Hero Forge 201Liche seller disapointment

Looks nothing like the picture, and an ugly polish to boot.

Yeah, there's a reason that I stay away from Longquan sources. With the exception of Huawei, of course.

Sorry about this man, it's a bummer. Return/refund?

Reading this, I looked at Sheng's stores and he offers some blades with this exact type of flashy (fake) etched hamon, this instantly made me extremely wary of any acid enhanced hamon out there...

I wouldn't say this is how most Longquan katana hamon are produced but I'm sure many are out there. if you know what to look for, this could be avoided fairly easily. if you can polish this hamon off completely with a metal polish paste and it doesn't come back with a re-etch, it's definitely a total fake. many real hamon are heavily etched too though so while the etching could make one look better or more pronounced than it normally would, many of them are still really differentially hardened.

I really tip my hat to you for always taking the time to investigate and report on these findings to help people avoid the scams. This advanced acid etch is really worrisome, as when one is reliant on photos and lacking in experience, the odds of being duped are fairly high. Although this will just bite these manufacturers in the end, as word will continue to spread and people will default to other brands.

It is definitely let the buyer beware in Longquan. I will admit to getting *one* decent sword from Ryan, it was his flagship shihozume with Hishigami under the Ito, Kozuka and Kogai (knife and pick in the saya/sheath). The first one he sent was Maru (consistent single layer of metal) Damascus. I took some UV photographs of the blade, which showed it was all one piece of continuous steel, and not laminated as claimed (shihozume lamination). It also had the most horrifically performed Hazuya finish to it I had ever seen. I sent him pictures, and broke it down bit by bit. He sent me a new Katana, Saya, Kozuka and Kogai…. at no cost. It was actually made right, with a "not too bad" Hazuya finish with everything else made to a higher standard. It was even laminated as expected. So his forge was "capable" of producing what they advertised, they just didn't deliver it the first time. I had to provide real proof to satisfy him. For the record, there is an entire thread on my attempts to get *actual* laminated blades out of Longquan… spoiler alert, all but one failed the first time. The only one which got it first the right time was Hanbon/Swordsmith688. They got it right the first time on their Gyaku Kobuse tip top high end flagship katana.

So yes, I realized there was a chance of disappointment. I just had never seen an acid etch that looked that convincing in photos... even the older experienced buyers can still get fooled.

It's a common misconception that each katana seller in China has their own forge when the forges themselves rarely sell their own wares on ebay or from websites. I don't doubt some sellers have strong ties to specific forges but most of them gather their items from multiple sources, including batches of seconds or even thirds or worse. I have seen no proof that Ryansword or any of their numerous aliases actually operate their own forge. I do see a few that tend to have products that seem very consistent and are probably sourced from only one forge or craftsman, such as Huawei or Simon Lee but most do not. I believe many do assemble the parts themselves or even do the tsukamaki. so this is why I don't discount the entire city of Longquan since many excellent blades are produced there, it's the sellers that earn the bad rep by deceiving and cheating us.

the fact that many do source from multiple places or sell blades of such varied quality makes it nearly impossible to recommend them. you could wind up with a great sword from Hanbon, recommend them and the next person to buy one could get a blade made by someone else and wind up being a total nightmare of issues that was nothing like the sword that warranted the recommendation in the first place. this is why it's so important to look at each individual sword closely and know what red flags to look for. this can help cut your chances of getting a pos by a large amount. look at that specific sword as well as others they are offering to get a better overall sense of what they sell, it becomes much easier to tell the differences from one blade to the next and to know they aren't made by the same person or forge. you can still buy from sellers that have delivered disappointing products in the past if you pay attention and make better decisions on your purchase, but avoiding those who consistently scam and cheat their customers with lies and shady tactics can really help save you money and grief.

this is why I am constantly reminding people that although they received a "good sword" from a seller like Ryansword, it doesn't mean the seller won't deliver complete garbage the next time. yes, you can get a good sword from a shady seller but because of the way they do business, it will always be a crap shoot and when you get burned, it can shed a bad light on the whole city or country or even ebay. people often blame ebay for their own lack of knowledge and poor choices, which is ridiculous imo.

The manufacture of the Tsuka on the Tanto is not horrible. All problems occurred in the mounting of it to the blade. The Tsuba was very tight, and hard to move down to the Habaki, this resulted in a gap between the Tsuba and the Seppa/Habaki junction when the Tsuba was pressed into place. I am guessing, but likely they tried to force the Tsuka on, to push the seppa/tsuba/seppa up, and got it cocked/twisted before they drilled the Tsuka and tang as a single operation very quickly with a dull drill. This resulted in wood chips getting between the Same and the wood core (bubbling up the Same away from the Tsuka wood core at the Mekugi. That and the force required created a bind, which resulted in the Tsuka being crooked to the Nakago.

So.... if you are careful mounting what you get, and it is in good condition, you may get good results.

Tbh even the ebay picture looks like a fake hamon to me. It is to perfect and bright looking.

I have a three blades which have a hazuya polish, which in the right light, have as much contrast. And I agree that Mother's Mag is a good way to strip fake finishes. I have a jar of it around, as well as lacquered hazuya and jizuya stones.