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Post by Student of Sword on Apr 25, 2012 1:38:15 GMT
Now you can point to one concrete example -- me. I had sword drop shipped directly from Hanwei warehouse in Tennessee with obvious defect. The kashira was so loose, you can pull it apart. It came from a Tsuru Iaito.
Sometime the vendor is more important than the manufacturer. That is why I always stick with KOA when it come to buying swords. That is why a Bugei sword cost so much more than a typical Hanwei. The folks at Bugei inspected their swords a lot more closely than the folks at Hanwei.
All swords manufacturers in 3rd world countries made lemons. The reputable ones discovered the lemon before they get to you.
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Post by stickem on Apr 25, 2012 2:30:26 GMT
So that's another concrete example of Hanwei non-QC other than my two...
Coincidence? Consider my return with the crookedy blade was an iaito as well... the Hanwei Musashi iaito. I like the leather wrap on the handle... feels niiiiice. Maybe their iaito line comes from a different forge or has problems more commonly than do the shinken... I have no idea.
Anyway, as described before, I took y'all's advice and checked PCHS, KoA, and SoM for the 27" Musashi iaito. KoA didn't have it and PCHS's price was the cheapest. So I ordered one today...
So at least you all don't have to worry 'bout me cuttin' any fingers or toes off this week. I got a Nerf GOAT and a pretty blunt iaito on the way.
That sound was the ER docs in Apex collectively blowing a huge sigh of relief :lol:
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Sam H
Member
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Post by Sam H on Apr 25, 2012 2:57:31 GMT
I used to be a Hanwei dealer... technically according to Hanwei's records I still am.
I can tell you that they don't pick defects to ship to any particular vendor. That's just a bad business practice period, no matter who you are or what you sell. When you're in business you want to be able to consistently put out a quality product and send the same quality of product to ALL your vendors. As a vendor if I consistently got a defective product from a manufacturer I'd drop them as a supplier and write off any inventory I have left from them as a complete loss.
Hanwei has been and still is a top notch manufacturer of functional swords. They were and still are one of the largest if not the largest manufacturer of functional swords in the world. When you're putting out swords in the volumes they put out its expected to have some defects slip through QC. These defects are typically handled quickly when returned to them by the vendor - Hanwei does not accept defective returns directly from end customers/end users.
I've purchased, owned and sold almost 200 Hanwei swords, both eastern and western styles. In that time I've had 5 defective swords come into my possession. I personally inspected each sword before sending them out but I was a small time operator. Even KoA can't inspect every sword, knife and other object they ship otherwise their prices would have to increase to reflect the increase in labor costs. I notified my contact at Hanwei about each defective sword and sent it back. In turn things were made right for me by Hanwei promptly and to my satisfaction.
I've also sold and had drop shipped almost 100 swords from Hanwei. In that time I had 2 end customers contact me about defects wanting replacement. I contacted Hanwei and Hanwei then provided me with the necessary tools to make it right for the customer - namely a replacement was sent. The defective product was sent to me and I in turn sent it back to Hanwei.
In the end I'm quite happy with Hanwei as a manufacturer/supplier and if I were to get back into business I wouldn't hesitate to work with them again.
You may all have your opinions but until you have actually dealt directly with Hanwei you really can't form a real conclusion about them. Think of it this way - if Hanwei were as bad as some of you make them seem why on earth are they STILL the manufacturer that EVERY sword vendor carries in their entry level, mid level AND high end swords? If they were as bad as you think they were NOBODY would want to carry their products.
