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Post by plantguy90 on Jun 21, 2014 8:30:06 GMT
Need some help sorting through the various jians dealers listed on ebay. Even though the SBG guide said "best to stay away from them" have noticed a few experienced members have made purchases and are happy.
Can we get reviews, opinions, anything else going on the various ebay sellers? It seems the forges and smiths still worry about reputation, so they cant be putting out bad SLO's right?
(Edit) whoops, I see that there are reviews on Hanbon, Zhisword have reviews, and Lyuesword has one post - my bad
It also gets more confusing as some sellers say they are factory forge direct, some are brokers.
I wanted to start a list but it seems the number of factory/smith direct sellers on ebay is mindboggling. This is just a list compiled by clicking down a few listings.
Wu Longquan sword factory - Fox
Hanbon Sword
Lyuesword
Swordsmith Yao (also Hanbon?)
Zhisword Forge
I don't know who to try out for a Sub-300, and then there always pop up sale of sub-200, sub-150 items that seem decent as well, but I don't want to spend any more money on non-durable goods. Based on SBG I'd go with Jin-shi or Hanwei's lower end line, but neither seems to have stock available. On the hunt for a durable backyard cutter with a real stout tang/handle design. What to do?
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jun 21, 2014 19:36:08 GMT
Huawei is good. You willget good stuff. Zhisword Forge is good, though sometimes a little sloppy in the lower end. They have special offers, like $400 swords for $250, that kind of thing. St. Nihonto is a re seller of Zhi. DG Spirit works for somebody and has some good stuff in between a lot of junk. Bought this one from him some years ago: sbgswordforum.proboards.com/thread/13867Is a good sword, priced way too low. If you do not want to take any chances go for Huawei, Hanbon, Lyue. Cheers. PS. When swords are out of stock this is a chance to save some more. Do not get your hopes up too high with a $100 - 150 sword. That DG Spirit Sea Dragon Jian was the exeption not the rule. |
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Post by plantguy90 on Jun 22, 2014 4:47:26 GMT
Any info on ebay seller lqyanggu? his ebay store is called 3w372icom, and they describe themselves as Wu longquan sword factory Can some one here who reads Chinese help? What does this storefront say?  |
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Post by madmandom on Jun 22, 2014 6:42:39 GMT
The sea dragon is still for sale I think I bought it from reseller katana 1980 I bought it about 6 months ago good for what you pay.
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Jun 22, 2014 7:18:39 GMT
Yes, katana 1980. Forgot that one. Re seller.
So it is still for sale. Good.
I had mine with clay temper hamon and somewhat longer.
Extra couple of inches for $10 and hamon for $35. Polish was excellent, flawless, on mine.
Should have gotten some brass fittings though.
I heard about Igyanggu here and there on the forum. Seems to be legit and he has some very nice stuff.
Cannot remember reading bad things about him.
Why not PM Mr. Lancelot Chan? I am sure he would translate for you.
Good luck.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Jun 22, 2014 11:23:24 GMT
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Post by Arwyn on Jun 23, 2014 6:35:47 GMT
There are lots of Chinese pattern sword sellers. The trick is to look at what they are selling. I bought from Lyuesword because the communication was good, and I was assured that the Han Jian they were selling had a solid grip, which is usually not the case for most of them, and that is dangerous if you plan to cut.
Huawei makes good stuff. I have not been disappointed by them yet, but their coummunication could be better. If you are planning to buy stock stuff, they are great. If you plan on going custom, than look at one of the others, like Jkoo.
Be very careful with Han Jian, most makers go with a hollow handle, and thats damn dangerous. The other styles of Jian are much easier, the grips tend to be oval, so they are generally safer. Ditto with most Dao.
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Post by plantguy90 on Jun 24, 2014 20:39:44 GMT
anyone ever try asiaswords? stores.ebay.com/ASIASWORDS/Chine ... 34.c0.m322 unfortunately the style of jian I am looking for isn't made by everyone, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. communication with Fox factory is difficult, as others have experienced, |
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Post by xingfenzhen on Jul 10, 2014 4:40:31 GMT
On the Da Hu sword here is their info on china.cn google translate Also here is their taobao store, so you can compare their domestic prices. shop7810.taobao.com/shop/view_sh ... a33d8f.htm |
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Post by Robert in California on Oct 29, 2014 19:10:57 GMT
I think DG Spirit name changed to Katana1980.
