Michael,
I've merged your thread with an existing one on this sword. :)

Thanks. Sorry for not noticing it.

Yes, it is suspicious, but maybe we just underestimate the power of the cheap indian labor force. ;) I seriously doubt Hanwei would dare to market something as pattern welding if it was only some etched surface pattern...

I had Godfred and I was more or less satisfied with it but then it got a shallow crack in the top part of the blade and I was afraid of delamination so I replaced it. Probably it wasn't serious and it would serve long but I was a bit scared and I didn't want to risk. Temper seemed quite good though... I think the pattern was real although I can't be sure... But Godfred I think is not made of multiple rods like Saxon seems to be so it's easier to temper it well I would say...

Hanwei is based in China. I doubt they're using cheap Indian labor when cheap Chinese labor can be found in their factory already....

I have just bought (and sold) the new Hanwei pattern welded sword. It looked like a genuine pattern weld to me and other people in Regia Anglorum. I will be getting my next one tomorrow and already have an interested customer. They are fantastic value when compared to the Godfred sword, which is similarly priced.

The Godfred is NOT pattern welded in the traditional saxon/Viking style it is 'crucible steel'. This is done by lining up various layers of steel of various types and heating them until almost molten and then dropping a large hammer on them to fuse them together. The resultant bar can then be folded and the process repeated, This is a modern version of how the Japanese did pattern welding done in a much cheaper way. European pattern welding used twisted rods that give the 'herring bone' pattern.


Druid

I agree with those of you who found the aestethics of the hilt less than satisfying. There's a slight clumsiness about it, as if the designer had an idea about what a Saxon hilt should look like, but not quite getting it.

ya, i remember my Godfred being Damascus not pattern welded

Nothing to do with the Anglo Saxon sword, but I own a Godfred and a Marshall "Damascus". Neither displayed an evident pattern on the bevels, since they are machine ground, and this obliterates the pattern. It is achievable with etching. Both are composed of Swedish K120c powdered steel. The William Marshall exhibits a twisted pattern in the fuller, though I cannot say how it was achieved. It is definitely not separate bars welded edge to edge, though the Anglo Saxon may be, I do not know. Neither are Damascus since that is a new and loosely used term for pattern welded. I would not expect them to be pattern welded in a traditional sense, since they are new swords, and are quite inexpensive. Like M. Thibodeau, I have bent my Godfred to likely 60 degrees with no trouble.

Here is a tremendous sword with a glimpse of how it is done by the Master Jake Powning. I post this without his permission hoping that he does not sue me.

http://www.powning.com/jake/commish/willowraven.shtml