Crossed Heart Forge

Design Your Own Knife: Tools for Satoyama


Tools for Satoyama: Choose a blade, hand crafted on Vancouver Island.

Step 1 – choose a blade

charcoal forged and clay tempered.


Tools for Satoyama: Design a knife, hand crafted on Vancouver Island.

Step 2 – design your knife

hand crafted from natural materials.


Tools for Satoyama: Design a knife, hand crafted on Vancouver Island.

Step 3 – adventure awaits

the journey and the destination.

A charcoal forged blade, water quenched with clay, sharpened with waterstones, and finished simply and humbly in the age-old style of farm and foresting tools used in managing satoyama, the borderlands between village and wilds.

Choose a Blade

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.

The water and clay hardening process historically developed for Japanese swords allows the temper of the high carbon steel to remain quite hard and is preferred by those who require a keen edge and are willing to take care of it.

Design Your Knife

Constructed in the style of a Japanese sword, only a single bamboo peg is required to hold the knife together. This beautifully simple design allows the knife to be taken apart for cleaning, detailed cutting tasks, or sharpening work.

Design Your Own: Stream Kotanto

$700 – $900

The narrower blade profile of the compact stream style kotanto is based on a classical yoroidoshi tanto and has a gradual drop point for detailed work.

Behind the Scenes

Crossed Heart Forge: Design your own tanto, hand crafted in Canada.
hand made charcoal
Tools for Satoyama: Design your own knife, hand crafted on Vancouver Island.
hand forged steel
Island Blacksmith: Design your own charcoal forged tanto made from reclaimed steel.
hand carved wood

“My approach as a craftsman is to work within the creative constraints of the classical tanto form and nihonto handle mounting technology, building on a foundation of Japanese swordsmithing aesthetic and technique.”

How the Knives Are Made

Island Blacksmith: Hand forged tanto reclaimed from carriage springs.
Historical Techniques
Island Blacksmith: Hand crafted tanto from natural materials.
Traditional Tools
Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged tanto from reclaimed steel.
Reclaimed Materials

Traditionally crafted knives for people who wish they could take things home from museums. Charcoal forged classical tanto & fusion style heirlooms made by hand from reclaimed and natural materials using 13th century techniques.

Making Charcoal from Scrap Wood

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged tanto, reclaimed steel.
The best forge fuel for high carbon steel tanto is softwood charcoal. The raw material is scrap wood from local sources such as furniture makers, carvers, and foresters.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged tanto, reclaimed steel.
The charcoal kiln is loaded, the door is put in place, the fire is tended for several hours until the steamy smoke changes colour, and then it is completely sealed until it cools down.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from harrow teeth.
After completely cooling the kiln is opened and the charcoal can be chopped and sorted into grades of bladesmithing charcoal and heat treating charcoal. (Watch .)

Finding the Raw Materials

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged tanto, reclaimed steel.
The blade steel is mainly curated from old homestead piles, this one formerly belonging to a blacksmith and farmer. Old farm equipment and carriage spring steel make great blades.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from harrow teeth.
Potential blade steels are tested using several methods to determine their suitability and the best approach for heat treatment. The older, lower alloy steels are preferred by our inspectors.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged tanto, reclaimed steel.
Carbon steel takes and holds a great edge and responds well to traditional water and clay yaki-ire hardening. These carriage springs may be well over a century old. (Watch .)

Forging the Blade from Reclaimed Steel

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
The elemental simplicity of a brick charcoal forge supplied with air from a hand powered wooden fuigo box bellows forms the starting place for the shaping of a blade.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
Most of the shaping can be done with well-placed blows from a hand hammer. Accurate forging makes the quickest and most efficient use of an entire piece of reclaimed steel.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from harrow teeth.
A well forged piece is very close to its final size and saves time and waste when hand filing to final shape. This also allows for the fire finish to remain on the blade. (Watch some .)

Hardening & Tempering the Blade

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged tanto, reclaimed steel.
The traditional yaki-ire hardening method using natural clay, charcoal, and rainwater can be risky but produces a hard cutting edge and a tough spine within a single piece of carbon steel.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from harrow teeth.
After the clay layer has dried, the blade is slowly heated to the colour of the august moon and then plunged into water. The exposed edge cools more quickly and forms a very hard steel structure.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
The body and spine of the blade cool more slowly and form a very tough steel structure. The rough stone finish on this blade reveals the temper line between the two areas. (Watch .)

