Behind the Scenes at the Hanwei Forge

Despite recent (and quite fierce) competition, Paul Chen's Hanwei Forge still make of the best quality affordable Japanese style swords available. And while Mr. Chen himself is the first to admit that his swords are not perfect, he constantly strives to get collectors and enthusiasts ‘bang for their buck’.

In fact, the very reason he started making swords some 35 years ago was that he found, as a collector himself:

“Good quality swords were too expensive, cheap swords were very bad quality, so I decided that I should make my own” - Paul Chen

PAUL CHEN HANWEI SWORDS TRIVIA Did you know that some of the very first Paul Chen Hanwei swords were actually made from high quality steel smelted from the old Manchurian railway line? “Paul” Chen’s real Chinese name is Chen Chao-Po, which means “morning wave” The first PPK hit the market in 1999. The sword is now in its third generation.

Basing his initial designs on several antique swords left to him by his grandfather, Mr. Chen gathered together a team of experts in forging, polishing, heat treating and furnishing, transformed an old chicken hatchery in the Manchurian city of Dailan into his workshop, and has been producing swords at the Hanwei Forge ever since.

While the sheer volume of swords made there leads some people to think that the Hanwei Forge mass produces them, this is actually an illusion. Mr. Chen in fact supervises a team of some 35 skilled sword smiths who in turn supervise 4 times that number of assistants. He also insists that despite high production levels, each sword is individually made.

This was noted by a visitor to the Hanwei Forge, Mr. Guido Schiller of the German Consulate in China, who writes:

Another surprise awaited me: a very clean, well organized working environment, a relaxed, almost family like atmosphere. Although a few power hammers make work easier for those working in the smithy, most work is done the old fashioned way, using anvils and regular hammers and a lot of sweat.

Paul Chen Hanwei Swords FAQ, www.swordforum.com

The actual manufacturing process involved in Hanwei Forge swords consists of 6 basic steps.

Firstly, a billet of 1095 high carbon steel is hot forged into a rough sword shape by power hammers. The scale is then removed from the sword, which at this point is still soft and straight (the curvature of a Japanese sword is actually caused in the heat treatment phase!).

In the third stage, a special clay (Mr. Chens' own recipe) is applied by hand to the blade, thin at the edge and thick at the back. The blade is then reheated to a predetermined temperature and rapidly quenched in a water bath, which because of the different thickness of the clay, creates a differentially tempered blade with a harder, sharper edge and a softer, more flexible spine.

It is also during this stage that the blade develops its characteristic curve.

From the smithy, the tempered sword is then stress relieved and polished by hand with wet sandpaper. Acid etching brings out the hamon, and after a final polishing, the handle and other fittings are added and soon after leaves the factory for export.

Unfortunately, the sheer volume of swords produced at the Hanwei Forge means that a lemon slipping through their quality control department is not at all impossible, especially on their low end "Practical Katana" series of swords (the PK & PPK).

This is a problem that Mr. Chen does not attempt to deny.

“Quality control is a very serious concern and we are addressing this problem all the time. We have not yet reached a satisfactory stage, and will always try to improve quality” - Paul Chen

Luckily, reputable sword sellers inspect their shipments of swords prior to selling them to ensure that their customers aren’t getting one of the lemons (after all, Mr. Chen asks the sellers to send back any defective swords to be corrected and noted to avoid a reoccurrence).

And these days, due in part to increased competition by numerous other Chinese based forges, the situation appears to have improved quite dramatically.

However, some dealer’s won’t even open the box before they send it off to you. Then if you happen to be unlucky to get the headache of trying to return the defective item to the seller…

...Which means that buying a Hanwei Forge swords from a dealer who does not inspect them can still be a hazardous proposition.