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Posted: 6/7/2006 5:51:47 PM EDT
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I'm not into knives but I am into swords so I thought I'd show off my newest toy. This is a Chinese jian dating from the late Qing dynasty/early Republican period (late 1800's to early 1900's). I purchased the blade from an arms dealer and had it professionally restored. The only antique part is the blade, everything else is reproduction (and completely historically accurate except for the wood used....the historical type of wood is rare). There are many antique Chinese jian floating around but a large percentage are decorative swords that were sold to tourists at the turn of the 20th century. This is the real thing. It is forged for combat and judging by the level of polishing and sharpening it's received, it saw a good amount of use. These swords are sanmei in construction which means the blade consists of three layers. The two outer layers are composed of harder and softer steels folded together for durability. The middle layer is a hardened piece of steel that can be honed to a razor edge. This type of sword was the sidearm of aristocrats and high ranking officers and was often owned by daoist priests as it has some cultural distinction in China. In America this would be known as a "Tai chi sword". Overall view of sword  Sword with wooden dao (Chinese saber)  Close-up of hilt  Folded steel pattern of blade  Another  |
Here is a poor photo of the tip of the blade. I don't think I can get a better shot of the edge (with my camera) than the photo in my original post. The blade was sharpened using polishing stones so I suspect it's probably a simple convex bevel with no secondary bevels. 
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