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Post by Rafael on Nov 27, 2012 17:15:12 GMT
I've been doing some cutting wih it. Usual pruning of half to one inch branches is easy and makes super clean edged cuts. I got more brave and used it to lumberjack my way through a 3 inch diameter soursop (hardwood) branch. All I needed was one slash across which stopped the blade, then I diodged and hit it gain backhanded. That took the whole branch off, with a satisfying bell chime clang lol. Best part was that I left sap and black marks all over the blade that when I wiped off with alcohol revealed no change in the edge at all. No dings marks or deformation, just a bit shinier in places where the two time polish on the blade is now bright shiny steel along the edge. The abuse made the sword more beautiful. I'm on a mobile device but I'll get some pics taken and post later. I owe a bunch of sword reviews but I have been busy cutting when not working or doing damage control with girlfriend =/
Although the handguard is still firmly attached, the pommel has now become a bit loose. Based on the Paul review, it looks like I can remove the nut, but since it is already firmly tightened while the pommel is somewhat lose, I'm not sure how much good that will really do.
AS a side note, I spoke to Scott Rodell on the phone yesterday while getting info on the huanuo oxtail, and i mentioned that the hanwai dao was working better than i expected. I don't want to be an asshat dropping names to impress anyone and I certainly am not authorized by Mr. Rodell to represent his opinions to anyone. However since the advice he gave me was of a safety related nature and speaking directly about this sword. I feel compelled to tell you that and he advised me not to do cutting with this sword. He said the tang is not good enough. He also reminded me that hanwei themselves do not reccomended these for cutting, even though they call it "practical". Its a badass, light weight little sword, and I was surprised by how functional it is. However, based on the weird handle construction, and the fact that somebody with way more experience than me reminded me that you cannot regrow a lost eye, I'm probably not going to try any more wood chopping with this hanwei dao.
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Post by Rafael on Nov 27, 2012 17:16:17 GMT
Can't wait till my &@$?! Huonuo oxtail arrives =D
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Post by Rafael on Nov 27, 2012 18:10:06 GMT
I just hope the huanuo makes the same awesome sound when it cuts..
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Post by Turok on Nov 28, 2012 4:52:34 GMT
 Good to know, Rafael! Thanks for sharing this information! I think you have a fine sword, just restricted to forms and demonstrations! It's still WAY better than the other stuff and should be fine for that purpose. That's a good point too, we can't grow back lost eyes, ears, or limbs (as far as I know). Which is another reason why we need a serviceable dao intended for cutting. We all know what happens when you abuse something and force it do something it was never intended to do! :roll: We all don't wanna be like that fellow from the HomeShopping Channel!
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Post by Turok on Nov 28, 2012 5:05:28 GMT
I remember when I was little and I was camping in the woods, my old man told me that the worst tool to ever own is a dull knife and EVEN worse is to pass it on to someone. He told me that a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp blade because it takes more force to cut something and if the person is really reckless, might end up slicing a finger or two. At least with a sharp blade, you can cut open packages, cook food, cut kindling, etc. with ease instead of man-handling it.
I know that the Practical Gongfu Dao comes sharp and all, but the point is that if you abuse something or anything hard enough- it can lead to a really bad consequences.
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Post by Rafael on Nov 28, 2012 5:14:44 GMT
Well since I did not get pics of my first round of chopping hardwood with the hanwei practical kungfu sword, I donned some impact resistant glasses and performed another round today. For science. I also got permission from Mr. Rodell to represent his opinion about using this sword for cutting. So here it is, officially sanctioned Scott Rodell advice: "dont do it".
I'll make a review tomorrow, tonight I already have picture upload fatigue.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2012 5:40:24 GMT
The Hanwei dadao (both models) can definitely chop wood, so that's the model I'd use if that's what I was intending to do. Scott Rodell sells the Hanwei military dadao, and I've read what he's written about the Hanwei Warlord dadao, so it looks kike those two do pass the test! Already have one and the other should be on the way in the mail!
It's a shame the Hanwei Practical Gongfu Dao doesn't have a more soild tang if that's its weakness, it's a sweet sword indeed and I quite like it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2012 5:41:57 GMT
I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of the Huanuo oxtail, I just got the Huanuo willow leaf dao a few weeks back, really like it.
