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Post by zaden on Nov 30, 2017 1:52:03 GMT
Hi Everyone, Just recently found this forum and have learned a lot already. I bought a Han style Jian a while back as my first high carbon blade sword. My past practice jians were the more modernly common style. Other than a loose scabbard, which I am about to fix with some woodworking, it has so far been a great sword and an interesting learning experience. All that background to ask, I have seen the warnings about hollow hilts and the attendant dangers. The hilt on mine (link to where I purchased it below) is an alloy, no wood that I can see, wrapped in cord (at least feels like natural fibers). The pommel can, I can tell, be unscrewed from the hilt, but I haven't done so since it affects the cord wrap. Is there a way to make sure of the safety of the hilt without taking it apart and having to redo the wrapping? Any advice would be appreciated. internalwudangstore.com/product/chinese-han-sword/Thanks, Zaden |
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Nov 30, 2017 6:05:46 GMT
The hilts on these are almost always wood. Not visible, since the wood will be covered by the wrapping. The pommel and guard are usually metal, usually brass on the better ones and zinc-aluminium alloy on the cheaper ones, the the hilt in between pommel and guard is usually wood under the wrappiong. There are some jian like this (usually with shorter hilts) that have metal grips. These are usually left unwrapped, like this one from the same seller: internalwudangstore.com/product/chinese-historical-octahedral-tai-chi-jian-pattern-steel/If the hilt is solid alloy, then it will be heavy. If the hilt seems light, it's either wood or, if alloy, thin and hollow (so back to the problem of a hollow hilt with lots of empty space inside). Short of x-raying it, not much you can do to check it without at least partly pulling it apart. If the pommel unscrews (and isn't pinned under the wrapping), you might be able to look inside without disturbing the wrapping too much. You could tape over the wrapping near the pommel to help hold the wrapping in place - but no guarantees that this will work. |
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Post by zaden on Nov 30, 2017 16:04:05 GMT
The hilts on these are almost always wood. Not visible, since the wood will be covered by the wrapping. The pommel and guard are usually metal, usually brass on the better ones and zinc-aluminium alloy on the cheaper ones, the the hilt in between pommel and guard is usually wood under the wrappiong. There are some jian like this (usually with shorter hilts) that have metal grips. These are usually left unwrapped, like this one from the same seller: internalwudangstore.com/product/chinese-historical-octahedral-tai-chi-jian-pattern-steel/If the hilt is solid alloy, then it will be heavy. If the hilt seems light, it's either wood or, if alloy, thin and hollow (so back to the problem of a hollow hilt with lots of empty space inside). Short of x-raying it, not much you can do to check it without at least partly pulling it apart. If the pommel unscrews (and isn't pinned under the wrapping), you might be able to look inside without disturbing the wrapping too much. You could tape over the wrapping near the pommel to help hold the wrapping in place - but no guarantees that this will work. Thanks! |
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Post by kk on Apr 11, 2019 5:36:22 GMT
This video shows the internal construction of an authentic hilt
Starting at 18:00
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Post by kk on Apr 17, 2019 4:49:04 GMT
Some different hilt style
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Post by etiennehamel on Apr 24, 2019 0:05:16 GMT
This video shows the internal construction of an authentic hilt Starting at 18:00 awesome video! it'S nice to see a nicely made han jian for a change! i'm more a fan of octahedral blades but still, it's very nice. been wanting to make a project with a octahedral blade myself. and even though it would be a bit different the construction i thought of is very similar so i guess good things are universal LOL. anyway i was thinking of basing it on qin dynasty bronze swords. the guard is pretty straight on those and like a diamond in shape. i'm just unsure how thick the guard and pommel should be. i based my pommel idea on an antique i found that was 2'' diameter while for the guard i would be composed of two 1/8'' for the flats and either a 1/8'' and a 1/4'' for the center or twice the 1/4'' the reason for this is that i want to have one center plate to be made for the tang of the sword and the other to be made for the shoulders of the blade... i'd go with mild steel since it's considerably cheaper but i don'T know if it will be strong enough for that or if the shock will be too much for the blade to snap at the shoulders... (my biggest worry to be honest) but yeah, awesome video, thanks for sharing! |
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Post by etiennehamel on Apr 24, 2019 0:10:52 GMT
oh and a few weeks ago i found that picture that helps alot to see how these bronze ones were made and shows a lot of how it should and would be :D  |
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