How important is folding the blade?
Don’t confuse forged with folded because they are not the same. The folding process used for nihonto (traditionally made Japanese katana) is part of the refinement process for the steel. It produces a subtle hada (grain) in the surface of the blade. If you want a blade that has those characteristics – you want a folded blade. Many production shinken are not folded. They are made from a single monolithic piece of steel. We have not found any correlation between folded vs. mono swords and cutting ability, durability, or edge retention. The steel used and the tempering process are much more important for the functionality of the sword. Folded blades are much closer to traditional nihonto and that is worth the price for many people. The downside of folded blades is the possibility of weld failures between layers. Unless done correctly – the folded blade may be much less durable that a mono-steel equivalent. Everyone seems to want to know how many times the blade is folded. Some manufacture
