In our opinion, Hanwei has improved light years since we first started using their swords in the early nineties. The forging and polishing of the blades, the quality of the fittings, and the materials and workmanship in the tsuka have begun to approach the quality of modern Japanese shinken, at a fraction of the cost. Here at AJS, we use the Hanwei Practical Katana primarily for tameshigiri, but also for iaido practice. - Buy these custom swords at the AJS store.

1. FEATURED SWORDS:
   

2. HANWEI PRACTICAL KATANA
   

3. “The ever-popular Practical Katana gives the martial artist the opportunity to own and use a Hanwei sword at the cost of an economy sword. The blades are forged and differentially hardened, using the same process as the more expensive blades and producing an HRC60 edge and HRC40 back. The temper line is authentic and prominent. Cost savings are effected by using fittings which, while making no claims to authenticity, are very strongly built to withstand the rigors of cutting exercises in the dojo.” - from the CAS Hanwei site.
   

4. These are custom versions of the Practical Katana, specifically requested by Iaido.Com for Eishin-Ryu practitioners. We asked Hanwei to custom make 9-inch tsuka for these swords instead of the standard 11 1/4-inches.
   

5. Key Features:
   

6.     * Forged high-carbon steel blade
   

7.     * Differentially Hardened
   

8.     * Hanwei Quality
   

9. Specifications:
   

10. Blade length:  27 1/4“
    

11. Handle length:   9”
    

12. Weight:  2lb 4oz
    

13. Specs vary slightly from piece to piece.
    

14. Buy these custom swords at the AJS store.
    

15. See the fine Meijin Custom Katana.