Chen Chao Po tantos

[Ivan Campos]

Has anyone handled one of those tantos offered by Iberia. I just saw them on their site and they look great and are very cheap for what they seem to offer.
I have heard a lot of good things about Chen Chao Po swords. Would the tantos be as good?

Ivan Campos
retired custom knife dealer - but still have lots of knifes to get rid of!

 

[Redleg]

I agree, good looking stuff. HOWEVER, "Caveat Emptor". Don't be fooled into thinking that these pieces are "hand forged" by Chao Chen Po AKA Paul Chen himself. ALL of the chen po products are mass produced in a joint venture factory in the PRC. The steel comes from Manchurian railroad tracks laid under Japanese occupation decades ago. Several knife retailers STILL claim that they have "rare", "hand forged" Po Chen pieces for sale. NOT!(No such animal!) Also, examine, preferably with a loupe, the blade for weld/forge cracks along the spine and through the hamon. Other than that, I think the pieces are nice, as long as you, the consumer know what you are paying for. Po chen tantos are very beautiful MASS-Produced blades of Japanese design. Visit www.swordforums.com for extremely interesting articles and tests of these blades and others.

-Redleg out.

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"Blessed is the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle..." excerpted from Psalms 144.

[This message has been edited by Redleg (edited 01 January 2000).]

 

[Redleg]

Does anyone else have experience with these products? If so, please tell me what you think.

 

[E]

I have the Hollyhock and Plum Blossom tantos. In the scabbards, they look great. They come in nice cloth sword bags. They are housed in wooden cases. The blades, however, look machined. They are not sharp. Worst of all, my blades seemed to be smudged or scratched from abrasion with the scabbards! I now consider the $225 I paid to be too much, but they are the best I've seen anywhere for the price. If not for the blades, they'd look pretty real. On the Swordforums, there's some guy who gives Chen blades a 2 million grit mirror finish.

 

[bcurran]

PO-TATOES?? Oh!! Tantos!