Huawei Top Quality Han Jian Review
Aug 22, 2014 5:59:25 GMT
Post by Arthur Dayne on Aug 22, 2014 5:59:25 GMT
Introductions:
Huawei Top Quality Han Jian
This sword that I bought from Huawei 5 months ago because I was looking for something that was East Asian and double edged like a good longsword, with a long blade and handle for leverage/control and emphasis on a really tough and hard tip for penetration and spine that won't yield or flex too much under pressure.
Jacky recommended this 8 Side Sword and tells me this is made from their 9260 and T10 Steels and some other additions. And is Through Hardened.
www.ebay.com/itm/TOP-QUALITY-HAN ... 416cd92da7
Product Description and Additional Background:
A properly forged 8-Sided "0ctahedral Han Jian" is suppose to represent the pinnacle of Han Dynasty Sword geometry and design, both in aesthetic beauty, rarity due to difficulty of hammering and polishing 8 sides and high cost in material/labor so a weapon like this would be reserved for generals, captains and the best warriors, pretty much heroes.
This practical design is quite brilliant, the Inner 4 sides of the blade spine contains most of the steel mass/thickness and is gently sloped like a diamond to assist in blocks and parries. From the thick foundation of the inner 4 sides, the remaining outer 4 sides composing the edge is able to have a very prominent lenticular shape. This particular sword has a very smooth appleseed curve/transition with no bevels whatsoever.
Most lower cost 8 sided Han Jian in the sub $300 bracket are softer and easier to work and are usually made of a higher 1045 base and 1060 mixed in so the blade has enough carbon to achieve a final hardness of at least HRC 51 when through hardened.
However, this particular Huawei product is made from 9260 & T10, through hardened to what I can tell to be around HRC 54 at least. It is a lot harder than a Hanwei Cutting Jian which is about HRC 51 but is relatively softer than a differentially hardened edge from Huawei's excellent $289 lineup.
This blade's edge and spine appears to have a consistent hardness and exhibits no scratches or damage from chopping old dead trees, hardwood cutting boards but it did get some tiny scratches on the mirror polish from thick hard plastic and coffee cans.
Now Jacky assured me that the tip of this weapon was so thick and reinforced that it really will not bend or crumble under a full weight charge and thrust against hard targets and that I would have better luck with this weapon than their 9260 katana. Don't get me wrong, it is a really tough and pretty hard katana blade but I manage to bend the tip while furiously stabbing it against hardened oak and old ammo cans.
Anyway, the other reason for getting this blade was it looked really proud, sturdy and formidable. With full thick tang and perfectly fitted hardwood handle. The slightly rusty one is the base blade Jacky keeps laying around his workshop for comparison, the clean newer looking one is mines and every new Top Quality Han Jian blade is made with the same proportions and rounded shoulders.
This is a picture of the base blade shoulder and tang shape. All Hanwei Top Quality Han Jians are made exactly the same to save on labor costs so Jacky's swordsmiths won't have to waste too much time and material making different handles for every blade. This also prevents Hollow Handle and Bad Tang to Handle fit issues that a certain vendor, cough TCKRUAN88/LYUESWORD /cough, is guilty of. Anyway, the rounded shoulders of course ensure that the stress between blade and tang is minimize and combined with the softer brass guard, is practically null.
Measurements
Overall Length: 42 Inches/117 CM
Blade Length: 30.5 Inches/78 CM
Handle Length: 10 Inches/26 CM
Point of Balance: 5 inches from the Guard
Thickness at Guard: 8mm
Thickness at Middle: 6mm
Thickness at Tip: 4mm
Width of blade at Guard: 3.5 cm
Width of blade at Middle: 3.2 cm
Width of blade at Tip: 2.3 cm
Weight of Blade: About 3.5 Pounds
Sword Handling:
This sword feels a lot heavier than it looks, like you can feel the density of this steel and mass, but that's not to say it handles badly. Infact, with the point of balance 5 inches from the guard and the long handle, this sword is a joy to wield and point control is excellent due to the distal taper of both thickness and blade width. Swinging it around you can feel the power and threat this weapon poses considering that the blade edge is really substantial and axe-like.
The base of the sword edge where the appleseed curve begins is at least 5MM Thick from base to the middle and about 2-3MM thick near the tip. I will need to get more pictures and update this review but the point I'm trying to convey is how heavy duty this sword's cutting edge is.
Make no mistake, this is a very heavy duty two-handed war sword.
Good Impressions:
Now the polish work on the blade's thick spine is incredible. This is not acid etched or enhanced by any artificial means, it is the actual T10 and 9260 Steel + Jacky's Patented Don't Have to Disclose Materials/Methods and looks incredible. (I'll need to upload more pics later)
There is actually a subtle folded texture to it that is both smooth and water like, I called it water mirror. Not sure if you folks can see, but the Hazuya stone polish on the edge is a smooth dark grey, almost satin like sheen to it. It is a detail that I see only on Huawei's $399 Han Jian and not on similar priced Han style Jians. I rather like this dark grey edge and mirror polished spine as the contrast is more apparent and attractive.
