cold Steel
http://www.coldsteel.com/
Production swords ; Chinese made, US based
Japanese swords
Average price range : 500-900 USD

Oni Forge
http://www.oniforge.com/
Production & Semi-custom swords ; Chinese made, US based
Japanese swords
Average price range : 250-2500 USD

Last Legend
http://www.lastlegend.com/
Production swords; Chinese made, US based
Japanese swords
Average price range : 300-900 USD

Dynasty Forge
http://www.dynastyforge.com/
Production swords; Chinese made, Canada based
Japanese swords
Average price range : 400-3000 USD

Huanuo Sword
http://www.huanuosword.com/
Production swords; Chinese made, Chinese based
Japanese swords
Average price range : 400-3000 USD

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## B.Blackwell

Aoi Budo
www.budo-aoi.com
Production & Custom Iaito/Shinken
Japanese Made/Based
Japanese Swords/Misc
Price Range: $259.00 - $7,000.00

Jidai
www.Jidai.Jp
Production $ Custom Iaito/Shinken
Japanese Made/Based
Japanese Swords/Armor/Misc
Price Range: $300.00 - $19,000.00

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## Reinhard Guggenberger

http://www.martialartswords.com/
http://www.bugei.com/

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## B.Blackwell

Having touble digging up some info on....

Bugei
www.bugei.com
?? Made/ US Based ---- ??Who makes their blades and where??
Production & Custom Iaito/Shinken
Japanese Swords/Misc.
Price Range: $480.00 - $3,000.00++

Paul Chen/Cas Iberia/Hanwei --- Should all these be listed under same listing or seperate? Wheres his swords made?

Token Mino --- Looks like Aoi-Budo's site. Is this a sister company??

Tozando --- Who makes their blades and where? Are they just a store front or do they own the rights to their products?

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## B.Blackwell

Martial Arts Swords --- Who makes their swords? Where?

Blackwell

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## Loren Graves

MAS produces in Korea and is located in Canada I believe.

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## Timo Qvintus

Sticky this, please!

EDIT: Zhang's English web-site (under construction): http://www.zhangsword.com/

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## Reinhard Guggenberger

as far as I know MAS produces/forges the blades in Japan!
The assembling takes place in S.Korea.

However that´s what I was told from MAS when I ordered my Custom L6:
"The smith is Yong Soo Park who was invited to Masters of Fire exhibition as the representative of Korea (http://www.arscives.com/mastersofire/exhibits.htm). The blade is initially forged in Japan using Japanese produced steel and heat treatment and mounting is done in South Korea."

Thought I just let you know  :Big Grin:

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## Remi C

> Sticky this, please!
> 
> EDIT: Zhang's English web-site (under construction): http://www.zhangsword.com/


changed the adress on my post, thanks !

B.Blackwell, maybe we can start gathering all the info on your first post ? we already have quite a list here  :Wink:

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## B.Blackwell

Remi, 

 I was wondering how long we should let the list grow before we compile it. No matter what it can always be updated I guess but I know there are a few more manufacturers out there I just can't recall at this time. Also still looking for some good info on Paul Chen and Bugei.

 Also trying to dig up some info on Masahiro, Musashi and Ryumon. Hopefully we get stickied  :Embarrassment:  ( wait, that almost doesn't sound right, LOL )

Blackwell

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## Remi C

you're right, we need first to have complete info for all forges, not only links.

c'mon guyz !

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## Reinhard Guggenberger

but maybe we should define WHAT kind of info we are looking for?
Name....................
Web Link................
Produced in/by........
Prize Range.............

I don´t think that we should consider "rating" quality or other things as these are quite subjective (and maybe the prizes can give you hint about that)

What do you think?
Cheers
Reinhard

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## Ruud B

Name: WKC Solingen
Web: Link http://www.wkc-sports.com/index.html
German made katana TUV certified
Prize Range: $220 - 2200


Name : Thaisuki Nihonto (not!)
Web link: http://www.thaitsuki.co.uk/index.html
Thai Made Katana
Prize range: $600 -1000

Name: Jarmory
Web Link: http://www.j-armory.com/
Sells: Furuyama, Last Legend, Paul Chen, Boutoken L6
Price range: $ 300 -2100

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## B.Blackwell

Yep, I really like the format you and loren started off with that's perfect. I also agree it shouldn't include any kind of rating or review, just the facts. Who, what, where, when, and how  :Smilie: 

There should also be a disclaimer that the price range can and will vary and the price ranges listed are just ballpark estimates.

