In the early years under Master Liao Yuan he mostly used Fu An steel (so named because it was produced in Fujian Province's Anxi County). This steel had many impurities and required intensive working. Chen would work two catties of Fu An steel into a bar of high-grade steel weighing only a quarter of that amount.
早期跟隨了圓法師時，大部分使用福安鐵（產於福建省安溪的土鐵），由於雜質相當多，需經千錘百鍊，才能從兩斤重的福安鐵中打造出約八兩的精鋼。