SBG has a few reviews in the review section.
RinC
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Post by Robert in California on Oct 29, 2014 19:11:27 GMT
You saying Huawei blades are softer than average?
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Oct 29, 2014 20:19:20 GMT
I can understand the concerns regarding Ronin since SBG sells their products, but TCKRUAN is one I will avoid when it comes to their "High Quality Chinese Jian" products, my review is backed up by photographic evidence and Ebay's own logs of hilarious comments and admissions of subpar defective design, construction and bad case of rat tail hollow handle assembly.
With regards to the Huawei being easily scratched/disgusting fittings/soft can we see a picture at least?
Example: Here, I'll make a statement with no evidence "Hanwei Tinker line is soft steel, easily damaged and will break on contact, it is ugly and bad product" (no pictures or evidence to back it up)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 8:02:49 GMT
The katana I purchased was the choji hazuya polish that's sells for 459.00 on eBay.
That's how I honestly felt as soon as I opened it up out the box. I purchased itwith wave theme fittings.
After just handling a dojo pro, the fittings on the Huawei made it look really bad in my hands.
While my dojo pro had poor heat treatment the fittings were nice, minus the loose ito wrap and flaired sageo. At least they where quality cotton.
I couldn't say the same about the Huawei though. The ito and sageo where very cheap shoelace quality. And the copper fittings looked like they were painted with a crayon by a child, the paintjob was really poor.
The saya was also the black one with the square notches running down it.
The dojo pro saya was Ill fitting but at least it was half decent wood.
The Huawei was some cheap MDF wood and had shims.
They could have at least made one to fit as well as told me the cheap wood they would use.
With the tckruan katana it arrived with quality ito and sageo. Hardwood Saya and very tight fit. Maybe a little too tight but it would be seeing usage.
The handle was nice and slim and wrapped with decent leather in a battle warp. Felt really good and the balance was perfect.
Huawei's definitely felt heavy, and it was tip heavy. Just felt dead in my hands.
But it did have a nicer hamon.
The tckruan katana I also asked for plain iron fittings (not buying copper semprini again) and it IMO looks better and feels better with being tacky.
The blade itself was folded T10 which I asked to be laminated with 1060, but you can never trust longquan to be honest and do this anyway, so I'll leave that topic alone. Has the semi finished polish without the milky hamon. It cuts extremely well and fiitings and nice and tight. I have no worries of things breaking with this one.
I unfortunately can't take any pics as I sold it to my girlfriends dad last week.
You can find it on Huawei's eBay but the fittings can only really be inspected in hand.
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Post by Taiwandeutscher on Oct 30, 2014 8:51:10 GMT
Guys, Longquan is a place in China, not a forge or a brand.
There are many producers there, some do forge, others just assembly.
And there are (very few) really good sword smiths.
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Post by Robert in California on Oct 30, 2014 14:14:00 GMT
"Example: Here, I'll make a statement with no evidence "Hanwei Tinker line is soft steel, easily damaged and will break on contact, it is ugly and bad product""
============================================================================================
Oh my gosh! Everyone, we now have quantitative and qualitative proof that Hanwei Tinker line is total junk! Irrefutable evidence!
(in other news, Chicken Little reports the sky is falling.)
RinC
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p.s. N-1: Thanks for your observations. Sorry about your Huawei and Hanwei disappointments. I am glad your tckruan was pleasing. I might venture a guess that with factory swords, there are workers who are newbies who are still learning and who may not always be receiving the supervision and instruction needed at the time. Applies to USA companies too. Treat one's employees well and be sure to keep the good ones. Improves product quality. I have two Huawei's and am happy to be able to report the quality and fit and finish are very good.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 15:21:17 GMT
No need to apologise on there behalf!
It's ok, with that being said I would still buy more hanwei katanas before the fire happened because there is definitely an extra level of care and attention with those swords.
Huwaei though....man I just think they are so overrated! Communication is definitely what screwed up the deal with them. It seemed Lucy or whoever I was speaking with was just in a rush to sell a mounted blade in as short time as possible.
With lyuesword/tckruan88 it took close to 3 months for everything to be finished. Lee spent a lot of time speaking with me a making sure everything was good, and any planning or changes during the forging where promptly dealt with.