Blackwell

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## Glen C.

> Remi, 
> 
>  I was wondering how long we should let the list grow before we compile it. No matter what it can always be updated I guess but I know there are a few more manufacturers out there I just can't recall at this time. Also still looking for some good info on Paul Chen and Bugei.
> 
>  Also trying to dig up some info on Masahiro, Musashi and Ryumon. Hopefully we get stickied  ( wait, that almost doesn't sound right, LOL )
> 
> Blackwell


Hi Guys,

I am no katana scholar but can share some stuff. What is a little suprising is that some of these stories have been retold in recent threads that most have probably read, some participated in. For instance, there was a nicely informative thread about the Musashi swords just the other day. Even I learned something new from that. Kenneth should stop by more often :Wink: 

In the past couple of years, one of the confusion factors has become folk wondering about Paul Chen. We all know there are two of them, right? There is Paul Chen of Hanwei and Paul Chen of Cheness.

Chen Chao-Po is the Paul Chen who founded the Hanwei company. He is an enthusiast that founded a manufacturing plant back in the 1990s (97?). Even the large retailers of Hanwei product refer to them as Paul Chen's swords and this doesn't help on the confusion factor. Bugei swords are part of the production in the Hanwei plant. These are sword designs that Bugei has developed over the years, in close co-operation with Paul. The regular lines of katana from Hanwei have benefitted from this. C.A.S.Iberia is the importer for Hanwei. If you have a Hanwei product, the shipping container was consigned to C.A.S. Iberia. C.A.S.Iberia works with other producers as well. There is an old chat transcript that might be of interest to some. It can be found over at www.netsword.com I'm not sure but it may be Paul Southren's sword buyers guide that has a short bio for Chen Chao-Po, Wikipedia has a short blurb as well.

Paul Chen of Cheness has given his own information on these very boards. Look for Cheness in thread titles, the search engine should be able to pull those up. He had been pretty regular here for a while. I believe the user name is P.Y.Chen.

Masahiro and Ryumon also get a fair share of talk, some of that pretty recently too. You can read some about their production at www.mastercutlery.com


Most well laid out sites have a link that is information oriented. It's usually the one that reads "About Us"

Some of the other lore and legends get a little lost and twisted over time. For sure, some of these names and companies go back quite a few years. Even the front page here at http://swordforum.com can be highly informative, althugh some information is a bit dated.

Like I say, katana aren't really my thing. I can appreciate them and have seen the offerings blossom over the past decade. Just don't lose sight of why some swords might be less expensive than others. Superficial examination may not reveal much. Folk may have different expectations and there is nothing wrong with that. Realistically, take a good hard look at everything available in a given price range.

As far as making a thread like this sticky, messaging a moderator would be the way to go. It's not hard to bookmark, or subscribe to a thread. It's not even that hard to put up an internet page with the links. 

Good luck with the list. Don't forget to read the threads in this and other sections here. Do click the "About Us" links when you visit sites.

Cheers

Hotspur; _lots on the front page of SFI to read_

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## B.Blackwell

DISCLAIMER: The manufacturers listed are in no particular order. All information is subject to change. This list is for reference only. All information was/is intended to be as accurate and un-biased as possible. This list was compiled as a group effort. Error corrections/changes/updates will be kindly considered and appreciated. Thank You



Zhi Sword
http://www.zhangsword.com/ WEB
http://stores.ebay.com.cn/zhisword STORE
Chinese Made
Production & Custom Shinken/Iaito 
Japanese and Chinese Swords
Average price range : $150.00 - $1,000.00

Cheness Inc.
www.chenessinc.com
Chinese Made/ Us Based
Production Shinken/Iaito
Japanese Swords/Misc.
Average price range : $150.00 - $400.00 

Cold Steel
www.coldsteel.com
Chinese Made/ Us Based
Production Swords
Japanese/Medieval/Renaissance
Average price range : $500.00 - $900.00

