Newly rebuilt Dao

[Flying Crane]

I just finished rebuilding this dao. It was imported from China some decades ago, a fairly light and flexible blade but I decided good enough to be worth the experiment. Not the complete junk found in modern wushu.

I put a new hilt on it, the guard is 1/4 inch steel plate, the pommel shaped from steel rod stock, and the grip in maple finished in linseed oil. I cleaned and polished the blade as well, and put a moderate edge on it as it was completely blunt.

included is a photo of the original condition.

 

[Flying Crane]

Some additional photos showing the original guard, pommel, and grip, next to the new pieces. The new pieces in these photos have not yet been fully polished.

 

[Shatteredzen]

Some additional photos showing the original guard, pommel, and grip, next to the new pieces. The new pieces in these photos have not yet been fully polished.

That looks great! Any opinions on new production swords from China? I bought a Ninjato on a lark from a Chinese forge to fulfill my inner child and was surprised when I received a really well forged blade. I feel like the production cost relative to the retail cost in the states is allowing for some decent Chinese forges to produce better stuff, but I know what you mean we have all seen the poor quality Wushu stuff from the 80's/90's.

 

[Flying Crane]

That looks great! Any opinions on new production swords from China? I bought a Ninjato on a lark from a Chinese forge to fulfill my inner child and was surprised when I received a really well forged blade. I feel like the production cost relative to the retail cost in the states is allowing for some decent Chinese forges to produce better stuff, but I know what you mean we have all seen the poor quality Wushu stuff from the 80's/90's.

I havent been keeping up with most of that stuff, I just rebuild something if the blade looks acceptable and the hilt is junk. Been a hobby of mine for 20 years or so. I’ve only done Chinese types, dao and jian.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

That looks great! Any opinions on new production swords from China? I bought a Ninjato on a lark from a Chinese forge to fulfill my inner child and was surprised when I received a really well forged blade. I feel like the production cost relative to the retail cost in the states is allowing for some decent Chinese forges to produce better stuff, but I know what you mean we have all seen the poor quality Wushu stuff from the 80's/90's.

I’ve seen some good reviews for swords from L.K. Chen, but I haven’t tried them myself.