Hanwei Military Dadao - Now with Dissection
Jan 5, 2011 22:56:27 GMT
Post by Greg on Jan 5, 2011 22:56:27 GMT
The above image is awesome in itself, but when you consider that it is printed on canvas and included with the Hanwei Dadao, then it becomes epic. When I first started reading reviews of this sword, I was aware that it included a poster, but I had no idea that it would be this awesome.
Before I continue, I'll go ahead and state that this is a work in progress review. Currently I'm pressed for time so I am adding to the review when I can.
I purchased this sword because I have been wanting a Chinese blade for a while. Over the past few weeks, I kept seeing this sword pop up and it received nothing but rave reviews. So a few clicks on Kult of Athena and 2 days later it was at my door.
History:
As I understand, the Japanese had invaded China during the second Sino-Japanese War. The Chinese, not wanting to make things easy, had started disassembling their rail roads and found themselves with a whole lot of scrap metal. They decided to turn that metal into the Dadao. The original blades did not come with a scabbard and if you found leather to wrap the grip in, then all the better. Many Dadao's of the day had little more then strips of cloth for a grip.
The Sword:
A big thank you to Star Hensley at Hanwei for tracking down the metals used. We are all to familiar with manufacturers forgetting to supply this information when the blade is released. Thanks to Star, we now know and I'm sure everyone in the community appreciates this.
Blade Material: 5160 steel
Furniture Material: Blackened 300 Stainless
Weight: 2 lb 15 oz
Blade Length: 22 1/2"
Edge: Semi Sharp
C.O.P: ~7" from tip (using the stick test)
P.O.B.: 4" from guard
Thickness: 10.5 mm - 3.5 mm (3/8" - 3/16")
Width: 1 5/8" - 3 1/8"
Grip Length: 11''
Grip Construction: Wooden core, leather strip wrap with spiraling cord risers.
*Note: Historically this sword is supposed to have between a 2 and 3 foot blade. Hanwei missed the 2 foot mark by 1.5 inches.
The packaging was rather nice. Molded styrofoam surrounded the blade already in the sheath. Normally I don't appreciate an oiled blade being kept in the sheath or scabbard during transport as the oil and grit can cling to the sides and stay there indefinitely.
Fortunately with this sheath, the blade was oiled and then wrapped in plastic before it was placed in the sheath. Good job Hanwei.
As I was inspecting the piece, I had the answer to two question I had when viewing it online. The first was how was the blade secured inside the sheath. Hanwei had decided to keep the tech level of this blade periodic. There are two nubs on the spine side of the sheath that fit through an X shaped opening. This method has proved to be easy to "unsnap" but effective in keeping the blade inside the sheath.
The other question was how this sword could be suspended or carried. On the back side, the two straps that are a part of the "snap" system also search as belt loops. I didn't have a long belt, but I did manage to get it across my torso. I'm not really sure why this blade was carried like this. I wasn't able to get to the snaps and had to adjust the belt in an awkward fashion to release the blade. Nonetheless, there are two loops for a suspension system of some sort.
Another great note on the sheath is the way that the side walls are constructed. When I was viewing this sword online, I was afraid that the sheath was just two pieces of leather sewn together. The problem there would be that the sword would eventually slice through the stitches and fall through the sheath, which would inevitably injure a small woodland creature... or something.
But as we can see here, "edge" of the sheath is, in fact, a solid length of leather. This way, the sword would only rest up against the leather, which is much more suited to not split open.
I was really impressed with the thickness of the spine. One of my big concerns was that the blade might prove to be flimsy. This was not the case at all.
The junction between the blade and the furniture was very smooth. The furniture is 300 stainless, and I'm kinda curious to see how it is fitted to the tang, but I have no immediate plans to disassemble the hilt.
The tip of the sword was really well done. However, the blade was not sharp at all for the last 4 inches of blade. I'm assuming this was to keep the point of the sword as clean as possible and I appreciate that.
Cutting:
I'll go ahead and say that my edge alignment might not have been perfect, but as I've said before, the edge isn't incredibly sharp... at all. But I was incredibly happy with the my last cut. It was very close to a perfect edge alignment, and you can see how it reacted.
After handling it a bit more tho, I've found that if I put my primary hand halfway down the grip and my secondary hand against the pommel, then it feels more proper. I think that Hanwei should have made the blade a bit longer, because for the 11 inches of handle this thing rocks, there just isn't much blade to swing around.
Dissection!
So, after swinging it around for a bit more, I had decided that I wasn't enjoying the leather strip wrapped grip at all. So what did I do? Well, I tore the whole thing apart of course!
