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Thread: Paul Chen swords

  1. #1
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    Default Paul Chen swords

    has anyone else had bad experiences with the Paul Chen swords? are there any other manufacturers that are "must avoid" ?

    (the bad experience was my student's, not mine; horrible quality saya that split and really poor customer service. also not an impressive sword even new.)

    i think i've seen a couple of reasonably priced recommendations before, but anyone care to repeat?

    thanks!
    ~Tony Johnson

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    Default

    www.swordstore.com

    and

    www.tozando.com

    these are the best ones available I think I myself, have the custom 2002 series from swordstore. But I know ppl with ones from either and so far no complaints. I love it.
    George Madden VII

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    Where did he buy it from? The problem may not lie with Chen but with the retailer. I've not had any trouble with my chen musashi and I don't know anyone else who has. Did the student return the sword and get a refund or a new blade?
    Lurking in dark alleys may be hazardous to other peoples health........

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    BTW in your profile there is no info on what you teach . Are you a sword instructor?
    Lurking in dark alleys may be hazardous to other peoples health........

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    Default Re: Paul Chen swords

    Originally posted by tsunamiflood
    has anyone else had bad experiences with the Paul Chen swords? are there any other manufacturers that are "must avoid" ?
    Why are you asking if any of us have had experience with Paul Chen swords if you've already made up your mind that his are "must avoid" swords?

    There are many people I know, or know of, who have used Paul Chen blades without complaint. They are not great works of art, but they are not priced like great works of art either; it's a cost/benefit trade-off. You get what you pay for.

    For "must avoid" I would say anything from Asian World of Martial Arts, anything sold on the Shop-At-Home-Network, and anything made with stainless steel and/or that costs less than US$500 (other than entry level iaito).
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  6. #6
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    Default Chen

    I like to think of Chen swords as GM. If you bought an early 80's Chevette, you would probably have a much lower opinion of GM, than if you had bought a Caddie Royal Braughm. Then you also have people who think that anything that isn't made in Germany isn't worth sitting in. Same thing with Chen. The Practical is great for what it is, cheap and relatively sharp. Some of the higher end Bugei swords are genuinely very nice and are getting better all the time. What's the difference, they all come from Chen right? Well, one costs $150 on ebay and one might set you back $1600. That price gap translated directly into workmanship in this case. I use a first generation Bugei "bamboo" katana that cuts like an absolute dream. It was made with railroad steel, and currently has a terrible looking "cutting" polish. Will it win any art shows? Not a prayer. But it goes through everything I put in front of it. It cuts better than some of the "Samurai" models that I've used. It should be noted that these still had the factory polish on them that looks VERY good these days, but seems geared for harder targets (particularly it seems on the Samurai koshirae). For $1000-$1600 you get a lot of sword from the higher end Chen offerings (Bugei). At the same time, one of the worst cutters I've used was one of the original Last Legend (Nobunaga) blades. The steel itself was pretty good, a bit short (27.5" nagasa) and a little dull (wouldn't cut through a piece of paper folded over the blade, but solid and with a good general shape. After a working polish/sharpening, it cut pretty well, for exactly 5 goza until the last 4" of tsuka ito or as I like to refer to it, blue shoe lace) came off in my left hand.

    The moral of the story? You get what you pay for, but Chen blades have been improving dramatically since their first offering. I remember not that long ago when getting a live blade meant a several thousand dollar investment and was seen as kind of exotic. Now people are upset if they have to pay over $1000 for a quality piece. I still think $1000 or even $1500 is a bargain for what you get these days from Nosyu or Bugei. In general however, I think if you're not willing to go into that price range, you're better off getting a nice iaito.
    Christian Moses
    **Certified Slimy, Moronic, Deranged and Demented Soul by Saigo-ha Daito Ryu!**
    Student of:
    Shinto Ryu Iai-Battojutsu
    Tuesday Night Bad Budo Club (TM)

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    Default thanks for the info!

    thanks for the information - your recommendations are appreciated.

    p.s. i am told he dealt directly with the paul chen people and that customer service was quite rude and was unwilling to do anything for him at all because the sword was fine, only the saya split (warranty only covers the sword maybe?) and i understand they wanted a very high cost to replace the saya.
    they suggested that maybe he had tried to put the sword in upside down and it split
    ~Tony Johnson

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    Default Re: Paul Chen

    Originally posted by tsunamiflood
    p.s. i am told he dealt directly with the paul chen people...
    AFAIK, Paul Chen makes blades for other companies, who then sell his products. Mr. Chen himself lives and works in China. Unless I am mistaken, your friend could not have dealt directly with "the Paul Chen people."
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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    I must say that I am not expert on "Paul Chen" swords but I think it might help to make a couple of things a bit clearer at this point.

