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Post by swordfriend on Feb 28, 2022 11:00:59 GMT
You can probably throw in Bugei in that mix too (considering they're Hanwei either way). QC seem to have gone down hill since Keith Larman left.
Recieved an Old Pine made sometime during 2021. Compared to my Bugei Shishi it seems to be made using a totally different steel. There's also a visible unpolished spot on the blade. Bugei hasn't got back to why the blade isn't comparable to what is advertised nor the unpolished spot.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Feb 28, 2022 11:07:38 GMT
My 12 Hanwei swords are all ok. 1 of 2 Kingston Arms with minor problems, didn't send it back nevertheless. 3 APOCs without problems.
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Post by vidar on Feb 28, 2022 17:51:46 GMT
Hanwei qc has taken a nose dive through the years and that was before covid. No joke, I worked on a Hanwei raptor that was sent to me and the bottom mekugi was drilled half way off the nakago. The owner bought this sword in 2017 or 2018. Here's the video if you're interested. I've seen a number of Hanwei since that one and all of them have problems. Not worth the money anymore. Interesting video. Indeed serious issues and very disappointing. I’m afraid that these are common problems with the big forges, they have many workers and in the end you need to be lucky that your sword was assembled by one of the more experienced and/or skilled workers. Actually, when I bought my first sword about 10 years ago, Hanwei didn’t have a very good reputation here in Belgium. The shop owner where I bought a sword told me back then that we wanted to ditch Hanwei from his shop because of too many quality issues with the swords that he received from the factory.
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Yagoro
Member
Ikkyu in Kendo and Kenjutsu Practitioner
Posts: 1,577
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Post by Yagoro on Mar 2, 2022 3:22:43 GMT
For myself I will still buy Hanwei as problems are few and Hanwei does give you a 1 year warranty. If you look hard enough you can find a flaw in the even more expensive swords. You also need to think about resale value later on. I know for a fact the Chinese so called forges drop in value quick. Yes even Huawei. This being said, Huawei is the only one I would buy. Does one even know what you getting is steel? Think your buying T10? More than likely it is 1045 or if your lucky 1060. The following is a excellent write up: www.sword-buyers-guide.com/how-swords-are-made.htmlI am sticking with: Hanwei, Dragon King, Motohara, Ronin, Feilong, Huawei, along with a few others. All these have a excellent resale value and they move fairly quick. This. Tried dipping my toe into the chinese custom market with hanbon, and the sword i received was a huge disappointment. Worst saya binding I've seen ever, unusable for iaido. Also, the general shape of the sword was just odd, and it felt rather heavy for a 28 inch blade. I contacted them about the saya, and they said they stick foam in their saya for shipping, which I knew as I already had removed it, and then proceeded to never reply to any of my newer emails. On the other hand, my two dragon kings I have (fletching and ogami itto) are both excellent, with my only gripe being that the kashira on the ogami itto doesnt fit the tsuka too well, which I fixed temporarily with glue until I can afford to commision a new tsuka core, and the fletching katana had some scratches on the blade, which is to be expected.
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Post by MichaelRS on Mar 3, 2022 2:11:59 GMT
For myself I will still buy Hanwei as problems are few and Hanwei does give you a 1 year warranty. If you look hard enough you can find a flaw in the even more expensive swords. You also need to think about resale value later on. I know for a fact the Chinese so called forges drop in value quick. Yes even Huawei. This being said, Huawei is the only one I would buy. Does one even know what you getting is steel? Think your buying T10? More than likely it is 1045 or if your lucky 1060. The following is a excellent write up: www.sword-buyers-guide.com/how-swords-are-made.htmlThis. Tried dipping my toe into the chinese custom market with hanbon, and the sword i received was a huge disappointment. Worst saya binding I've seen ever, unusable for iaido. Also, the general shape of the sword was just odd, and it felt rather heavy for a 28 inch blade. I contacted them about the saya, and they said they stick foam in their saya for shipping, which I knew as I already had removed it, and then proceeded to never reply to any of my newer emails. On the other hand, my two dragon kings I have (fletching and ogami itto) are both excellent, with my only gripe being that the kashira on the ogami itto doesnt fit the tsuka too well, which I fixed temporarily with glue until I can afford to commision a new tsuka core, and the fletching katana had some scratches on the blade, which is to be expected. I'm sorry, do I understand you to be making an across-the-board comparison between the $540 Dragon King Fletching or, better yet, the $1,200 DK Ogami itto and whatever, I'm assuming, sub $200 offering you got from Hanbon? I have 6 swords from them now and even from my first one I was not overly surprised what I got, or did NOT get, for $280. At this point I keep going back because I know what they are and they suit me at my current level. Although frankly I think I will be moving up in a bit. But I'm curious, at the time, were you taken by surprise by Hanbon's business model in relation to some of the others up the food chain? Here is my first sword. I think they could have finished the tang a little (okay, a lot) better. But at the same time when I buy and then open the hood of a Ford I don't expect to see a Lamborghini engine. Also my last sword. 1st imgur.com/a/NVC2mniRemoved tsuka imgur.com/a/GxNekWZ6th sword from Hanbon Forge imgur.com/a/S9UuQNv
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Yagoro
Member
Ikkyu in Kendo and Kenjutsu Practitioner
Posts: 1,577
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Post by Yagoro on Mar 3, 2022 18:30:23 GMT
This. Tried dipping my toe into the chinese custom market with hanbon, and the sword i received was a huge disappointment. Worst saya binding I've seen ever, unusable for iaido. Also, the general shape of the sword was just odd, and it felt rather heavy for a 28 inch blade. I contacted them about the saya, and they said they stick foam in their saya for shipping, which I knew as I already had removed it, and then proceeded to never reply to any of my newer emails. On the other hand, my two dragon kings I have (fletching and ogami itto) are both excellent, with my only gripe being that the kashira on the ogami itto doesnt fit the tsuka too well, which I fixed temporarily with glue until I can afford to commision a new tsuka core, and the fletching katana had some scratches on the blade, which is to be expected. I'm sorry, do I understand you to be making an across-the-board comparison between the $540 Dragon King Fletching or, better yet, the $1,200 DK Ogami itto and whatever, I'm assuming, sub $200 offering you got from Hanbon? I have 6 swords from them now and even from my first one I was not overly surprised what I got, or did NOT get, for $280. At this point I keep going back because I know what they are and they suit me at my current level. Although frankly I think I will be moving up in a bit. But I'm curious, at the time, were you taken by surprise by Hanbon's business model in relation to some of the others up the food chain? Here is my first sword. I think they could have finished the tang a little (okay, a lot) better. But at the same time when I buy and the open the hood of a Ford I don't expect to see a Lamborghini engine. Also my last sword. 1st imgur.com/a/NVC2mniRemoved tsuka imgur.com/a/GxNekWZ6th sword from Hanbon Forge imgur.com/a/S9UuQNvWell, the ogami itto is a bad comparison to make. However, I got the fletching for 350 dollars, and the sword I commissioned hanbon to make cost 300 dollars. I wouldn't have any issues with the hanbon sword if it didn't have such terrible saya rub, and honestly that's really my only issue with it. I have ordered a new saya off their website for it, and if the new saya ends up fixing the issues I'm having, then my opinion on hanbon will reflect that.
