Sword Review - Hanbon Forge Custom Wakizashi

[@dlatrexswords]

Man, having lived in south Florida I get how the climate can really be fickle with scabbards. Sorry to hear that it gave you such a rough time, but glad it eventually got resolved. Nice to see the shortsword action! Keep up the great reviews

[@MrJacobrezac]

Hanbon is actually a forge who makes the blades themselves, they are the supplier for places like swords of northshire and others which is why they’re cheaper than Swords of Northshire. When you select what type of sword you want they do have an option for custom length and you can just tell them what length you want. That really sucks about the issue you had, I have 3 swords from them and Yao has always been very responsive and helpful and it’s sad that the issue happened.

[@alientude]

I've seen this claim many times, but never any evidence for it. It's certainly possible that HanBon is a direct connection to a forge in Longquan, but I'm not going to just assume it's true. At the time of recording, they did not have an option for custom blade length.

[@kilianortmann9979]

@@alientude I did ask them recently (directly via mail) for a very specific blade, a Naginata/Nagamaki shape in 9260 with a shortened, katana length handle. I had a quick e-mail conversation with Mr.Yao, the owner, about some details and received my sword within four weeks. Either they forge the blades themselves or have a direct connection to someone who does. Other companies like Ryansword and swords of northshire also have the exact same blade shape on offer.

[@Matthew_Jensen]

Excellent video. Sad to hear about the trouble at the start. I hope you find a Japanese style sword you like. Might recommend checking out a Huawei or Skyjiro piece if you can find something that tickles your fancy.

[@alientude]

Thanks! I do have a HuaWei, and love that one. It's actually away right now being customized.

[@justiceforall6412]

I can vouch for Hanbon forge. They are a very good forge who stand by their products. You can't go wrong ordering from them. I ordered the Zaitoichi shikmizue. The price was very reasonable and the custom blade lovely. It has a 1095 carbon steel blade. Strong enough to go through bone, bamboo, and wire easily. The handling and feel of the blade is very comfortable and easy to cut with. They also will stand by their products. I highly recommend Hanbon forge!

[@cottontailcustoms]

Another great review! I really enjoy your reviews and always look forward to the next one.

[@alientude]

Much appreciated!

[@armoredsweatpants3997]

You do very in-depth reviews, great job!

[@alientude]

Thank you, greatly appreciated!

[@michaelrs8010]

I have 6 swords from them, 2 wakizashi and 4 Katana, over the last year and I have never had a problem with their customer service. Skipping the drop-down menu on the website, I have always ordered my swords through the sales email and have had extensive and sometimes a bit complicated communication with them regarding custom etchings and/or custom length BoHi applied on all but one of the. The only "problem" I have had is because there are just two people handling scores of emails a day from all over the world in several different languages, sometimes my email might got lost in the mix. Usually this just requires a follow-up email or just waiting a few days for the response. They do offer custom sizing of blades to make O or Ko-katana and wakizashi and they offer bare blades which are not all listed in the custom blade page drop-down menu. I keep telling them that that is a mistake. But if you look for their their blades page you can have any of those used for your custom build Katana or wakizashi. Or you could have the blade ship to you and order all your fixtures from other places in build your own. Same goes if you want a custom sized tsuka. Office staff wise there are two people running the show when it comes to sales, (Mr.) Yao and his assistant. Neither one are particularly chatty when it comes to English. So in that regard their customer service is not as extensive as is Swords of Northshire, which is based in the US as a third-party reseller. And with SoN you definitely pay for that over HF HF is a forge with their own blacksmith overseeing the general production. However as with a couple of other companies over there they run a bit of a pool system sharing a facility and staff. But there are individuals that are primarily dedicated to working with Hanbon items. As to the fixtures: they do not make their own. In fact if you will look at the SoN site, and HF and jkoo and I can't think of all their peers off the top of my head, you will see many of the exact same fixtures being offered across the spectrum. That is because each Forge or vendor or company, or whatever they call themselves online, order those fixtures from a few different sources that basically make the same things over and over again for multiple companies. When it comes to things that are ill-fitting the fixtures, including saya are not made individual for each other. They come from different vendors and the parts never meet each other until they are to be assembled. They know that they are going to make swords with a Tang the general size of X and X, and a blade of a certain general size. The saya and tsuka cores are then made to the same general sizes without being measured against the sword they're going on. Eventually they come together per the requirements of any given order at which time this, that or the other item may be filed or shimmed or hammered as part of applying the finishing touches to assemble the sword. Again this is typical Chinese production sword procedures. Swords of Northshire and others do it the same way. If anybody has any questions about and of this they can contact me on the r/katanas Reddit under MichaelRS2469 and I will be happy to answer any questions through PMs. Or I guess you could ask me here. It's just that over there I could send you a link to the email I had with SoN discussing their pricing and such from last year. I can't link it here because KZbin doesn't like some outside links for whatever reason. But sure, with all of these production swords from companies that specialize in sub $300 offerings tend to be a little wonky in some respects. Even if your sword adds up to above $300 for a higher-quality blade and a brass tsuba (which at HF adds $45 alone to the price) it doesn't follow that the Ito wrap on your tsuka is going to reflect that. Cheers

