Yes, he is. And the hand-hammerd part is what made me choose it. I looked all over the internet and couldn't find anything quite like it. Thanks for the review!

I wanted to follow up to say that the seller (taost on ebay) just got back to me and he (or she, not sure) agrees that once it's cleaned and seasoned the wok should be fine. :)

Good advice! Thanks.

Thanks. That helps me put my mind at ease. May I ask what you scrubbed yours with? Ewoks says not to use anything abrasive but over here (http://www.culinate.com/articles/feat...) Grace Young is using something like steel wool! :O

I just bought one of these for a friend.

Just curious, did yours have a few "duller" spots where it seems a shiny coating has been scraped off? I'm hoping this is just some kind of coating that's meant to protect the wok during shipping and handling, but I've never owned a wok myself so I really don't know.

I'm happy to say I've had a good experience with the seller so far... I don't want meant to discourage anyone from buying or imply that there's anything wrong. I just want to make sure the wok is ok before I give it to my friend!