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Post by MichaelRS on Mar 3, 2022 20:12:17 GMT
Well, the ogami itto is a bad comparison to make. However, I got the fletching for 350 dollars, and the sword I commissioned hanbon to make cost 300 dollars. I wouldn't have any issues with the hanbon sword if it didn't have such terrible saya rub, and honestly that's really my only issue with it. I have ordered a new saya off their website for it, and if the new saya ends up fixing the issues I'm having, then my opinion on hanbon will reflect that. Well, as much as I support and generally promote Hanbon, as a mostly satisfied customer, it is with full clarity under the caveat of the old saying of "It is what it is". IT being a functional art piece good enough to introduce beginners to katanas or "katana-like swords" for the picky people) suitable enough for the backyard cutting pool noodles and water bottles. But if somebody were to ask me if they should get a Hanbon Forge sword for and kind of serious Iaido I would say, Definitely not. That being said, this is my HF iaito. imgur.com/a/pCY8Ka9Something as a non-serious practitioner of iaido I can practice fancy draws and resheathings with, as taught to me by various YouTube Masters 😉, without having to do a periodic inventory of my fingers. However, being that it is from HF, there are defects in the design and production that are inherently and invertedly built in that have to be compensated for when doing iaido type stuff 😁. It will truly surprised the heck out of me if the new saya you ordered fixes the problems you outlined. If it does it will be quite by accident. My advice, if it's anyway practical to apply, would be to somehow modify your existing saya to eliminate the problem. Contact any of the people that do Katana/saya refurbishment for advice on that regard. I'm also extremely curious. Can you say the specs on the sword and saya you ordered from HF for 300? Some pictures would be nice too. If you are uncomfortable doing that here you can send them to me in a PM. CHEERS
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Post by swordfriend on Mar 20, 2022 18:09:13 GMT
Anyone know if something has happened to Hanwei during covid? Just got a new Bamboo Mat and the hamon isn't what is advertised in the earlier examples. Talked to a couple of retailers and pics of their in stock Bamboo Mat shows the same type of hamon as the one I got. So be aware that some of their new productions might not be equivalent to earlier pieces.
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Post by shepherd214 on Mar 24, 2022 6:54:23 GMT
I think Hanwei is considerably average and in many cases below average. They have a few decent models but overall I've always thought they were worse than people give them credit for.
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Post by Arian297 on May 2, 2022 9:58:16 GMT
As for Hanwei I believe they used to be pretty decent. But over the years the quality really seems to have dropped.
I bought a Venetian Stiletto a good while ago and it was really well-made. Also I got my hands on a used Kami that was a few years old, and I had no complaints at all. It was perfect except for unavoidable traces of use. Recently re-sold it and the now third owner is also happy with it.
More recently I bought a Wind and Thunder which I loved (massively powerful build) but after a few swings the tsuka maki came loose! It wasn't fixed properly at the kashira at all. I managed to send it back to the UK-based vendor.
The Scott Rodell Jian was well-made overall, but the sharpening job was terribly uneven. No way can you do what he does in his videos with this reproduction.
I've had good experiences with the Cheness Kaze, which I've used for over ten years now and everything is still nice and tight, except for the saya, which I ruined. A Windlass Longsword I had from India was perfectly adequate for the price. Finally, my recently bought Dynasty Forge Musha is cheap on the fittings, but looks really sturdy and handles well. Sadly, Dynasty and Cheness aren't producing any longer.
As an additional tip, you can buy relatively cheap nihonto antiques on ebay currently. They go as low as 800$ for a well-preserved wak and around 2000$ for acceptable katana (3000$ for good ones).
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Post by vidar on May 2, 2022 10:49:57 GMT
As far as I know, dynasty forge is still active. Cheness and Kurin have stopped. Feilong not really clear but possibly also out of business.
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Post by MichaelRS on May 3, 2022 0:16:02 GMT
I like the look at the positive;
In this case, with all the negative talk that's been going on about them over the last year or so, maybe new and repeat orders will drop off to the point where they can actually catch up AND start turning out swords within a reasonable time frame AND, not otherwise being so busy, have the opportunity for a more responsive customer service. 👍
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