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Post by Rafael on Dec 1, 2012 15:43:43 GMT
Huanuo oxtail has great feel to it. At first i thought it was just Littlewood pieces from the scabbard sticking to the blade, but when I wiped it down I realized it's got rust specs in both Fullers and a little more rust on one side of the blade and a lot more on the other. Spoke to mrs Rodell who informed me that they are now sold out of oxtail dao and it may take 3-4 months to get more. She gave option to swap it out for the willowleaf or do refund, but I'm mildly depressed because I really want to keep it. Im supposed to speak with mr Rodell when he returns from hunting dragons (or teaching sword tech or something) next week. Maybe the rust can just be sanded off, althougjt it does feel pretty coarse and is immune to alcohol. I'm reluctant to try sanding before talking to him because I expect that once I start sanding it I can't return it anymore if it proves to be worse than it looks. On the other hand it's hard to sleep knowing it's sitting there with rust on it. =/
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Post by Rafael on Dec 1, 2012 15:45:15 GMT
I'll post some pic later , when I can see clearly throgh the tears. Lol.
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Post by Daishikaze on Dec 1, 2012 16:17:25 GMT
I'm surprised they didn't notice the rust themselves since they check every blade before they ship them out
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Post by Rafael on Dec 1, 2012 21:54:37 GMT
It looked like wood scurf from the scabbard until i tried to wipe it off. So probably wood debris sat on blade for too long and corroded it. Looking at it unwiped, I didn't notice anything either, so I dont
blame them for missing it. Pics tonight. No experience with gettin rust off blades, should 600 grit sandpaper be sufficient?
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Post by Rafael on Dec 2, 2012 5:59:31 GMT
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Post by Taiwandeutscher on Dec 7, 2012 8:57:28 GMT
Unbelievable!
On the other hand, when I purchased some Huanuo and other high end blades at asource in Taibei, the dealer couldn't get some blades out of their scabbards, and when we pulled them out together, they looked even worse. Same traders just don't do anything on their stock, but in humid climate, real baldes need norishment, Yangjian/Dao 養劍/刀 at least every 3 months.
Did you get a new Dao? A must!
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Post by Turok on Dec 9, 2012 9:27:32 GMT
Yes, please keep us informed Rafael! I want to know how this happened to your niuweidao! I hope it's resolved quickly!
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Post by Rafael on Dec 9, 2012 12:25:25 GMT
I phoned sevenstars the same day at about 7pm local time expecting to leave a message but mrs Rodell answered and gave me the option to exchange for willowleafe or get refund right away without even seeing the pics. She said they were out of oxtails. When I spoke with mr Rodell a few days later he said they actually had two more oxtails but that both were stuck in the scabbards. He was planning to work on getting them loose but had not had time to do so yet. Scott was also willing to refund/exchange but I told him I had decided to keep the sword (since it was seeming like a long wait to get another from Huanuo). I asked about advice for getting rust off and shared with him that forum members had suggested rubbing with aluminum foil and alcohol. He had not heard of that but seemed interested in the idea. His goto method for rust removal said was 600 grit sandpaper. By the time I spoke with him I had already been working on the rust with 600 and 1000 grit paper, which took most of the rust off after about 3 hours of hard work. It still has some specks of black rust in both fillers and a bit on one side of blade. I haven't had a chance to try the aluminum foil yet, but since 90% of the rust is gone, im already feeling a lot better about it. The only thing that sucks is of course the mirror polish is now scuffed pretty good. Mr Rodell was very apologetic and offered to send me a book he wrote about jian techniques to make it up to me. Also said to alert him if i will be in Va to do some bamboo cutting. I also got a chance to ask him if he had ever tried cold steel or dynasty forge blades in cutting tests, and about goosequil sabers in general. All in all it was a mildy disappointing experience but I would buy from them again.
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Post by Taiwandeutscher on Dec 9, 2012 13:40:34 GMT
Well, surely not 7*'s problem, but Huanuo, as the same happend with my supplier in Taibei.
Anyway, the mirror polish is relativly easy to get back, just use sandpaper or pads with grids slowly going up to 2/3000.
And please nourish your blades, first year once a week or even more often. When the finest pores have closed after some time, you can take it easier.