Oni Forge
www.oniforge.com/
Chinese Made, Us Based
Production & Semi-custom swords
Japanese swords
Average price range : $250.00 - $2500.00

Last Legend
www.lastlegend.com
Chinese Made/ Us Based
Production swords
Japanese swords
Average price range : $300.00 - $900.00 

Dynasty Forge
www.dynastyforge.com
Chinese Made/ Canadian Based
Production swords
Japanese swords
Average price range : $400.00 - $3000.00

Huanuo Sword
www.huanuosword.com
Chinese Made/ Chinese Based
Production swords
Japanese swords
Average price range : $400.00 - $3000.00 USD

Aoi Budo
www.budo-aoi.com
Production & Custom Iaito/Shinken
Japanese Made/Based
Japanese Swords/Misc
Price Range: $259.00 - $7,000.00

Jidai
www.Jidai.Jp
Production $ Custom Iaito/Shinken
Japanese Made/Based
Japanese Swords/Armor/Misc
Price Range: $300.00 - $19,000.00

Bugei
www.bugei.com
Chinese Made/ US Based (Hanwei Forged)
Production & Custom Iaito/Shinken
Japanese Swords/Misc.
Price Range: $480.00 - $3,000.00++

WKC Solingen
www.wkc-sports.com/index.html
German made/ TUV certified
Production Shinken
Japanese Swords
Prize Range: $220 - 2200


Thaisuki Nihonto
www.thaitsuki.co.uk/index.html
Thai Made
Production & Custom Shinken/Iaito
Japanese Swords
Prize range: $600 -1000

Hanwei Forge
www.allovertheinterenet.com  :Smilie: 
Chinese Made
Production Swords
Japanese/Medieval/Renaissance Etc.
Price Range: $200.00 and Up

Masahiro/Ryumon
www.mastercutlery.com
Chinese Made
Production Shinken
Japanese Swords
Price Range: $59.99 and Up

MAS
www.martialartswords.com
Pre-Forge Japan/ Final Forge and Assembly in Korea
Production and Custom Shinken/Iaito
Japanes & Korean Swords
Price Range: $700.00 - $2300.00

Kris Cutlery
www.kriscutlery.com
Chinese Made/ Us Based
Production Custom Shinken
Japanese, Korean, Phillipine, Antigue, Armor
Price Range: $200.00 - $1,000.00+

Here's what I got so far I'm still working on the custom forges provided in an earlier post.  :Smilie: 

Blackwell

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## Jeff Ellis

> as far as I know MAS produces/forges the blades in Japan!
> The assembling takes place in S.Korea.
> 
> However that´s what I was told from MAS when I ordered my Custom L6:
> "The smith is Yong Soo Park who was invited to Masters of Fire exhibition as the representative of Korea (http://www.arscives.com/mastersofire/exhibits.htm). The blade is initially forged in Japan using Japanese produced steel and heat treatment and mounting is done in South Korea."
> 
> Thought I just let you know


Reinhard, please reread what was said before passing that information on any further, the MAS blades are made into a sunobe like object before leaving Japan, they barely resemble a sword when they leave Japan. 

They finish the forging (I believe) in Korea, as Loren said.

So, in short, MAS has pre-forging in Japan, but the sword does not come into shape until it is touched at the next forge. 

You can not *forge a blade in Japan and send it out legally*, without a lot of red tape and proof it was made under government allowance and are NBTHK approved.

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## Loren Graves

Someone should compile this list and make it a sticky thread

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## Reinhard Guggenberger

Another european member of this forum was so kind as to pm me with a link of an european smith (Mr. Pavel Bolf).
I contacted him and he has no objection for posting this link:
http://jswords.com/galerie_katana-eng.html - take a look!

I think his work looks quite good and might be of interest to other european based members of this forum.

Just another thing: He does not speak english (all the correspondece is done by  some friend of his who translates for him) and he told me that it will take about a year for an order to be finished.

Thought I let you know!

PS. I really really hope I haven´t overlooked something again!!