Getting the leather unbound from itself proved difficult, which is good news for tho's of you who like this wrap. I don't think it would come undone under normal use. Ever. The leather is reinforced with something that reminds me of super rubber cement. The glue did a great job at keeping the leather on.
My suspicions were correct! There is, in fact, a cord under wrap. It added to the ribs of the grip and all in all was evenly spaced.
Hanwei was very clever in the design. Notice that small bit of leather on the picture below? It was put there to make it look similar to the way a katana is wrapped, with the lace holding the buttcap on. But here, it's purely for looks. Still well done and adds to the overall beauty of the blade.
Good news! Hanwei has used real wood for the core. There was a nagging suspicion that it might have been plastic, but here we can see the seam of the wood glued together. VERY well done on the fitting here. As I tore the handle apart, there was an even 1/16th" of glue on either side. I also noticed that the core had overlapped the pommel ever so slightly allowing for a straight surface for the small bit of leather to fold over.
I had hoped that the type of glue would allow the removal of the wooden core handle so that I could use it to regrip the sword, but alas, it was super rubber cement and held on for dear life.
Now the moment you've been waiting for!
The Tang!
WOW! And what a tang she is! This beast is 5/8" x 1/4" at the pommel. No worries about a rat-tail here.
And how do they get non-ferrous 300 stainless attached as a pommel? With a slot and key weld of course! Luckily the weld is at the very end of the tang. I had feared that the stainless was used for the majority of the tang, but this endeavor has proved me wrong. So the worst case scenario is that you turn the sword around and start hammering nails with the pommel, only the pommel would pop off and the grip would still stay on the tang.
*Interesting side note: Whatever glue/wood was used for the core smells delicious. Seriously, if there was a food that smelled like that, I'd eat it.
After I chiseled the bulk of the wood away, I took the tang to a wire brush and got rid of the remaining wood and glue.
Here we can see a better representation of how the pommel is secured. Again, I wouldn't go swinging it around by the ring, but for the purposes of cutting, the half inch weld will hold just fine.
I tried removing as much glue as possible from under the guard. I had really wanted to loosen the guard enough to take pictures of the slot, but after a minute of tapping on the guard with a rubber hammer, it still did not come loose. So this means that the glue that holds it on is incredibly good, or the guard is secured with a tension hold. Either way, the guard should not come loose under normal or even heavy cutting.
Also, while I had the wire brush out, I decided to remove the blackening. If the furniture was blackened because of forging scale, then I'd have no problem leaving it black, but since there was some shiny stainless underneath, I decided to let it shine through. Also, I enjoy how the texture pops out with the more reflective surface.
Pros:
Price- I had picked this up at Kult of Athena for around 80 USD.
Design- No rattling or loosening yet.
Tang- I felt that this deserved it's own Pro as that is one beefy tang.
Finish- The satin finish on the blade is wonderful and the fullers are superb.
Stout- This is one heck of a blade. Assuming the tempering isn't to brittle, this thing will stand up to a beating.
Cons:
Hanwei Edge- Need I say more? If you are looking for a good cutter right out of the box, keep looking. This isn't the worst edge I've seen on a "sharpened" blade, but it's far from the best. It cut through some water bottles, but exploded most.
Stainless furniture- Not even really a con, but if you are looking for authentic, I don't think the Chinese had this level of metallurgy.
Leather strip grip- This is more about personal taste instead of an actual con. I've found I don't like this style of grip wrapping.
Proportioning- Now I'm just getting nit-picky, but it seems that if the guard would have been brought down 3 inches, that the blade would have had more presence and would have been more responsive in hand. Having my hands at either end of the grip reminds me more of wielding an axe rather then a sword. This, however, could be by design in that the dadao was meant to arm soldiers who had very little martial training. But if you just swing it like you'd swing an axe wihle chopping wood, (By sliding your primary hand down the grip during the swing) then you'd impart MUCH more power to the cut. But, I can't try this out until I regrip this beast.
Conclusion:
If you have the means to touch up and edge and want a good solid sword, order the Hanwei Military Dadao. A well constructed sword at this price range is rare. It may seem like the Cons are equal to the Pros, but this is only in numbers. The weight of each Pro is far greater then the Cons. So if you were to divide up the Pro/Con ratio by significance, I'd say it would be 90/10 (Pro/Con) Bottom line:
I look forward to getting to know this sword.
Update:
So, after the dissection, I needed to make a new grip. Here it is:
I might go back and touch up some parts, but for the long haul, this is how this sword will look for as long as I own it.