Korean swords

Jeff Pringle · 11th September 2008, 04:15 PM

This sword showed up recently on ebay, and was described as a 19th Century Korean blade. It did not attract much interest, perhaps because it did not look particularly 19th C. nor much like the Korean examples from the History of Steel exhibit cited as similar. I figured it was a decorative copy of Korean sword, but threw a bid at it anyway because a friend of mine is studying Kuk Sool Won and has been badgering me and another swordsmith for a Korean sword with which she can do the sword forms of that martial art, and I figured there might be some useful info to be gleaned from even a decorative copy.
The auction ended with my bid on top, and when the sword arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find the blade not only heat treated, but also made of folded steel! The heat treating is of what I presume to be a distinctive Korean style, one that I have only noticed in the few historic Korean blades whose images are on line. The hardened edge starts well above the hilt, and as it approaches the point it dips down towards the edge and stays close as it sweeps around the point of the blade. This style of tempering would almost guarantee that your sword would not snap off at the hilt or lose its point in battle, though I bet you’d find it more likely to take a bend down by the hilt if the blade were subject to lateral forces. It would be interesting to find out if Korean martial arts take this style of heat treating into account in the way the sword is used, especially in comparison to the martial arts of cultures that have a more uniform heat treating style.
Due to the simplified blade geometry & construction as compared to authentically old Korean swords, as well as the character of the steel, I suspect this is an example of a revivalist Korean sword maker’s work, from the 1960s or 1970s…however there is not much info out there to help confirm or deny this suspicion. If anyone finds a reference that has info on Korean swords like this one, dao-based geometry without a collar on the base of the blade, it would help me place this one in its proper history.

11th September 2008, 04:15 PM	#5
Jeff Pringle Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 189	This sword showed up recently on ebay, and was described as a 19th Century Korean blade. It did not attract much interest, perhaps because it did not look particularly 19th C. nor much like the Korean examples from the History of Steel exhibit cited as similar. I figured it was a decorative copy of Korean sword, but threw a bid at it anyway because a friend of mine is studying Kuk Sool Won and has been badgering me and another swordsmith for a Korean sword with which she can do the sword forms of that martial art, and I figured there might be some useful info to be gleaned from even a decorative copy. The auction ended with my bid on top, and when the sword arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find the blade not only heat treated, but also made of folded steel! The heat treating is of what I presume to be a distinctive Korean style, one that I have only noticed in the few historic Korean blades whose images are on line. The hardened edge starts well above the hilt, and as it approaches the point it dips down towards the edge and stays close as it sweeps around the point of the blade. This style of tempering would almost guarantee that your sword would not snap off at the hilt or lose its point in battle, though I bet you’d find it more likely to take a bend down by the hilt if the blade were subject to lateral forces. It would be interesting to find out if Korean martial arts take this style of heat treating into account in the way the sword is used, especially in comparison to the martial arts of cultures that have a more uniform heat treating style. Due to the simplified blade geometry & construction as compared to authentically old Korean swords, as well as the character of the steel, I suspect this is an example of a revivalist Korean sword maker’s work, from the 1960s or 1970s…however there is not much info out there to help confirm or deny this suspicion. If anyone finds a reference that has info on Korean swords like this one, dao-based geometry without a collar on the base of the blade, it would help me place this one in its proper history. Attached Images