[@amoncoster61]

Thanks for this detailed comment

[@MatthewCross2]

Great review, even though my interest are more in the European relm of swords, I always find your reviews entertaining 👍

[@alientude]

I appreciate that!

[@Erduk]

I can confirm Hanbon Forge is an actual forge that makes the swords. My evidence is that I ordered a custom katana from Swords of Northshire and canceled it the next morning and ordered a better version from Hanbon. So the Hanbon order got finished first via email pictures, but then I got sent pictures of the canceled SoN sword from none other than the same email that sent me the pictures of my Hanbon Forge sword. So yes, Hanbon either makes them... or Swords of Northshire are buying third party and marking prices up even more; the latter makes zero sense.

[@michaelrs8010]

I think it's important to point out that what added to the price of this blade was the upgrade to the brass fixtures and the upgraded saya. Otherwise with stock zinc alloy fixtures and one of the offeref basic saya this blade is $212. And for an extra $45 HF offers full same'gawa wrap on the tsuka and for $15 Hishigame wrapping with the ito

[@samuraibyrd]

It might be a little overpriced,but looks nice. Id rather have to file down inside of saya,rather than it being too loose. Budget swords require a little work here and there,but its worth it when its the same steel that’s used in $800 swords and $300 swords. When its the same steel,ill pick the fixer-upper.

[@alientude]

Very true. I have a couple Japanese swords now that could use some fixing, so some weekend I'll probably take them apart and see if I can tighten up the koshirae and file the saya. Maybe I'll do a video documenting my attempts at it.

[@samuraibyrd]

@@alientude yeah,do a video. If you need another opinion on how-to,shoot me an email, and ill try and help. I’ve built a few katana and have learned alot from it.just let me know if you have any questions.

[@michaelrs8010]

Hanbon also offers a variety of bear blades (other bladed) that you do not find by using the drop-down menu on the custom order page. Strangely enough they can be found by searching "Hanbon Forge bare blades". 😄 I guess some people order those to apply third-party fixtures that they see fit

[@luckyluc25]

No disrespect meant, but I recently learned to beware of folded swords with already processed high carbon steel as it folding the clean steel can present impurities that were already removed. And folded Tamahagane swords are thousands of dollars. I bought a folded, oil quenched Ninjato, 8192 layers, just to find out it has flaws in the metal due to impurities being presented during the folding process. It's chipping badly when making cuts. So I emailed a sword maker in Japan, and he's the one that told me about the possibility of impurities being introduced when folding already clean steel, and thinks that the problem I'm having. It's a wall hanger now. As long as the sword is quenched properly, unfolded should be more than fine. For those wanting the beautiful look of folded, Damascus, Woot steels, and are not into cutting with them go for it. They are beautiful to look at and still quite functional.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thanks for this review. I don’t know I would trust their quality control or customer service after watching this video. It’s unacceptable that a customer has to resolve through a PayPal escalation. The second one still has the saya fit problem and loose fittings. In any case, I’m starting to think perhaps the “customizable” katanas from China have different set of people assembling the parts, given how often you see loose ito and fuchi-kashirae. I have about 10 katanas/nodachi, some are my own purchases, others were sent to me for review. None of them are the “customizable” variant, and none of them has any loose ito or fitting even after extensive usage. Maybe I’ve been just lucky, or maybe the customizable variant of Chinese kats are just a no-go zone for consumers.

