Munetoshi Jian

I have one of katana, and while its a cheaper one, the blade impressed me. Fittings are junk, but the blade was surprisingly good. If their Jian is similar, the steel should be very good for the money. Fittings on that look very nice, so the price doesn't seem to be out of line.

On a Han style Jian like that though, make VERY sure the handle is solid, and not a hollow core if you ever plan to cut with it. That is a known issue with 90% of the Han jian out there and its dangerous to cut with if its not corrected or done right from the start.

I will answer this on behalf of SNA.

The market for traditional Chinese style swords is huge in China, but not for functional use, for display purposes. As such, the factories have no real need to produce true "battle ready" chinese style swords, they will go the cost-saving route because their customers are interested in how it looks, not how it handles and how durable the fittings are.

The blades are the real deal, forge folded, heat treated, and very nicely finished and crafted. However they make the tang with a rat tail so that it is easier to fit the pommel. I took apart this sword: www.swordnarmory.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HC-6003



You can see that the pommel screws onto the rat tail. Jacky said that the tang is roughly 1/3 the width of the blade which is fairly standard but since it ends with a rat tail, we cannot recommend it for functional use.

So my suggestion and SNA's suggestion at least for our handmade chinese style swords is that it is safer to not cut with them as they are from the factory. If you really want to cut with one, then I suggest you fill in the handle with epoxy or get it re-handled by a professional for functional use.

We cannot speak for other manufacturers and companies, however we see it best that we are as transparent and honest about these products because safety is very important to us.

-Jake

Since it looks like they're using two bamboo pins to hold the tang to the handle, I think that it should be ok, however I have never handled the sword or seen the internals.

You can ask them for pics of the internals if you want to be extra sure.

Jkoo swords emphasize that their swords HAVE excellent tang/grip fitting and wont come apart; anybody know them?

Thats what they claim on their website!

I ordered a JKOO LongQuan cutting Jian a few days ago. I'll post photos and cutting videos once it arrives.


BTW, here's a picture of their Han Jian hilt assembly:



This would seem to be a much more sturdy assembly than the one in Jake's picture. The pommel threads here are only attaching the pommel, not holding the hilt together. The steel nut and washer are doing that.

And in this photo from another post on this forum, you can see that the tangs on these JKOO blades are tapered and threads are cut into the tang, rather than a rat tail being welded on:



That type of assembly has been shown to be quite durable when executed correctly, such as in the Hanwei/Tinker line of medieval swords.