    Unless I have misunderstood a great number of contributions by various people over on SWORD FORUM INTERNATIONAL, I believe that what we are actually talking about are swords made by HANWEI with whom Paul Chen, the person, was associated early-on. I have no idea of his status right now, but HANWEI manufactures a very wide range of oriental weapons of which the Japanese sword seems to be most popular and best documented. Now, heres' the "hitch in the giddy-up" if you will. As far as I know Hanwei does not sell swords directly for retail. Rather they apparently always go through a retailer and these various retailers take a variety of approaches. For instance, BUGEI TRADING COMPANY tends to take a VERY serious approach to quality control, often doing its own pre-shipment testing and maintaining a pretty wide selection of options. I have yet to hear anyone complain that they did not get good customer service from BUGEI.

    On the other hand there are a number of other outlets such as MANTISS and IBERIA-CAS who also offer HANWEI items but at a reduced price. As always a reduction in price often means some reduction in quality, though in fairness its usually in the furniture and not in the blade performance.

    Finally, there are yet other outlets that intersperse Hanwei items with other manufacturers. I'm guessing that by the time you get down to these folks you are looking at cut-rate prices and cut-rate service.

    As a practitioner of Korean sword, the architecture of my weapon is a bit different so I probably would never get a chance to purchase a Hanwei sword unless they suddenly came out with a very beefy sort of Ye-do that they don't have now. However, if I WERE to start looking at this line I would make every effort to go to the SWORD FORUM INTERNATIONAL to do my research. You would be amazed to find out how much these swords have been examined and compared over there. FWIW.

    Best Wishes,

    Bruce
    Bruce W Sims
    www.midwesthapkido.com

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    Perhaps he is refering to the folks at Bugei.

    I had a very poor customer service encounter with them, several years ago but it was bad enough that I have yet to buy another product from them.


    Chris Thomas

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    I bought a Paul Chen Practical Katana on ebay for a pretty good price. Problem was, it was so nice I never practiced any cutting with it. It sat in the corner for about a year, then I sold it on ebay for a better price than I spent. It was much heavier than the bokuto I'm used to!

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    Lightbulb

    Dear Chris:

    Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I have had two discussions with William James many years ago and found him to be very personable, knowledgeable, and concerned for my needs as a practitioner. Though he wasn't able to help me out with the particular line he offers, I never felt that I got anything but the best he had to offer. Maybe sometime it would be worth it to give him a jingle, yes? Just a thought.

    Best Wishes,

    Bruce
    Bruce W Sims
    www.midwesthapkido.com

  13. #13
    sporadicdysfunc Guest

    Default Re: Paul Chen Swords

    Gents,

    A bid of patriotism here for any fellow Australians practicing Kenjutsu, my Sensei recommended Fechner Blades (based in South Australia) as high quality Tamashigiri blades. I have been priveledged to see his workmanship twice at Knife Shows in Australia, as well as having viewed Tamashigiri practice sessions within the school. Cutting ease and finished cut are easily comparable to Shin-Gunto and pre-ShinGunto swords. Highly recommended.

    http://www.japaneseswordschool.homes...WADetails.html

    Regards...........

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    glad2bhere

    Just for accuracy sake.

    I had no contact with any of the "name" guys at Bugei.

    So I can't speak with ANY degree of accuracy concerning anyone other than the individual working the customer service desk.

    I did however send a letter concerning the situation to Bugei that was never answered.

    Chris Thomas

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    Default Re: Re: Paul Chen Swords

    Originally posted by sporadicdysfunc
    Gents,

    A bid of patriotism here for any fellow Australians practicing Kenjutsu, my Sensei recommended Fechner Blades (based in South Australia) as high quality Tamashigiri blades. I have been priveledged to see his workmanship twice at Knife Shows in Australia, as well as having viewed Tamashigiri practice sessions within the school. Cutting ease and finished cut are easily comparable to Shin-Gunto and pre-ShinGunto swords. Highly recommended.

    http://www.japaneseswordschool.homes...WADetails.html

    Regards...........
    Not to be disparaging to Mr Fechner but I have seen two of his blades - one is around 2 years old and of excellent quality. The Handle was copied from an existing Tsuka from a japanese Iaito which my Sensei had sent to Mr Fechner.

    The second has just been delivered - the Blade was mounted in the Tsuka at angle so if you had the correct grip, the blade would strike the target incorrectly. Also the Tsuka was very large and not waisted at all. The guy who bought it was very disappointed and has sent it back. Hopefuly this is an isolated incident.

    A guy brought in a Practical Plus yesterday. I must say I was very disappointed in it - I had heard ok things but this example was weird! What is going on with the size of the Tsuba? The Tsuka is way to long as well for the length of the blade.

    I think the blade was of good quality - a
    little thin but servicalble. It was not very sharp - Sensei compared his Fechner (after 2 years of Wara Cutting) and the Chen by slicing paper - the Chen left very ragged cuts. Also the Tsuka did not "Flow" with the Sori of the blade - it looks tacked on.

    For AU$700 dollars I would expect a little more quality - I am not expecting a Fantastic sword but more than this.

    Any comments?
    Mat Rous

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