[@alientude]

My hunch is that the non-custom models are designed in such a way for the koshirae to fit better - they theoretically have a fuchi, kashira, and tsuka core that all fit together pretty well already, so there's not much danger of looseness. Whereas with the custom swords, it's a gamble. I had been planning on buying a custom from Ryansword also, but maybe instead I'll find one of their standard models that I like and order that. 🤔

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@@alientude I would definitely go with a standard model. Maybe even a o-katana or "nodachi" (their nodachis are in katana fittings), those for $200-250 seems to be mostly reliable and fun.

[@michaelrs8010]

@@alientude Swords of Northshire is a reseller for Ryan swords. But if you buy directly from Ryan you get the same SoN offering for cheaper.

[@michaelrs8010]

I think it's important to point out that what added to the price of this blade was the upgrade to the brass fixtures and the upgraded saya. Otherwise with stock zinc alloy fixtures and one of the offeref basic saya this blade is $212. And for an extra $45 HF offers full same'gawa wrap on the tsuka and for $15 Hishigame wrapping with the ito. Much of that is already built into the price of more expensive katana. But if you don't need certain feature (for example I'm not going into battle so I really do not need a iron or brass tsuba to protect my hand) HF allows you to cut costs by not having them.

[@Atothe7420]

One sec of silence for the water bottles that took one for the Team. 😅

[@1specificfrequency220]

I guess quality is a bit of a crap shoot. I ordered one of their off the rack tachis and the sword was perfect. Tight wrap with nice even diamonds and no rattle in the fittings. The blade has a beautiful profile with a deep sori. Although it's a little on the heavy side, somehow it feels very quick and alive in the hand and I can't stop playing with it.

[@alientude]

Sadly, seems to be a common theme with the Longquan custom katana makers. I've heard that their pre-made, non-custom models are often better quality, so maybe that's the key.

[@KissakiShinobi]

I think you watched too many Matthew Jensen videos :'D His channel is the main reason, I am not doing reviews... I think you got a very nice waki right there! Would have loved to see your wife doing the cuts. I loved the side-by-side comparison with the Nortshire one... The straight hamon and the bo-hi ending before the habaki are more of my preference. Also for waki I start to prefer no-hi, being more sturdy but only slightly more heavy/unwieldy....

[@dandragonmc]

I've been eye hanbon for a while so this was helpful

[@alientude]

Glad I could be of assistance. Thanks for watching!

[@michaelrs8010]

If you have any questions about HF you can hit me up on r/katanas.

[@Yu_chan18]

I bought a custom one from them some time ago and honestly might as well buy at another website, they do have good customer service. Nonetheless it's not worth the price and the wait time to receive it. My problem was they said I could customize it just to discover I can't even disassemble it because they glued it.

[@positivegoals3234]

Gotta use your thumb to break the seal. Choke up on the saiya and do a thumbs up gesture to seperate and draw

[@Daishonoob]

I also have had issues with Hanbon. They get high marks on Reddit with customer service being a plus but in my experience it's been pretty disappointing.

[@michaelrs8010]

What issues have you had?

[@jonathanhalko745]

Hello do you know if swords of north shire are better quality, then Hanbon swords Both of the sword companies use Long Quan China. The swords on Hanbon are cheaper 30% to 50% around. does swords north shire just mark up the price for the same thing ?

[@alientude]

@Jonathan halko It's really hard to say where they source the blades, but it's known that Swords of Northshire is a reseller for RyanSword (www.ryansword.com/), at a pretty steep price increase. None of us really known who the supplier is for HanBon. As far as quality, I've been mostly unimpressed with all three of Swords of Northshire, JKOO/Sinosword, and HanBon. The blades generally are nice, but the fit and finish have left a lot to be desired. Depending on how many options you're looking for in your customized katana, my best experience so far is with Ryujin (sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/ryujin-t10.html). If you want a quality budget katana with good fit and finish, but no customization, HuaWei (www.huaweiswords.com/) has produced the best katana I've owned, but they have a pretty extensive backlog and frankly terrible customer service. All in all, if you are looking for a custom katana, I'd go to all of the brands I've listed here and see which can offer you the best price. The quality will probably be roughly the same between them.

[@oldmanjoe6808]

Site to click on has been compromised !

[@CupidFromKentucky]

Why do you add background music to a video where we need to hear you? Distracting.