We had a customer last week who brought to blades into our workshop. The tangs of those blades where snapped of clean and obviously had been welded in place. I try and take a picture of the blades during the weekend.
As far as i know they were made by Kovex Ars, which is sad since i can remember that their blades used to be of better quality.

I was the friend of Kerry's with the practical side sword. Four out of four were ready to break...actually one already broke and another was halfway broken through in the tang...just like the other. They were put to fairly light theatrical use. I have a dozen or two Hanwei weapons and this is not my first issue with the quality of their construction. I keep trying them out because the price is so low (you get what you pay for, but I'm still curious so I keep trying).
On the flipside I have several hundred other weapons and have had very few problems and no breakage. I won't plug anyone in particular but I have used many other makers who specialize in forging weapons for the stage.
In my opinion, poor construction should be the rare exception (at the worst) not the rule.
R

Here is the picture i "promised" above:

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Those look pretty odd. I dont see any grain structure in the material at the break at all. Is that a trick of the picture? If they are actually smooth , it would appear the welded metal wasnt beveled at all before welding. Pretty odd and a beginners mistake if thats true. I cant see a smith (or welder!) who has been around doing something like that. Maybe an unsupervised new guy in the shop?

Do you have pics of the other end of the tang?

It is indeed not a break in the material of the tang. The other half of it was simply welded to the sword by two simple points on the outside of the tang.
Since the customer only brought the blades in our shop i am not able to make a picture of the missing piece, sorry.

I have heard rumors that some shops now actually sell pieces like that, but that is the first time i have one in my hands.
It would be "ok" i they were just intended to be cheap decorational blades, but they were meant to be used in show fights at ren-fairs.

hi!
Arne are you shure this is kovex-ars ??? i know his blades, but i don't recognice these.
As far as i know czech swordsmiths, i can say that kovex sure would like to know that such ""swords"" left his workshop.
because Kovex`s standard is definitely changing, but this is absolutly unseen till now.
is there a makersmark on the blades?

The customer told me that he puchased them from Kovex Ars, thats why i said "as far as i know".
There is no makers mark on the blade to verify this.
I know the Kovex-Marks from many older blades. It might be that my information was not correct.

I have a Hanwei Practical Knightly.

It appears to be very solidly constructed, and it is peened, but something that caught my eye out of the box was that the steel of the blade seemed to have a very flat shine to it. I wondered about the temper, and did a flex-test, bending the blade about 60 degrees out of line like I do with my Windlass swords when I get them.

Sure enough, the blade took a set. The tempering is very poor. I was able to bend it back into line with my hands.

I've heard a lot of anecdotes about Hanwei's spotty quality control (No sources cited, these are all anecdotal accounts from private conversations and not published anywhere).

They really need to step up their quality control. Mr Paul Chen seems to know his stuff, but at the lower end Hanwei seems to turn out a lot of lemons.

I'm considering the aquisition of a few of Windlass Steelcraft's new stage swords. Particularly, Windlass Steelcrafts has adapted their "Sword of War" into their new "Two Handed Stage Combat Sword". The Sword of War has a reputation for being a real beater, and their steel is aquiring a good reputation for superior tempering.

I too have a practical knightly though I am unwilling to try and bend it.

I have wondered what their pommel and cross guard are made of, though, as they've been handled by bare hands and have not actually taken any corrosion.

M.