Here are a few suggestions that we believe will help you maintain your swords in excellent condition. Do not swing any edged weapon carelessly. Remember, this is a real weapon and must be treated with the same respect you would give a loaded firearm. When you wish to experience how it feels for warriors to wield these weapons in battle, make sure you are well out of reach of anyone. These weapons are very heavy and could slip out of your hands. Be careful not to endanger yourself or others when you manipulate these swords. All metal parts of your sword, including the wire wrapped handles, should always be covered with a light coating of oil to prevent rust. We ship our swords with either a light plastic spray or a heavy coating of grease to protect the blades in transport. You can remove these coatings with the use of a good solvent such as lacquer thinner, mineral spirits or a Silicone Release Agent (found at most hardware stores in the auto section). Once you have finished this, apply your light coat of oil or a silicone spray. You can also wipe it with a silicone coated gun/reel cloth. In many respects, the gun/reel cloth is preferred as there is less tendency for dust to accumulate and trap oxygen to cause pitted areas in the blade. Wooden handles may be treated with a light coating of lemon oil or tung oil to help prevent cracking. Leather scabbards and sheaths as well as leather covered handles should be treated with a good paste wax. The scabbard can also be treated with neatsfoot or mink oil for waterproofing, although this is not recommended for gripping surfaces. Do not store your sword in its scabbard for long periods of time since the leather traps moisture which can produce rust spots on the blade. Do not attempt to chop down a tree with your sword. Such an activity is guaranteed to damage your sword. Axes and machetes are well designed for this with the weight of the steel concentrated over the point of percussion. When you strike a firmly fixed object like a tree or a thick branch with a sword, a great deal of the blade projects past the object being cut, causing the blade to bend or torque. It should be pointed out that the Japanese, who believe in a lot of practice with the sword, used thick bamboo. The bamboo was resistant to a cut, but didn't have the rigidity of a tree, and so would not have damaged a valuable blade. For a Japanese warrior to cut into a tree would have been unthinkable. Do not bang your sword against any hard object to test it's strength or the "sound" of the steel as it hits a hard object. No matter how tough or strong the steel is in any sword, it will nick when struck against something equally hard. In stage plays or in movies, theatrical swords with wide, thick edges are used. The edges are flat and often as much as 1 1/6" wide. Such theatrical swords are designed to take the flashy looking punishment of banging edges together. Most of our swords are not theatrical swords they are real weapons designed so that they could fight in the manner that the originals were actually used. Since the cutting edges were often used for slashing, parries were made with the flat of the blade (not the edges). Real swords were never used for the theatrical style of sword banging that the movies or stage plays rely on to liven up the action sequences.
How many folds are there in your Hanwei "Folded Steel" series katana? and how many layers?The number of folds or layers is insignificant. In medieval Japan, the folding process was originally used to remove impurities in the steel. The steel Hanwei uses is 99% pure steel, the folding process is unnecessary. Since the blades are handmade, each smith at the Hanwei forge would fold each blade until the blade had the proper look, however many times that smith felt it would take. The number of layers would increase expodentially with the number of folds. There is not a set number of folds or layers. Is it possible to exchange the tsuba on the Practical Katana with one another one?The Practical Katana was designed to be a no-frills practice cutting sword that requires very little maintenance. The handle on the 1070-GT is appoxied on so it cannot be changed. Any attempt to remove the handle and change the tsuba would void the warranty. Are the "Forged" and "Folded" steel series katana single-pegged or double-pegged?All of our Hanwei katana and wakizashi are double-(bamboo)-pegged for safety, except the Practical Katana and Ninja because they are not traditionally constructed. How is the hilt of the Practical Katana constructed?The core is wood. The tang has a "hook" built into the profile about halfway down, and the recess in the wood has a corresponding "hook" so that the tang can not slip out of the wood. The glue is an additional security. Are your katana and wakizashi "full tang"?The definition of full tang is that the tang of the blade is visible on each edge and has handle slabs on either side usually wood or stag. Full tang is more commonly used in knives. C.A.S. Iberia does offer Full-tang Katana (9424.E, 9524.E) and Full-tang Ninja (9527.E) by Steel Warrior.When people ask if our "Practical," "Forged" and "Folded" series katanas are full tang, our response is that full tang is not traditional Japanese design. The tang of the katana extends to about 80% of the grip length, so that the stress points in the grip are adequately within the length of the tang. What is the difference between the "Forged" and the "Forged and Folded" Series?The steel that is used in the blades primarily the difference. The "Forged" series is a high carbon steel whereas the "Forged and Folded" is a Swedish Powered Steel. Please refer to the Overview of the C.A.S./Hanwei Samurai Series.
