Paul Chen's swords for CAS Iberia

Mississippi Rifleman

Mississippi Rifleman

Joined
Oct 10, 1999
Messages
309
Anyone have on of these? How is the quality? Are they useable?

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MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY
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he likely knows how to use it.
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Ben Lee
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www2.netdoor.com/~rifleman
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Depends on what you're referring to...

I'll assume you're referring to the Golden Oriole, Musashi, and Shinto.

While there's some variation from sword to sword in overall quality of finish, balance, et cetera, these swords are good for the money. If you can shorten the handle of the Golden Oriole or Musashi, it'll work best, though it's a lil bit of work to do that.

They're not high-end swords, they're not intended to be, and a lot of the marketing that went into their early advertisements was pure BS. But all in all, they are probably some of the best in the price range, depending on what you want again.

But the term "use" is loose. With APPROPRIATE use, Chen blades will hold up well. They are not meant to be smacked against trees or any of that jazz. One should be responsible with their sword. If you practice Japanese sword arts, you'll find the Chen stuff is not so bad. If you do not care about sword arts and just want something to screw around with, these are probably not for you.

All depends on what you want to mean by "use" in this case.

Shinryû.
 
I own a Shinto Katana from Chen(Cas Iberia)I have no complaints about it,quality is excellent considering the price.If your question is, are the swords real? Yes, they most certainly are,great care must be taken when handling these blades,they are very sharp.I would recommend the Shinto,Musashi,Golden Oriole.As Robert has said,these swords are not designed for chopping trees and they do not cut through concrete or machine gun barrels.If your looking for something to really go Ape Sh** with,I think the Criswell swords look like some heavy duty cutting machines.Good Luck,Ralph
 
I own a Chen Musashi. It's quite nice- certainly not in the same league as those $2,000 customs or even a Bugei, but then again I'm not THAT into Japanese weaponry.

HOWEVER:
About 2 days after I received the sword in the mail, I watched in horror as my 16 YO nephew accidentally banged it into a buterfly chair in my living room. The lightweight aluminum chair frame made a considerable nick in the blade! Now, I don't know if all japanese-style blades are this fragile, but I was sorely disapointed.

I've owned a number of custom swords in my time, and in my limited experience, Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works makes the best usable swords. Of course the traditionalist at this board will scoff at this. His swords are not traditional- some look vaguely asian, but probably wouldn't do for a practitioner of Kendo or similar Japanese sword art. Still, the balance and cutting ability is superb. Plus, they are very reasonably priced.
 
Kumdo,

was the nick in the edge or the spine of the blade? Was it a chip or was it folded over. Just curious.

DrRMJ
 
It was in the edge and didn't chip, but kind of smooshed in. Like you'd expect soft metal to do.
 
Sounds like you got your hands on one that wasn't heat treated properly. I would have put it right back in the box and sent it back.
 
My thinking was that there is no way CAS Iberia would gaurantee the blade would stand up to metal on metal contact. I probably should have tried though. Maybe I still can?
 
Well, my thought is that there is metal on metal contact and then there is metal on metal contact. If you were trying to chop a volkswagon beetle in half that is one thing and would definately void your warranty. An accidental blow against an aluminum chair is something else entirely. This should not void your warrant!

Okay, rant mode time. Remember this is just my opinion so no one take it personally. I believe that the sword community has to some extent gone from one extreme to the other when it comes to sword usage. Most of us started out watching swords on t.v. and so thought that it wouldn't be all that difficult for a masamune blade to cut through another sword or a gun barrel or whatever. Sticking a sword in a concrete pillar was a little more of a stretch but not by much. Then we started coming to these forums and got a little educated. We discovered that it is doubtful that you can chop through another sword. That swords won't get through plate armor very easily and that you can't cut an anvil in two. Then the pendulum went the other way. It seems to be the opinion of some people that swords are these delicate things that are suitable only for chopping flesh as tough as veal and for trimming flowers...um nope never mind about the flowers you might ruin your blade by getting flower juice on it. I saw one thread on another forum where someone had cut up the packing box that the sword had come in and discovered that their blade had developed little nicks in it. Someone else there suggested that chopping the box might be abuse because there could have been staples in it! Come on! A sword shouldn't be expected to stand up to a staple!?! Look, a sword isn't a cold chisel, or a crowbar but it isn't made out of glass either. The originals were meant to be used! They might have struck a shield, the haft of a pole arm, a piece of mail, or (gasp) another sword blade! A little metal on metal contact should not be a problem!

Whew sorry about the rant. Kumdo this was completely not aimed at you by the way, just a trend I have been seeing and wanted to speak out against. I still say try to send it back. After all the worst that they could say is "no" and then I would never purchase from them again.
 
As bladeforums is much more geared to knives and knife lovers, I have to be wary about how I discuss things. I do NOT want people to get the notion that swords are just long knives. They should not be categorized in the same level, they should not be compared on similar scales.

Even though a sword should be able to live up to some contact with metal, excessive contact is bad. If you drop an uchigatana edge first on concrete, could you expect it to chip? Absolutely. Is there a chance it won't? Yep.

But you have to remember Triton, Japanese style swords offer a wide variety of options, especially niku-dori and the height of the shinogi which would determine what the sword would operate best on. One sword does not necessarily fit all purposes, and most Chen blades I've seen are not designed with the hira niku to take on heavy targets.

Light contact with other metal should not damage it, but if you whack it hard over a piece of aluminum, you can expect the edge to roll over, dent, or chip. If it was very light contact, it's probably because the edge is perhaps too soft in that particular area of that particular sword. Since Hanwei's stuff is mass-produced you have to understand that there'll be the occasional flaw or problem. But it's better to be too soft than too hard.

Depending on who you bought it from, you may or may not be able to return it.

I personally am not a fan of the Chen lines, particularly the models with oversized handles. That's just me though.

Good luck to ya.
Shinryû.
 
Paul Chen makes other than Japanese style swords. I have lusted after his "Godfred" viking style sword for some time, but been very leery of buying it. The reason for this is the continual feedback on SwordForum and on NetSword about bad heat treating on them. The sword is a beautiful piece of pattern-welding with a lovely fuller (no relation) and it is very inexpensive, but the reports are that it bends very easily and that it dents all too easily. Too bad!

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh Fuller
 
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