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## Ruud B

Thank you for that link,
Checked 2 blades on sale for price came to USD 1700 and USD 3000

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## Hrvoje Samija

Just to add that Mr. Bolf is an aikidoka first and swordsmith second, and that he polishes and mounts his katanas himself (or with some help), but is not polishing ANY other blades except made by him. About munting, I'm not sure (Czech is similar to Croatian, but not all that similar  :Big Grin:  ), but he does make tsubas, kogai and kozukas, so...
I contemplated a custom katana or a daisho from him a few years ago, but it look like I contemplated a little bit too much, got married, and you can guess the rest...  :Big Grin:

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## B.Blackwell

OK, I PM'd a Moderator and was told they would get back to me on making this thread a sticky. I am still working on the "custom manufacturers" list. If anyone has anymore to add or corrections, please feel free to chime in  :Smilie:  Thanks

Blackwell

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## Evan Pownall

I don't think I noticed this thread before... kinda wish I had.

Anyways, I just discovered this link http://www.ltspecpro.com. It seems to be Cold Steels Special Projects page and has their stuff for (sometimes) WAY cheaper than their regular website! Cold Steel is expensive enough so I though this page was pretty cool.

I'm sot sure if you'd want to replace the other link to CS, add this as an option or just plain throw it out.

Just thought I'd put it out there!

Enjoy!

E.

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## Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini

Moderators, is this thread good enough to be a sticky ?
My vote is yes...

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## Bogdan M.

I also think it is worth making a sticky, although maybe we should divide it on categories somehow. Custom or production/semi custom and stuff like that...

I would add:
http://www.liveblade.com
http://www.tozandoshop.com
http://zanshinironworks.com/
http://www.roninswords.com/

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## Timo Qvintus

There's been a lot of questions on entry-level katana lately, so I thought I'd give this thread a big ol' *BUMP*

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## Alexander Chin

stickied by request.

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## Jason M D.

I didn't check to see if this was on this thread.  Sorry if it is.

http://www.tenmeikan.be/links.html

Jason

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## Timo Qvintus

This is a thread on Manufacturers, not retailers..  :Wink:

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## Jussi Ekholm

I haven't noticed this thread earlier but now that I see it I think it's a bit too messy. I think that the creator of this thread (Mr. Blackwell) or mods could sort the links in replys to a complete list in the first post. I would be more than happy to help with the list just PM me. I personally wouldn't add antiques to this list since they have their own forums and cannot be treated as same as newly produced swords. Prices could be added only in production swords, as I don't think it's appropriate regarding custom smiths.

The list could have at least these of the categories that Blackwell suggested. Some may wan't to change my Europe centric view to US. With custom smiths it would be nice to add their country when outside the first category.

Japanese:
Custom smiths in two categories - in Japan, outside Japan, High level production, low level production, iaitos

Western:
Custom smiths in two categories - in Europe, outside Europe, High level production, low level production, blunts

Chinese:
Custom smiths in two categories - in China, outside China, High level production, low level production

Other: (Still swords) This would be quite vast area. This would need information about the style and geographic areas swords come from.
Custom smiths, High level production, low level production

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## Bogdan M.

A very good idea, it will be a little difficult, as many guys fall into more categories, but still, as is it's difficult to use these links...

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## Jason M D.

> This is a thread on Manufacturers, not retailers..


http://www.tenmeikan.be/links_craftsmen.html


Are you happy now Timo? :Stick Out Tongue:

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## B.Blackwell

> I haven't noticed this thread earlier but now that I see it I think it's a bit too messy. I think that the creator of this thread (Mr. Blackwell) or mods could sort the links in replys to a complete list in the first post. I would be more than happy to help with the list just PM me. I personally wouldn't add antiques to this list since they have their own forums and cannot be treated as same as newly produced swords. Prices could be added only in production swords, as I don't think it's appropriate regarding custom smiths.
> 
> The list could have at least these of the categories that Blackwell suggested. Some may wan't to change my Europe centric view to US. With custom smiths it would be nice to add their country when outside the first category.
> 
> Japanese:
> Custom smiths in two categories - in Japan, outside Japan, High level production, low level production, iaitos
> 
> Western:
> Custom smiths in two categories - in Europe, outside Europe, High level production, low level production, blunts
> ...


Wow, cool to see this finally got stickied. I Pm'd Mods for months and never got a response  :Smilie: 

Jussi,

 The problem I ran into was you can't edit the inital post after so long so I wasn't able to re-compile the list and add it to the first post. If I had the ability to edit the first post and keep updating and changing it then I wouldn't have let this list die off. I also compiled lists of custom smiths as well but gave up because of the in-ability to edit and update.