For 650usd you can't complain with that level of service.
While the fittings arnt on hanwei's level, you get a blade made how you would like. And honestly I found they are better than Huawei. I even went around in circles with Lucy asking for iron fittings and japanese silk ito. It was a case of no I can't, yes I can, sorry can't get it, here's your sword anyway :twisted:
That's my experience anyway.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 10:29:50 GMT
With that's being said, I would probably still pick up a Huawei as a shirisaya. Don't even bother with no furniture. Seems like a lot of different 'forges' are generally good at one thing, example polish, fittings, blade quality etc and do a half assed job at the rest. Well, I plan on picking up a kaneie sword from the samurai workshop soon, because they seem to have covered all the areas. The polish is best Ive seen for a production blade, and Jeffrey over there seems to handmake the fittings for each made katana. They are reasonably priced as well, for a nihonto style katana. I'd be happy paying 1500 and get all the bells and whistles done well  |
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Post by Arwyn on Nov 5, 2014 0:53:02 GMT
To circle around and kind of get this back to the original post, there are a few solid ebay vendors that sell/resell Chinese pattern swords.
The better makers in this space, from direct SBG experience, are;
Huawei
Hanbon
Lyuesword
Zhisword
Those are going to be generally pretty solid. Do be aware that ANYTHING you order of of ebay can come back as a lemon, any all of of these vendors have had an issue here and there. Customer service is also pretty important, which is why these vendors have gotten favorable reviews.
I would also mention again, be VERY careful if your ordering anything with a round grip, like any Han pattern Jian, and some of the Dao offered. Most of the forges make these out of hollow wood, which is dangerous, so checking to make sure they are solid is important, thats where the communication comes in.
Also, if your still looking at Han Jian, avoid anything that has a bare wood handle if you plan to cut with it. Lyueswords sells a few models like that, avoid them. That bare wood is way too slick for a round handled sword, its very easy for the blade to twist in your hand at impact, which a great way to botch a cut and bend a blade (or worse).
Another thing to watch out for, if you see ANYTHING listed as having "Ebony" wood, be very careful about ordering that. US Customs really watches out for hardwoods on the restricted import list, and Ebony is on there. If the wood is REAL ebony, its probably restricted ebony, and they will impound the sword. China doesn't have the same restrictions on sourcing lumber from Africa, so you need to watch out for that. Customs has -zero- flexibility. If you cant prove its legitimately harvested ebony, the sword is gone. Period.
Rosewood, or anything else is fine, and a lot of the swords advertised as "ebony" are not, they are just stained near black. Especially on the low end.
Tang Jian, or later, have oval grips, so the wood is generally two wood scales fitted over the tang and pinned into place. Thats a good solid grip and should give you no issues. If the sword says "Tang dynasty/pattern" whatever, and looks like a Han jian, with a round grip, avoid it, its just spam marketing of a Han style sword.
One thing to avoid though on any Tang sword are the ones that do not come with a guard on them. Tang guards (and Han for that matter) are very small, but they ARE guards. There are several Tang swords with NO guard. If you plan to cut at all, avoid those swords, with a smooth wood grip, and no guard, they are dangerous!
If you really good quality Chinese swords, you can also look at Dynasty Forge, Huano, or Jin Shi. Dynasty Forge is sold several places, and you can get very nice sword in the $400 range. Huano is sold in the states via Seven Stars Trading company, and start at close to $500 and go up sharply from there. Jin Shi makes great swords, but they are only offered occasionally.
I own Han Jian from Lyuesword, Jin Shi, and Huawei. I am satisfied with all three. Jin Shi has the overall best quality, Huawei has the best looking blade, and Lyuesword gets the nod for "most bang for the buck".
I dont own any Dao yet, so I cant recommend anything there personally.
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Post by Robert in California on Jan 5, 2015 17:55:53 GMT
Huawei has limited English, so us having even more limited Chinese, we have to keep it simple and be patient.
RinC
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Post by Turok on Jan 22, 2015 1:50:57 GMT
I haven't heard back from Jinshi and their website has been down for a very long time. Too bad, they had great looking stuff!
Hanwei is good but it hasn't been the same since the fire.
I remember that Ronin Katana was testing a Han Jian a while back, maybe contact them.
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