LK Chen – Saxony German Rapier
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$559.99
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- Every blade inspected before shipping
- 30-day returns
- Class
- Battle Ready
- Blade
- GB 60Si2MnA High Carbon Manganese Spring Steel
- Weight
- 3 lbs 1 oz
- Brand
- LK Chen
- Culture
- German
- Era
- Renaissance
Overview
LK Chen - Saxony German Rapier
The "Saxony" from LK Chen is a recreation of a beautiful 16th century German rapier, inspired by the fine collection of German Renaissance Rapier in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Arts and other European museum collections. The forged blade is crafted from well tempered GB 60Si2MnA High Carbon Manganese Spring Steel with a sharpened edge. The hilt is cast from stainless steel with a dull gray finish. The grip is bound in tight braided wire surmounted by wire knotwork. Included with the sword is a wooden scabbard which is bound in leather and completed with a protective stainless steel chape.
This is another exacting recreation that LK Chen has taken on, with with valuable input from experts in the details of its decoration and construction methods such as the braiding of the elaborate "Turkish head" wire knots in the hilt.
Please Note: The guard / hilt of the sword has a dull gray finish which looks brighter under studio photography lights. It is normal and common for there to be some minor blemishes, such as scuffs / scratches on the finish present.
Specifications
Every measurement that matters
- Brand
- LK Chen
- Culture
- German
- Era
- Renaissance
- Pommel
- Threaded
- Blade Length
- 40 3/8"
- Blade
- GB 60Si2MnA High Carbon Manganese Spring Steel
- Weight
- 3 lbs 1 oz
- Edge
- Very Sharp
- P.O.B.
- 3 3/8"
- Thickness
- 7.5 mm - 2 mm
- Width
- 34 mm
- Grip Length
- 4"
- Class
- Battle Ready
- Country of Origin
- China
Reviews
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Q&A
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Video
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LK Chen Saxony German Rapier Review
A Rapier that Cuts Better than a Two-handed Greatsword? LK Chen Saxony German Military Rapier Review
The Maker
LK Chen
LK Chen produces faithful recreations of historical Chinese swords and weapons  with highly precise blade geometry and balance. They take great efforts to adhere to the authenticity of a weapon and its particular historical era in order to produce the most accurate recreations available.
Often paired together
Bought the blemished grade, does have 2 blemishes other than the minor nothings this sword is awsome, quality scabbard and sword, a very fine sword. I have probably 25 swords, this is number one. Very thick ricasso as many originals are so it is heavy at the grip, wrist strengthening needed to wield but I won’t be wielding this sword in a sword fight, again it’s just an awsome piece.
Every Sword-Tuber out there has already said it: this thing is amazing. Before LK Chen, your options were a pretty wall-hanger (Windlass) or a $2K+ high end Arms&Armor piece. That’s a lot to invest even if you’re really positive you want one. This sword comes in and delivers a historically accurate affordable replica with every blade stat maxed out to 100 out of 100. Sharpness, single continuous bevel, tempering, geometry, durability. Is the hilt finish perfect? No. But the bare blade and simple scabbard are easily worth double the msrp. The complex hilt is cast/sandblasted, but shaped correctly. Mainly it’s an absolutely devastating weapon. Badassery in rapier form? Sign me up!
I held off on buying this initially because I did not like the idea of a stainless steel guard with the rough grey sand blasted finish. I fixed that ( see below ) . Right out of the box the blade by itself is worth more than KOA’s price. The wire grip is gorgeous. The complex hilt is very strong. The hilt bars are beautifully ridged. If they were round bar stock then the knuckle side would correspond roughly to 1/4 inch round rod and on the thumb side 3/8 inch round . I cannot bend one foot long pieces of 1/4″or 3/8″ stainless steel rods with my bare hands. Casting the complex hilt in one piece like this would certainly be stronger than what they did in the 1500’s where they would have hammered hot pieces of iron or mild steel together. Higher carbon steel would need much more heat and big heavy hammers which would be unrealistic for making a complex hilts.
What did I do about the very rough sandblasted complex guard ? I bought a needle file set from Amazon ( $ 14 ) and filed off the casting marks and the sandblasting. It has taken some time but the result is breathtaking. It shines. Even my wife thinks is beautiful. Not a mirror polish ( but they would not have done that often in the past ). When you do this sort of thing it’s important to know when to stop .
Is this a typical rapier ? I am not sure that such a thing exists. Historical pieces show great variation . In the 1500′ s there could easily be war when there was not supposed to be war. Powerful families and factions competing for money and power. Murder was just a day at the office . Dark city streets could be places where you might have to fight as if you were in a war. You may not have wanted to go around with a breastplate , gauntlets , and a two handed war sword in the city , but something with cut and thrust authority could be nice. This sword would do nicely. The generous hilt size allows for both and hammer and ricasso grips. For example if someone grabs you could lift the hilt high and thrust down using the hammer ( shank ) grip. Vikings in a shield wall. The ricasso grip is good for lunge thrusts.
After a bit of detail work this sword exceeds all my expectations and is worth much more than I paid. Thanks KOA and LK Chen.
Absolutely stunning. I was amazed at the quality and light weight feel of the Saxony rapier. It is very long and so very good to have a high quality frog but I absolutely love this. I’m definitely getting the lk chen munich sword next
Very good cutter, especially for a thrust centered sword like a rapier. Really like the wire wrapped hilt, though there are some rough spots. This is OK because for a metal hilt, I am wearing my gloves anyway. Aesthetically, it is basically flawless, especially for a battlefield ready military rapier. It is fully functional, agile, and extremely long blade, even longer than my two handed 15th century Italian long sword. I would say this is an “authoritative” rapier. Not massive enough to cut tree limbs (nor should it be), but water bottles and tatami are a breeze with this. A bit demanding in terms of being a single handed sword, expect a good work out!