 I asked some mods for help but never got a reply on getting edit rights to my initial post.

Blackwell

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## Glen C.

> Wow, cool to see this finally got stickied. I Pm'd Mods for months and never got a response 
> 
> Jussi,
> 
>  The problem I ran into was you can't edit the inital post after so long so I wasn't able to re-compile the list and add it to the first post. If I had the ability to edit the first post and keep updating and changing it then I wouldn't have let this list die off. I also compiled lists of custom smiths as well but gave up because of the in-ability to edit and update.
> 
>  I asked some mods for help but never got a reply on getting edit rights to my initial post.
> 
> Blackwell


They say it's not who you know. Maybe it is who they know. I had sent an alert the other day and asked it be moved to the FAQ section. Tinker thought I meant a thread in General about European Sword sites. The diffrence there is that it was someone compiling on a page, hence one bookmark to many links.  By the time I had forwarded him a link to this thread, it had been made sticky. IMO, it would still do better in FAQ. I guess it is being discussed. Someone stickied it when I used the report post function and asked.

One could re-compile the list in a new post, or publish it on a page (which I think I mentioned once upon a time).

Cheers

Hotspur; _glad to see you surface for air once in awhile, at least we know you're alive_

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## Kent Swedlund

www.zheng-wu.com

Chinese made
custom katana and chinese swords
price range:1100-3400 and up

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## Robert Betts

http://www.castlekeep.co.uk/katana.php

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## I Morgan

Does anyone know who makes the Bushido "make" of swords?

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## JoeT

CasIberia is the Hanwei site. Is that a joke "allovertheinternet.com"?

joe

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## Gary S

Pavel Bolf's swords look awesome! I've always had a thing for Tensho era swords. You rarely see copies being made of them. Unfortunately, a little too much for my price range. I redid my iaito with a Tensho type tsuka. I have an actual Nihonto that was made about that time, with a Tensho type tsuka, although it doesn't flare out at the kashira and fuchi as much as I'd like. Interestingly enough, the mei is Suinshi Masahide, about 400 years too late! It worked out well for me, because a false signature greatly devalues it as an "art object," so I was able to pick up a nice blade at a great price for practice.
I have one of Zhang's swords. The blade is pretty nice, but the tsukamaki was pretty loose. A little laquer fixed that up nicely. I've been eyeing a Masahiro with a three quarter bo-hi and horimono. Does anybody know anything about the quality of these swords? I figure is worse comes to worse, I'll dull the edge and use it as an iaito.

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## Adam Pound

Just got a new sword from this company:www.ryansword.com  .
Any one else heard of them? Nice san-mai lamination piece, 1050 with 1060 folded and wrapped around. Only complaint I have is that the tsuka is MASSIVE!
Looking forward to trying it as a cutter soon in the dojo cutting day.
I'll try to post pics soon.

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## Dan Dacombe

Hey all,

Paul from the Sword Buyers Guide just launched a website that deals with this, trying to cover alot of information on each manufacturer including product lines, prices, country of manufacture and steels used, and also common issues that people have had with the company/brand. It is not comprehensive but still under construction, and might be something to check out. Here:

http://www.sword-manufacturers-guide.com/index.html

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## Hrvoje Samija

Here's something for light cutting and kata, and a little cheaper for buyers from Europe (yes, all of Europe, not just the EU, I asked)...

http://www.stenudd.com/aikibatto/shinken.htm

Mr. Stefan Stenudd is an aikidoka and an iaidoka, you can read about it on this site, and he is endorsing this line of light cutters and steel sharp kata swords... they are, as said there, made in China, but should be well enough made to withstand the stress of kata and light cutting...

For more information, contact Mr. Stefan Stenudd directly by the on-line form on the bottom of the page...

Isn't the cheapest option, but should be reasonably safe... About appearance, I couldn't say, haven't bought one, but anyway, for me, in a katana made in China, safety would come before looks... That's why my only katana to date is a PC PK with an epoxied tsuka...

Hope this helps, especially to some European JSA practitioners...