The folded steel really looks surreal and has a lot of depth and variation to it. Some parts of the blade at certain angles have a wood grain like appearance to the folded steel and when turned this way or that, appears like water and oil. It's hard for me to describe the appeal and beauty in words but it's something that I don't see on cheaper 8 sided Han style Jian. Huawei did a really excellent job working the steel and polishing it to bring out the deeper layering effects, I can stare at it all day.
The Scabbard is a really well built and uses high quality hardwood and brass to secure the assembly, along with some wood glue. The Inner layer of the scabbard is a soft wood that feels cloth-like and has a cushion like hugging effect on the blade, it protects the polish and conforms to the thick Lenticular edge and helps to hold the sword in the scabbard when held upside down. Also, the Mouth of the scabbard has black Bullhorn built on it like those found on their premium katana sayas which shows great attention to detail and not found on any other Han Jian scabbards around this price range.
Some Bad Impression Alert, but still mostly Good.
However, perhaps due to humidity and the newness of this sword when I first got it, it required incredible strength and leverage to pull this sword out. There was no cracking or anything since it was all shaped and fitted just fine, but the softwood inside hugged the blade so tightly that I had to really muscle it out. It sheaths in and out just fine now and still holds the blade securely, but a heads up to those buying this sword to practice lifting 70 pound weights with your dominant hand and practice your 30 rep pullups.
The Handle wrapping is made from a double layer wrapping of mercerized cotton, which is basically treated cotton that is wear resistant and has a clean shine to it. The knot work on it did come loose though so I had to use Gorilla glue at certain spots to keep the X crossings looking neat and also to prevent the wrap from twisting so much. While using this sword the handle wrap does move a bit which isn't a problem if you use leather gloves but for peace of mind, I applied Gorilla glue here and there and now the wrap doesn't move at all.
The Handle core is made from thick well fitted hardwood and I was assured from Jacky of Huawei that they did their own destructive testing on this Han Jian thick wooden handle and unlike their $400-$800+ Katana lineup handle assembles that this Top Quality Han Jian is a double dense overlapping layer assembly of hardwood to prevent pressure from the blade tang from overwhelming any wood seams. That is then bonded with so much wood glue and pressure that it might as well be made of one solid chunk of wood. Since the inner core of the wood handle is exactly fitted to the tang, the handle and tang feels like one. You can seriously break bone with this handle, even through the thick wrapping you can feel how hard and heavy this wood core and high carbon steel tang is.
The tang of the sword is secured by bamboo pegs similar to a their katanas and I was told the brass pommel is secured to the tang and wood core in a similar manner and to not twist it off during disassembling without first taking apart the wrap and removing the pins.
To be continued.
Huawei Top Quality Han Jian
This sword that I bought from Huawei 5 months ago because I was looking for something that was East Asian and double edged like a good longsword, with a long blade and handle for leverage/control and emphasis on a really tough and hard tip for penetration and spine that won't yield or flex too much under pressure.
Jacky recommended this 8 Side Sword and tells me this is made from their 9260 and T10 Steels and some other additions. And is Through Hardened.
www.ebay.com/itm/TOP-QUALITY-HAN ... 416cd92da7
Product Description and Additional Background:
A properly forged 8-Sided "0ctahedral Han Jian" is suppose to represent the pinnacle of Han Dynasty Sword geometry and design, both in aesthetic beauty, rarity due to difficulty of hammering and polishing 8 sides and high cost in material/labor so a weapon like this would be reserved for generals, captains and the best warriors, pretty much heroes.
This practical design is quite brilliant, the Inner 4 sides of the blade spine contains most of the steel mass/thickness and is gently sloped like a diamond to assist in blocks and parries. From the thick foundation of the inner 4 sides, the remaining outer 4 sides composing the edge is able to have a very prominent lenticular shape. This particular sword has a very smooth appleseed curve/transition with no bevels whatsoever.
Most lower cost 8 sided Han Jian in the sub $300 bracket are softer and easier to work and are usually made of a higher 1045 base and 1060 mixed in so the blade has enough carbon to achieve a final hardness of at least HRC 51 when through hardened.
However, this particular Huawei product is made from 9260 & T10, through hardened to what I can tell to be around HRC 54 at least. It is a lot harder than a Hanwei Cutting Jian which is about HRC 51 but is relatively softer than a differentially hardened edge from Huawei's excellent $289 lineup.
This blade's edge and spine appears to have a consistent hardness and exhibits no scratches or damage from chopping old dead trees, hardwood cutting boards but it did get some tiny scratches on the mirror polish from thick hard plastic and coffee cans.
Now Jacky assured me that the tip of this weapon was so thick and reinforced that it really will not bend or crumble under a full weight charge and thrust against hard targets and that I would have better luck with this weapon than their 9260 katana. Don't get me wrong, it is a really tough and pretty hard katana blade but I manage to bend the tip while furiously stabbing it against hardened oak and old ammo cans.
Anyway, the other reason for getting this blade was it looked really proud, sturdy and formidable. With full thick tang and perfectly fitted hardwood handle. The slightly rusty one is the base blade Jacky keeps laying around his workshop for comparison, the clean newer looking one is mines and every new Top Quality Han Jian blade is made with the same proportions and rounded shoulders.