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Post by JRDsgns on Apr 25, 2012 4:25:44 GMT
I think the official site for Paul Chen Hanwei Sword (CAS-Hanwei) is this site: www.casiberia.com/ . There is also Cheness Cutlery which is also run by a Paul Chen...not the same guy though lol: www.chenessinc.com/
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Post by stickem on Apr 25, 2012 13:05:31 GMT
Sam ~ Thanks for the vendor's view of the process It does sound like option "B" is probably what happens with Hanwei at Amazon,; since that was your experience. it's probably Hanwei's policy with every vendor. Going with your larger sample size of 300, you had 7 defective swords that either did not pass your QC or the customer's QC. This is about 2.3%, so we'd expect 2 out of 100 Hanwei swords to fail based on this sample. Thing is, in the last month I bought my first 4 Japanese swords. A Ronin Dojo Pro, a Hanwei Raptor, Musashi iatio, and Orchid tanto. All 4 have been defective. So I'm starting to see defective swords as the norm, rather than the exception. Now, the Dojo Pro and Raptor were bought knowing ahead of time they were scratch'n'dent. So really they failed QC before they got to me. So they don't really count against the folks I bought them from at all (Ronin & KoA). They said, "It is what it is. Be ready to fix the issues or don't buy." I completely respect this and am happy to have some projects to work on. The Hanwei Musashi and Orchid both came from Amazon. Both were defective. So apparently I am your 2/100 Hanwei defects. Sounds unlikely, but is certainly mathematically possible. Keep in mind, I just bought a new replacement Hanwei Musashi Iaito from PCHS yesterday, so I am not anti-Hanwei. I just want to use a vendor people trust so I minimize the chances of getting another one I'll have to ship back to the vendor. So I asked for people's experiences with vendors because collectively we all have a lot of experience, where as I have only been looking at Japanese swords seriously for the last month now. Anyway, I never have a problem returning items to Amazon, so it's all good in the end. In fact, Amazon has received the returns and refunded the purchase price already, not charging me anything for shipping to "QC" their swords for them. But based on my own experience, I won't be buying anymore Hanweis through Amazon. I'm trying PCHS this time... will let you know how that turns out...
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Post by Krelian on Apr 25, 2012 20:20:47 GMT
Thanks for that insight Sam, it was very informative! Also, I never meant to give the impression that I feel Hanwei is in any way inferior to any other Chinese forge. In fact, the only sharp sword I currently own is a Hanwei! I even made mention of the fact that I think Hanwei has such a good reputation due largely to the fact that they work very positively with their vendors. Overall, I just wanted to advocate purchasing swords from sword-specific vendors, with good track records, that are willing to inspect the products upon request. Kult of Athena isn't the only one that fits that bill either, they're just the one at the top of my list that I've had first-hand experience with.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2012 13:40:09 GMT
I've bought from that site, product arrived new and in excellent condition.
edit: Was the Practical XL Light, performs at / above my expectations.
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Post by stickem on May 10, 2012 0:34:13 GMT
Here is a pretty legit source which sees some of the same problems I suspect are going on with Hanwei & Amazon quoted for you all: www.sword-manufacturers-guide.com/hanwei-swords.htmlThe bottom line is I firmly believe for 3 good reasons the swords I got from Amazon are Hanwei factory 2nds or returns, but were not advertised on Amazon as such: 1. The swords I got from Amazon were cheaper than the advertised price I could find anywhere else after scouring their names with the Google for an hour or two. Often (certainly not always) cheapest means someone is trying to get rid of a scratch'n'dent or a return. 2. Their quantities in stock were very limited. The Amazon listings for both the 2 swords I bought from them disappeared right after I bought them, which indicates they had only one unit of each to sell. After the listings disappeared, swords sold by other vendors through Amazon were listed only, none directly from Amazon. These are not hard to find items as they are mass produced by the biggest sword company in the world, so it is interesting they had such a limited stock of them on hand. 3. And the nail in the coffin for me is the defects in both swords were readily identified with just a cursory inspection. The blade on the Musashi Iaito deviated to the extent that both the 2 friends - both of whom have practiced Japanese sword play - to whom I showed the sword independently had the same 1st comment when handling the sword, which was " The blade isn't straight." The kashira on the Orchid Tanto had dings in it that looked like someone had hammered a nail in the wall with it to hang a picture. So I didn't bother to show it to anyone for a 2nd opinion. No way these pass QC by someone who does QC for a living and is not named Laverne-and-Shirley. So that is my caveat emptor on buying Hanwei swords directly from Amazon. Be aware that if you are getting a lower price than you have been able to find anywhere else, there is a high probability the swords will have some issues once they arrive on your doorstep and you go out to play with 'em.
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