Hey FlyingCrane,
The closest design to what I got is this one that I was originally considering,
http://kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=CS88G&name=Cold+Steel+Gim+Sword
The guard and Pommel are brass and the handle wood. I do worry a little about the handle and guard, which is why I asked them if I have any problems with it what their return policy is. They said they will replace any defects on their part. I have handled some of the cheaper Jian that are 440 steel and poor quality for competition and sold at local martial art supply stores, and I could feel the guard and the hilt rattling, I am hoping the sword I got is in good faith and the price was reasonable if everything goes well.
The grip itself being wood is not a problem. I like to use wood when I rebuild hilts, it's solid and can be quite attractive. Often a grip will be wrapped with something to enhance the grip, like cord or cloth or leather, but underneath it will still be wood. I think those enhancements can be a good thing. I don't know how to do that, I've never tried, I just like the look of wood, especially a good curly maple, that's been my favorite to work with.
What I often see in the guard and the pommel of most of the pieces coming out of China are one of two things: they are either a wood core with a thin sheet of brass covering to make it look like solid brass, or they are cast in two pieces of brass and welded together creating a hollow piece.
The cast brass is probably more sturdy than the wood core, but both of them lack real weight to balance the blade, and lack the kind of strength that you would want in a real serviceable weapon. This is where you want the pieces, both guard and pommel, to be made of solid metal, either steel, iron, bronze, or brass. This give the strength of a serviceable guard to protect the hand, and the weight in the pommel to balance the blade, and the strength in the pommel to act as a secondary pummeling and punching weapon.
The other issue is that the tang be thick, wide, and substantial, and be made as one piece with the blade. If the tang is welded on, that's a weak point and a problem with the weapon. If the tang is thin, obviously that can be a problem where it might not hold up under stress. The three pieces of the hilt, the guard, grip, and pommel, all should fit tightly to the tang and to each other, so there is no empty space or loose points where they might rattle. Sometime the grip will be drilled out much wider than the tang warrants, so the inside of the grip itself does not fit closely to the tang. It is simply held on by the pressure of the hex nut behind the pommel. That's a poor fit, even if it feels tight, but you may not realize it without taking the hilt apart.
These are problems I often see with the cheap stuff from China, even if the blade seems to be acceptable. Hopefully with a custom piece they will do a good job with the hilt.
I will let you know when I order the Jian from link you gave, on the plus side doing the order for this sword got my wife interested in swords and I saw her last night looking up sword information:duel: So we might need more than one sword in the house
now THAT'S the way to play it. Good job!
Here is the link to the site I went to, it is all in Chinese and there is a customer service person that comes up.
http://www.ljg8.com/category-274-1.html
I took a look, yeah my ability to read Chinese is non-existant so I don't know what's going on there. Pretty pictures, tho.
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