This is a picture of the base blade shoulder and tang shape. All Hanwei Top Quality Han Jians are made exactly the same to save on labor costs so Jacky's swordsmiths won't have to waste too much time and material making different handles for every blade. This also prevents Hollow Handle and Bad Tang to Handle fit issues that a certain vendor, cough TCKRUAN88/LYUESWORD /cough, is guilty of. Anyway, the rounded shoulders of course ensure that the stress between blade and tang is minimize and combined with the softer brass guard, is practically null.
Measurements
Overall Length: 42 Inches/117 CM
Blade Length: 30.5 Inches/78 CM
Handle Length: 10 Inches/26 CM
Point of Balance: 5 inches from the Guard
Thickness at Guard: 8mm
Thickness at Middle: 6mm
Thickness at Tip: 4mm
Width of blade at Guard: 3.5 cm
Width of blade at Middle: 3.2 cm
Width of blade at Tip: 2.3 cm
Weight of Blade: About 3.5 Pounds
Sword Handling:
This sword feels a lot heavier than it looks, like you can feel the density of this steel and mass, but that's not to say it handles badly. Infact, with the point of balance 5 inches from the guard and the long handle, this sword is a joy to wield and point control is excellent due to the distal taper of both thickness and blade width. Swinging it around you can feel the power and threat this weapon poses considering that the blade edge is really substantial and axe-like.
The base of the sword edge where the appleseed curve begins is at least 5MM Thick from base to the middle and about 2-3MM thick near the tip. I will need to get more pictures and update this review but the point I'm trying to convey is how heavy duty this sword's cutting edge is.
Make no mistake, this is a very heavy duty two-handed war sword.
Good Impressions:
Now the polish work on the blade's thick spine is incredible. This is not acid etched or enhanced by any artificial means, it is the actual T10 and 9260 Steel + Jacky's Patented Don't Have to Disclose Materials/Methods and looks incredible. (I'll need to upload more pics later)
There is actually a subtle folded texture to it that is both smooth and water like, I called it water mirror. Not sure if you folks can see, but the Hazuya stone polish on the edge is a smooth dark grey, almost satin like sheen to it. It is a detail that I see only on Huawei's $399 Han Jian and not on similar priced Han style Jians. I rather like this dark grey edge and mirror polished spine as the contrast is more apparent and attractive.
The folded steel really looks surreal and has a lot of depth and variation to it. Some parts of the blade at certain angles have a wood grain like appearance to the folded steel and when turned this way or that, appears like water and oil. It's hard for me to describe the appeal and beauty in words but it's something that I don't see on cheaper 8 sided Han style Jian. Huawei did a really excellent job working the steel and polishing it to bring out the deeper layering effects, I can stare at it all day.
The Scabbard is a really well built and uses high quality hardwood and brass to secure the assembly, along with some wood glue. The Inner layer of the scabbard is a soft wood that feels cloth-like and has a cushion like hugging effect on the blade, it protects the polish and conforms to the thick Lenticular edge and helps to hold the sword in the scabbard when held upside down. Also, the Mouth of the scabbard has black Bullhorn built on it like those found on their premium katana sayas which shows great attention to detail and not found on any other Han Jian scabbards around this price range.
Some Bad Impression Alert, but still mostly Good.
However, perhaps due to humidity and the newness of this sword when I first got it, it required incredible strength and leverage to pull this sword out. There was no cracking or anything since it was all shaped and fitted just fine, but the softwood inside hugged the blade so tightly that I had to really muscle it out. It sheaths in and out just fine now and still holds the blade securely, but a heads up to those buying this sword to practice lifting 70 pound weights with your dominant hand and practice your 30 rep pullups.
The Handle wrapping is made from a double layer wrapping of mercerized cotton, which is basically treated cotton that is wear resistant and has a clean shine to it. The knot work on it did come loose though so I had to use Gorilla glue at certain spots to keep the X crossings looking neat and also to prevent the wrap from twisting so much. While using this sword the handle wrap does move a bit which isn't a problem if you use leather gloves but for peace of mind, I applied Gorilla glue here and there and now the wrap doesn't move at all.
The Handle core is made from thick well fitted hardwood and I was assured from Jacky of Huawei that they did their own destructive testing on this Han Jian thick wooden handle and unlike their $400-$800+ Katana lineup handle assembles that this Top Quality Han Jian is a double dense overlapping layer assembly of hardwood to prevent pressure from the blade tang from overwhelming any wood seams. That is then bonded with so much wood glue and pressure that it might as well be made of one solid chunk of wood. Since the inner core of the wood handle is exactly fitted to the tang, the handle and tang feels like one. You can seriously break bone with this handle, even through the thick wrapping you can feel how hard and heavy this wood core and high carbon steel tang is.
The tang of the sword is secured by bamboo pegs similar to a their katanas and I was told the brass pommel is secured to the tang and wood core in a similar manner and to not twist it off during disassembling without first taking apart the wrap and removing the pins.
To be continued.