Cleaning, with a good metal paste, if necessary also some sandpaper, rubbing hot, little oil and back into the sacbbard.
After cutting bamboo, cleaning might take some alcohol and a bit more time.
Have fun!
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Post by Rafael on Dec 9, 2012 15:03:04 GMT
Well I think you hit the nail on the head with your adevice about frequent oiling. I'm sure when you have lots of swords in stock because you sell them, it's too time-consuming to oil each blade once a week or every few days or whatever. However because of the shape of these oxtail being much wider and thinner towards the end compared to near the hilt the scabbards must by necessity fit them much more tightly to prevent rattling However this probably becomes a problem because the scabbards continuously release small little particles of wood onto the blade. If the particles are allowed to sit for long enough they cause the metal to oxidize and create little rust nodules in the shape and pattern of the wood particles. This is the stage that mine was at. Left for more days or weeks, the metal continues oxidizing and the accumulating Rust fuses the blade into the scabbard so that it can no longer be easily removed. So yeah I would make the point that it is your seller in Taipei's fault and also sevenstars fault because Huanuo is probably not sending them from the factory pre-oxidized and fused into the scabbards.
On the other hand it probably doesn't take very long to happen and as I mentioned I can understand that merchants don't have time or manpower to be keeping them thoroughly oiled as they obviously need to be to prevent this sort of issue. Probably they are perfectly fine for weeks or months after being sent from the factory but eventually and if they go Long enough without oil this is basically bound to happen.
semprini happens though as anyone who has bought enough swords certainly knows by now. So the important measure of how good a merchant is is not whether they ever send anything out damaged, it's how responsive they are and what they do to make it right after things go wrong.
With instant response time and immediate refund or substitute offer made, I cannot find any reason not to do business with them again
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Post by Rafael on Dec 9, 2012 17:15:12 GMT
After posting the previous messages I realize that the book I was promised had actually arrived yesterday. I would now also like to revise my summary of the buying experience with the following:
I was expecting a decent but underwhelmingly brief book. In actuality, the book he sent me is letter-sized 300pages with hundreds of step-by-step photographs of sword form movements along the tops of the pages, as well as a parallel section beneath which shows the moves being applied to parries and attacks against an opponent. It's also got a lot of really great historical information of Chinese swords In general, sword etiquette, brief biographies of various sword and yang family tai chi masters, AND has separate coverage of taiji jian techniques, yang family jian techniques, and the yang family michuan jian techniques. Takes it a step farther by doing contrasts and comparison between the different styles, looks very thorough and, all with an abundance of pictures.
In other words I think it is a really very good book. if I could choose to replay the whole buying experience and this time receive a saber in perfect condition, I would instead opt to keep the sequence of events as they already played out in this reality. Not only did I get a crash course in rust removal but I also gained a really cool book and had some pleasant conversation lol. The funny thing is that prior to being offered the book I had been thinking I would really like to get something that covers some traditional jian forms, because all I really know is dao forms. since i ordered one of the dynasty forge goose quill saber, which is apparently designed to handle similarly to a jian but with enhanced slashing ability, I had been wanting basically this exact book, but did not know the book existed.
FYI the book is called "Chinese swordsmanship: the Yang family taiji jian tradition" by Scott Rodell
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2012 22:25:05 GMT
"Chinese swordsmanship: the Yang family taiji jian tradition" by Scott Rodell is an excellent book, I ordered it when I purchased my Huanuo willow leaf sabre from Seven Stars Trading, which came in perfect condition, with a beautiful polish and well oiled, so I'm guessing this rust problem is a first with these Huanuo swords.
This book is one of the best in its area, it goes deeply into the application of all the yang taiji jian movements, and there is also a video which Scott Rodell made whch complements this book and is excellent also, which I bought.
I've personally had a great customer experience with Seven Stars Trading, I'm looking to get this same oxtail dao eventually, I'll ask Scott to check it and make sure it's in good condition first when it comes time to order, and I also intend to get the Royal Peony jian too.
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Good to know, Rafael! Thanks for sharing this information! I think you have a fine sword, just restricted to forms and demonstrations! It's still WAY better than the other stuff and should be fine for that purpose. 
