The Paul Chen / Hanwei Forge produce some of the finest quality reproduction swords and accessories to the collector and practitioner communities. You will be hard pressed to find a better combination of quality, performance, design and value than the swords that are hand crafted at the Hanwei forge.
How Hanwei makes their sword blades
Hand Forged
With few exceptions, Hanwei's blades are hand forged high carbon steel. Coal fired forges heat the blades to just the right temperature and skilled smiths go to work shaping the basic blade profile and shape.
Hand Ground
The forged blades are then ground, by hand, to near their final shape. Any inconsistencies in the swords overall shape or distal taper is corrected and the balance adjusted. The sword is now ready for heat treatment.
Hand Finished
After careful heat treatment (hardening and tempering) in either Hanwei's digitally controlled ovens or salt baths as needed, the blades are either polished on the grinder or hand polished in the case of the higher end swords. Once complete, the blades are now ready to be precision fit to the hilt pieces.
How Hanwei produces their own fittings - in house
In-house design
Hanwei is one of the only sword makers that produces all of their fittings (handle and scabbard components) in house. From design to production the entire process is handled at Hanwei, ensuring a high level of design, fit and finish. The fittings begin life as hand engraved wax, from those a precision mold is made to copy the original in every way.
Lost Wax Casting
The precision molds are used to make positive wax copies of the originals, these are coated in a special sand mix in a multi-step process. The hardened sand casings are heated to melt the wax positives leaving a cavity ready for molten steel.
Hand Fitting
The solid steel and sand casings are broken apart, leaving a lot of clean-up work to prepare the part for fitting. Once the completed blade meets the fitting for the first time, each piece is hand adjusted as needed to ensure a proper fit and long life.
The Hanwei Factory located in Dalian, China
- Administration Offices, Design & Development
- Polishing, Hand Fitting, Molding & Final Assembly
- Forging & Blade Grinding, Casting
After the fire of March 2011, the Hanwei factory was rebuilt over the next several years to accomodate the unique needs of a modern sword making center. The forge and casting work-shop (3 above with the blue roof) stretches to the far end and beyond of the finishing work-shop (2 above).
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