 :Big Grin:

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## Timo Qvintus

Citadel forge
Cambodian-made swords
$600-up
http://www.citadel.com.kh/

note: Citadel does not sell the swords themselves, but the website has a list of sellers

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## Ruud B

Andrew Jordan,
Dutch master smith
http://www.jordanknives.com/
Prize: 600(knife) and way up for swords.

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## mscrampton

Hi Guys,

Just to bring you up to date.  The Citadel website is JUUsstt a bit out of date and has been planned for update for sometime.  But the biggest issue is the list provided on where to buy.  Museum Replicas is no longer selling Citadel blades of any kind (simple do a search of their site).  Blue Ridge Knives sells only knives produced by Citadel with one exception being a mass produced single line of katana that were special ordered in quantity (the cookie cutter concept) and those are now being curtailed because they were being offered on Ebay by some very unscrupulous sellers.  By Agreement with Dominique the owner of Citadel Shadow of Leaves is still the only authorized distributor of Citadel here in the US.  I do not even sell or offer the standard models such as the Yoshi, Super Yoshi, etc..  This is again by agreement so that I do not have to compete with the established European sellers.  What I sell are custom models that are sent to me direct from the factory as available. If you purchase a Citadel from anyone else in the US you are at risk as they have no agreement for service and support.  Just thought I'd let you know.

Best Regards,

Mike

PS/

The old French website is www.depdep.com and this is new new website 

http://www.katanas-citadel.com/index.html

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## Felix Leung

I came across this website. It listed samurai sword manufacturer in China. I could not believe that there are so many manufacturers in China just for the samurai sword market. It must be doing big business.
www.alibaba.com/showroom/Samurai_Sword/2.html

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## everin seclaman

it is strange but i don`t like this new blades. They
don`t preserv the geometry and the original lines and curvatures, i feel the non japanese shcool in this blades.

Make a blade for you not for sale !

The new swordmakers, obviosly show the hamon,  honest speaking is a nice think but not so hard to do it.

If you love nihonto you will see the differences from miles.

Please don`t tell who sale the blades, google.com tell us  :Smilie:

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## Kim KiHwan

Kaneie Sword
(KAIYE INTERNATIONAL TRADE)
----------------
Hand-made and Japanese Quality Swords 
$399-1999 MSRP
----------------
www.kaneie.com

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## everin seclaman

They are from china, and the pictures of the blade is zero....why?

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## Kim KiHwan

you can see www.kaneie.com again
or if u not see u can see http://shop52648.p04.shopex.cn/

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## everin seclaman

Better to buy a Gunto from ebay.com

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## Richard Love

In perusing your list I did not notice handmadeswords.com.  Their prices range from less than $100.00 to $18,000.00.

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## everin seclaman

this "hand made" it is a marketing speach, not a reflecsion of a quality blade.

sorry, i can`t stop myself  :Smilie:

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## Chen rich

> this "hand made" it is a marketing speach, not a reflecsion of a quality blade.
> 
> sorry, i can`t stop myself


Hi All.

I just wanted to tell you all that my swords are all handmade. I smelt the steel. I hammer the steel. I grind the blade. I hand heat treat the blade. I hand polish the steel. I make my own handles and put them on the swords. I make the wood sheaths. I do sometimes buy the guards that are engraved since this is a skill like an aritst and i am not an artist. I am a sword maker.

I invite you to look at the swords on my web site and ask any question you have.

I have more new pictures coming and each day I make swords.

Thank you for your time.
Rich Chen

http://web.zbsword.com/

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## Niël van Rooyen

Does any forumite have experience with products from this manufacturer? 

www.masterforge.co.uk

Ciao 4 now,
Niël

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## Chen rich

> this "hand made" it is a marketing speach, not a reflecsion of a quality blade.
> 
> sorry, i can`t stop myself



Dear Friends:

All the talk about handmade and factory made swords has made me think.

I want to show and let every one know that I really handmade all my swords. It is not a factory. I have a work room and I have my son and my wife to help me and some friends. I also have a student or 2 to help. Some I pay for their work and work for free just to learn.

I will begin making a sword tomorrow and I will start in the morning to smelt the steel powder to begin. I want to document this process and all can see the time and effort it takes to make a sword step by step.

I have a friend that has a nice camera and he will take pictures as I go through all steps making the Japanese sword.

