Sorry to say, but Forge Direct is Now Entirely Archived.. Here’s Why..

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On the heels of the good news about the long awaited restock of the Euro line of Swords by Ronin Katana, there is some bad news for fans of the Forge Direct Japanese line..

I have mentioned the crux of the issue in the December issue of the Sword Buyers Digest Online Magazine, and in even more detail on this thread on the SBG Sword Forum – but for those of you playing at home..

Basically, there have been some major changes to production of sword components over in China due to (valid) pollution concerns, and all the tsuba and koshirae you see that are made from zinc alloy, brass or copper with gold and silver inlay are – simply not available anymore and are no longer in production until new suppliers set up new, eco friendly factories.

I can’t argue with the need for this, and in the long run, its a good thing. But in the short term, it means that all the koshirae (sword fitting sets – Tsuba, Fuchigashira) like those pictured below to the left are no longer an option..

However, iron Sukashi tsuba are usually made in house by the large sword forges (and the forge who makes our swords for Forge Direct are certainly one of those). So in short, we needed to pull the entire product line and allow them time to re-tool,  make new tsuba and see where we are up to over the coming months.

As mentioned, existing orders are all okay – but we can’t take any new ones for the time being.

I will keep you all posted as new developments occur.

Less Products? Well, Yes..

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Just a quick general update on the store – for the last couple of days rather than adding new products to the store, I have been going over our current selection with a fine tooth comb to find and remove products that either I have found that are not as good as we first thought, and to do away with our selection of armor, training swords, and blunts..

There are several reasons for this.

One is that most of our site visitors tend to be like me – they are not really re-enactors and don’t seriously plan to train in HEMA or the Japanese Sword Arts, they just want a really cool sword at a good price that they can occasionally cut stuff up with – be it water filled bottles, cardboard shipping tubes, tatami mats, bamboo – you name it. And we have found that after getting the same question time and time again – namely, ‘are your swords sharp, full, tang, etc’ it made sense to concentrate on only swords that fit this criterion.

The transition is not yet 100% complete, but as we never really sold very many bucklers, armor, training swords and gear, etc – and they ended up getting a bit neglected and not properly monitored for stock like we do our main sword lines – to keep it simple we decided to remove such products entirely and concentrate on what we do best.

Battle ready, sharpened swords like the originals.

This way, we can give a clearer answer in the future – yes, all of our swords are sharp, battle ready, full tang, and well tempered.

Also, while I am providing a generalized update, some of you may have noticed that we recently upgraded the store and the main site with SSL security. While our payment processors have always been 100% secure, and this upgrade was not really necessary – the extra level of protection now makes our sites some of the most secure around, and helps to reassure everyone that your information is more secure than ever before.

Two New Hot Specials from Dragon King

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The Hot Specials Section is bursting at the seams right now with two new extremely hot specials from our friends at Dragon King.

Until recently these swords were sold for $829.99 each – but from now until the end of the month you can pick them up at almost half price for just $499.99 with FREE SHIPPING in the USA.

Considering that these T10 tool steel blades have such a stunning level of polish, amazing quality fittings and are some of the best sub $1000 swords currently on the market, this is a deal that you really should take a close look at if you are a fan of high quality Japanese style swords.

I mean, just take a look at how crisp, clean and prominent the polish is on the natural hamon and you will see that they are in a league of their own.

Stunning natural hamon with high level polish

Geometric Yokotote with high end polish and thick and juicy boshi

But as the complete package, the blades are complimented by top quality fittings assembled with an eye for detail that has made Dragon King one of the very best of the best in just a couple of years.

An example of the workmanship of the Kohaku Katana..

It really doesn’t get much better than this for a production sword – and when you consider that they are just $499.99 (and shipping is FREE) – yeah, need I say more?

Click here to see the Hot Specials Line Up

Hanwei Forge Medieval Swords Update

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For fans of fully functional, affordable and ready to ship medieval swords – this is the restock you have been waiting for..

Some of Hanwei’s best designs have just been restocked – including the hard to get Tinker Pearce collaborations such as the Sharp Longsword and Sharp Bastard Sword (less than 5 of each available) and the classic and affordable (starting at $199.99) beater swords from the classic medieval series.

Many of these swords have not been available for over 6 months, and stocks are sorely limited. So definitely get in while you can.

Check out the full range here

(Sorry, USA orders only)