Forging Process

About Huanuo

All reproduction swords we offer are made by Chen Chang Rong's workshop in Shanghai, Huanuo Sword Arts. Chen Chang Rong, also known in the sword world as Fred Chen, has been involved in the study and reproduction of antique swords for a long time. They were the first and still one of the few to produce fully functional blades that are suitable for test-cutting. Per our experience these swords are still the best out there in their price range in terms of steel quality, finish and fittings.

Truth be told, the Huanuo Sword Arts office people are complete incompetent idiots to work with. Reluctance to reply emails, months long waiting times, lack of any business ethics as well as their inability to keep track of custom orders have made us decide to team up with the sole U.S. distributor to form a stronger front in order to get these swords available here. What this means for the customer is:

1.) No more custom orders, except for different types and colors of grip wraps which are done by Peter Dekker himself.

2.) Slightly smaller assortment than previously available.

3.) Waiting times greatly reduced, we ensure delivery well within one month.

4.) Our previous prices are lowered, because getting the swords here has become many times easier.

All in all, the situation has improved for both us and our clients at the mere expense of the wideness of our assortment.

Forging process of our hand made weaponry

The steel

Our forged folded swords are hand made out of three types of steel with carbon contents of 1%, 0,6% and a steel with a carbon content between 0.6% and 1%. Repeated folding and forging results in the patterns turning up in the blade's surface. Depending on how and where material is removed, the steel can be made to show straight grain, wood grain or burl patterns. Chen's workshop strives to create patterns that match those seen on antiques. In contruary to many of the Chinese sword makers that only superficially produce the "damascus" layers in the steel with very irregular and uncontrolled patterns often out of much too soft steel, the steel of these swords is fully functional and of traditional construction. Their hardness and resilience is proved again and again in test cutting and I have yet to hear a single Huanuo blade to be bent or broken. This in contruary to the other major forges whose blades are known to bend in heavy test cutting.

A detail of the blade of our hand forged sanmei jian with a wood grain pattern.

Notice the hard steel coming out of the pattern welded layers, a typical sign of sanmei construction.

Click to enlarge.

A detail of the tip of our hand forged sanmei jian with a straight grain pattern.

Notice the layer of harder steel coming out around the tip.

Click to enlarge.

A detail of the blade of our hand forged sanmei constructed yinyuedao with a burl grain pattern.

Click to enlarge.

All these weapons are made out of sanmei construction. Sanmei means a layer of hard steel is sandwiched between two layers of the slightly softer folded and pattern welded steel. The laminate construction of the cheeks add strength and resilience to the hard but therefore otherwise brittle core. Sanmei is a common way to combine different hardnesses of steel in both antique Chinese and Japanese swords.

On the left a detail of a diamond shaped cross section of a
jian of sanmei construction. The dark grey center represents the

hard steel, where the lighter grey represents the softer shock

absorbing pattern welded steel.

The edge hardness on the folded weapons we offer is appox between 58-62 HRC. (Rockwell hardness test.) This is similar to the hardnesses found on antique examples. The body of the weapons have a hardness of around 40-50 HRC. The monosteel weapons have a very consistent overall hardness of 55 HRC and are also fully functional cutting weapons.

Grip wrap
ALL swords and sabers sold through us don't leave the Mansion without a proper grip-wrap done by Peter Dekker. As good as Huanuo forges, as bad are they in proper wrapping. Apart from this, their cord is synthetic and therefore more slippery than the all natural hand woven and dyed cord that Peter uses. Colors also match those found on antiques and in military regulations for official's sabers.

The polish

The swords are extensively polished to bring out the patterns on the blade. Polishing is done on up to seven different polishing stones, working on increasingly smooth stones. Because of the hardness of the steel, some polishes are quite labor intensive. Some significant difference in pricing sometimes comes from a different polish, that has to be done by a senior smith instead of trained workers.

The scabbard

The scabbards are of authentic design and construction. The ray-skin covered scabbards are made of cured hackberry wood. This wood is strong but light, and somewhat soft to ensure the blade held inside is not easily scratched. Apart from beautiful, the rayskin is incredibly strong and durable. The skin is lacquered in the desired color and then polished to a smooth surface showing a nice natural pattern. Rayskin has also been used in various cultures to make armors that have been capable of withstanding arrows and weapon cuts.

The scabbards are available in the following three colors:

As for historical correctness, the green ray skin was mostly used on Qing army regulation sabers. Black is known to have been used on dao but more frequently on jian. The orange colour, though flashy, has yet to be seen on antique examples other than some lavish and non-standard court weapons of the Qing dynasty.

The art

The blades are all based on weapons that actually exist. Some artistic freedom was taken in the design of the fittings of the straightswords, inspired by Ming dynasty style. The liuyedao however have all their fittings directly copied from an original antique with the archaic Kui dragon motiffs that saw a comeback in the high Qing era.