[Siliespiriulk]

I was thinking about buying a paul chen pratical plus sword from swordsdirect recently. Yeah I know it's an imitation but its pretty much for display. Just had a few questions.
Is the tsuka made of wood?
I think the hamon is acid tempered?

Thanks for the help.

[Metalhead]

err.. from what I've seen yes, its actually pretty good ( in looks department), but I would'nt do cutting with it, even though it says you can, some Iaido sensai here dont like the paul chen, as its unsafe, the pegs are not very impact absorbant apprently. ( other reviews ppl?) Oh the hamon isnt acid tempered its actually clay( differencial) tempred. Maybe some ppl who do iaido can comment more. I just do kendo

If u want to get a sword as a wall hanger, go get an iaido, they cheaper ( some) , but its not built for cutting, but they look better, plus if u decide to get it,, and later learn eshin ryu or some other iaido, you might be able to use that. ( but again it depends wat school ur learning from, some prefer differnt sori and lengths, so.... )

try

bogubag.com aoi-budo.com , tozando.com they have some nice iaidos, they are others as well ( i wont list them just search for it)

my 2 cs

[Atmotteenrift]

I was thinking about buying a paul chen pratical plus sword from swordsdirect recently...

Please think again.... Hey, have you met Kaoru-san on this forum?

Best of Luck,

Alex

[Gintovtosik]

The personal plus katana, also known as the PPK is an excellent "I want a real katana" intro level sword. Sure you could spend a few hundred extra dollars and get a folded production blade. But if your into blade polishing or tsuka-maki then your not going to want to start with somthing so expensive. I've cut 300+ bottles and a good share of green bamboo and the sword is still razor sharp. Im in the long process of giving it a facelift. Full polish, that is taking forever by the way. Im also rewrapping the tsuka after shortening and changing the saego and saya color. Its a great sword to experiment or should I say learn on.

[Kubasarika]

I was thinking about buying a paul chen pratical plus sword from swordsdirect recently. Yeah I know it's an imitation but its pretty much for display. Just had a few questions.
Is the tsuka made of wood?
I think the hamon is acid tempered?

Tsuka is wood, hamon is real (it's clay tempered). If you want a decent cutter, get at least a Shinto, which has roughly the same blade length, or the Golden Oriole. I sold my old Golden Oriole to another Sword Forum member, who is using it as a cutter. He's happy with it. Also, it look a LOT nicer than the PPK.

[neeclindy]

I was thinking about buying a paul chen pratical plus sword from swordsdirect recently. Yeah I know it's an imitation but its pretty much for display. Just had a few questions.
Is the tsuka made of wood?
I think the hamon is acid tempered?

Thanks for the help.

Do as you wish. It's only for display anyway.

[freediscountplanrrxip]

I agree with Hai Hai. If you're going to put it on the wall, buy whatever you want.

I can clear up a couple of other things though. The tsuka is made of wood. The tsuka maki (handle wrapping) is pretty poor quality though.

As David said, they aren't safe for cutting. Not because of the mekugi (pegs), but rather because the blades themselves have failed and broken in several instances. This means that you would never know if you are fixing to sling a razor missile at your neighbor's gut.

Acid tempered is a misnomer. Tempering is the act of taking steel to an intermediate temperature after it is hardened to relieve internal stresses. The Hanwei forge uses acid in polishing their swords though. It makes the hamon visible without having to go through the expensive act of traditional polishing. Since the edge is harder than the rest of the sword, the mild acid attacks the steel differently. They then use metal polish to remove most of the oxides created and presto! ... instant hamon showing. Their swords are hardened in the traditional manner by applying clay, heating to critical temperature, and quenching in water.

I just have to say that I am NOT a fan of the cheap Hanwei swords. Too many corners are cut to get the price that low. The problem with Japanese style swords is that they are very labor intensive to produce. This makes them expensive. Production forges cut corners in order to bring the cost down. The lower the price, the more corners have been cut.

[Pinkman]

Thanks for advice and yeah I don't have any intention of cutting with a katana of that calibur. I wanted that one as a display since I find beauty in simplicity. I guess I must have a simple face .

[DrBrightonone]

Thanks for advice and yeah I don't have any intention of cutting with a katana of that calibur. I wanted that one as a display since I find beauty in simplicity. I guess I must have a simple face .

Hi!

I am really glad to hear you will not be cutting with it. You won't mess with it otherwise will you?

I'll spare you my "Don't play with sharp pointy sword objects if you've never had proper instruction unless you want to lose a finger" lecture if you agree that you won't.

Safety first! If it's a sword you only want to display, I'm happy. Good swords definately are beautiful.

Kaoru

[furious1]

I have a PPK and I can cut with it (I dont want to hear it kaoru). It is the "I want a real katana" sword and it looks real nice on a stand. PM if you want the specifics.

However, after getting a Tsuru Paul Chen Iaito I can safely say there is better money spent elsewhere than buying a PPK. If you are not going to cut with the sword I strongly suggest an iaito. They are lighter and feel much better.

[AngelinaLip]

I sell Paul chen sword at decite prices. Check out my website... www.sharperideas.org I also sell A Lot of knives and cold steel, cheaper sword sets, and kill bill swords. The website is still a work in progress, iI only have about 1/10 of my products on the site.I you have any questions e-mail me anytime Davidfreund@sharperideas.org