My English is not that good and I will try to explain all that I can on each step. If any one has any questions I will be happy to try and explain what I am doing. Each step will be documented for your reference. And you can ask any questions as we go. Most times it takes 15 to 30 days to make single sword.

I will begin tomorrow making a Japanese sword and I will smelt the powdered steel for the start.

If anyone thinks this should be in a single thread please let me know and I will try to open a new thread to show all the processes.

Thank you and I am happy to be part of this good forum.

Rich Chen.

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## Simon.N

> Does any forumite have experience with products from this manufacturer? 
> 
> www.masterforge.co.uk
> 
> Ciao 4 now,
> Niël


They do a lot of custom swords from the Zheng Wu forge in China, though i've not handled one myself i've spoken with a few people who have bought swords from them and they all sound very happy with what they got, both Chinese and Japanese swords.
I'm going to be ordering off them sometime this year i hope, you'll find Leigh is very flexable, he has a good relationship with the forge and he'll do his best to accomodate whatever requirments you have.

If you check out the Satori Katana that is a good example of how well they work with their customers.

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## M.K. Ridgeway

> Dear Friends:
> 
> All the talk about handmade and factory made swords has made me think.
> 
> I want to show and let every one know that I really handmade all my swords. It is not a factory. I have a work room and I have my son and my wife to help me and some friends. I also have a student or 2 to help. Some I pay for their work and work for free just to learn.
> 
> I will begin making a sword tomorrow and I will start in the morning to smelt the steel powder to begin. I want to document this process and all can see the time and effort it takes to make a sword step by step.
> 
> I have a friend that has a nice camera and he will take pictures as I go through all steps making the Japanese sword.
> ...


 A new thread would be great... I look forward to it.

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## Chen rich

i will try to make a new thread. i have the pictures ready

thanks
rich chen




> A new thread would be great... I look forward to it.

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## Bryan Dl.

dont have any links to offer but i figured someone out there may be able to find some for ..Furubushidoo...sold by handmadeswords is all i know

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## JasonKim

> DISCLAIMER: The manufacturers listed are in no particular order. All information is subject to change. This list is for reference only. All information was/is intended to be as accurate and un-biased as possible. This list was compiled as a group effort. Error corrections/changes/updates will be kindly considered and appreciated. Thank You
> 
> 
> 
> Zhi Sword
> http://www.zhangsword.com/ WEB
> http://stores.ebay.com.cn/zhisword STORE
> Chinese Made
> Production & Custom Shinken/Iaito 
> ...


This is very very good information for me but, are you sure MAS forge bare blade in Japan? Which company or swordsmith can provide bare blade or sunobe for korean forge? Non-sense.. Anyway GOOD JOB

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## Cory Groves

I have been studying sword forging and going to a class for a few months. I would like to move on from 440 stainless and maybe try 1050 high carbon steel bar, but do not know where to get a 3/8"x 1" x 30" section. do you or anyone else know where i might be able to purchase it. Thanks

Cory

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## Carlos Nunes

http://www.handmadesword.com

http://www.jp-katana.com/

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## Oniryuu Shinigami

dont know if they are any good.  



http://www.swordstore.com/cgi-bin/ht...shin-main.html

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## AJ Post

http://www.ryansword.com/

http://www.nihonzashi.com/shinken_kotetsu.aspx

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## Devin A Lee

Jin Shi
http://www.jin-shi.com/
Canadian Based custom made Chinese swords
Average price range : Starting at $300

Seven Stars Trading
http://www.sevenstarstrading.com/
Sole US Representative for Huanuo Swords, Chinese made Chinese swords
Average price range : $120 - $3500

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## Ezequias Farias

www.buyiaito.com
I have never seen such a website before, you can customize your own sword, it's amazing, totally terrific. I bought mine and it arrived, I'm currently writting a review of it. buyiaito is a division of zhisword, I know many of you know, but this website I can't find people talking about it on internet. If you like to customize things, this place you can.

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## BradleyAnderson

Don't forget in Seki, Japan, Nosyudo not only makes and sells iaito, but can commission nihonto by different levels of toshyo. People interested in contacting Nosyudo or purchasing their goods, can PM me and I'll point you in the right direction.
Brad

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