Making the Fittings

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
Reclaimed copper from electrical bus bars is very pure and forges well. Other materials include wrought iron salvaged from the sea and forged into guards and seppa washers.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
Because the entire knife is held together with a single bamboo peg in the style of classical tanto, each metal and wood component must fit accurately on the tang of the blade.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged tanto, reclaimed steel.
The copper components are allowed to develop a fire patina or given a traditional rokusho style patina and then finished with buffed ibota wax or tung nut oil. (Watch .)

Making the Handle & Scabbard

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
The inside of handle and scabbard must fit the tang and blade precisely before the halves can be joined together with sokui (rice paste glue). (Learn about sokui.)

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
Shaping and finishing of the Nootka Cypress is based on the classical forms and is done with Japanese hand saws, planes, chisels, and kiridashi knives.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
The hand carved surface of the “Tools for Satoyama” style has facets that are highlighted by the fukiurushi lacquering technique. (Watch a kotanto mounting being .)

Lacquering with Natural Tree Urushi

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
The first layers of urushi lacquer are applied thinly and wiped off to seal the wood until fully cured. Then cotton or hemp cord is tied, stretched tightly, and saturated with urushi.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from harrow teeth.
For an ishimeji stone finish, crushed dried tea leaves are sprinkled into the wet urushi. After curing for several days, the tea leaves and cord are sealed and strengthened with lacquer.

Island Blacksmith: Charcoal forged knives reclaimed from files.
After several final layers of lacquer have fully cured, the blade is given its final edge using waterstones and the knife is ready to assemble. (Watch a kotanto being .)

Adventure Awaits

Choose a Blade

Are these knives custom made to order?
Yes! When your payment is received the project will begin, each knife is made to order, one at a time, by hand from reclaimed and natural materials.

Are they really made by hand?
In every sense of the word. There is no waterjetting, no belt grinder or buffing wheel, no power hammer, and no fossil fuels involved. From the time the steel is first placed in the fire to the final assembly, “Tools for Satoyama” are crafted by human hands and centuries-old techniques.

How long will it take to complete my knife?
Projects will be started in the order they arrive and completion time is generally about three months, but it can vary quite a bit. If you have a specific time goal you would like to aim for, please plan ahead accordingly and include your request as an order note.

Why does it take so long to handcraft my knife?
Actual hand working time is usually between 20 and 50 hours but there needs to be cooling/drying/curing time between each stage. By far the lacquer takes the most wait time and different types of urushi finishes and even the season of year will greatly affect the rate of curing.

Can I take my knife apart?
All of the components (blade, guard, and handle) are fit snugly and held together by the mekugi peg, removing the peg allows the knife to be taken apart for sharpening and cleaning. Lightly tapping a soft wood mallet against the front of the guard on each side will help when stuck.

More importantly, can I put it back together again?
The mekugi peg is designed to fit in only one position, check for the unbroken lines on the bamboo or the three lines filed in the hardwood peg and turn them towards the pommel (back of the handle). Make sure that the blade and guard are fully seated in their original positions before pressing the mekugi in place.

How accurate are the measurements given for each knife?
Due to the handmade and unique nature of the knives they are each different and may vary noticeably in measurement or style. Rarely are blades much shorter but if the steel is there they may go longer. If you have a specific measurement requirement (eg. a legal limit), please include your request as an order note.

Can I get more specific about certain finish and colour requests?
Want to select the option, “get creative” but don’t want any red, for example? If you have a specific idea, please include your request as an order note.

Can I send you my own legacy raw materials?
Want to use an old file from grandpa’s toolbox as your blade material? Have grandma’s silver spoon forged into a guard? This type of request is often possible, please include your request as an order note.

What about extra upgrades not listed in the options?
In certain cases it may be possible to upgrade to include options that are not listed above. If would like upgrade pricing information (eg. a wooden kurikata, a leather wrapped handle, a habaki, or a more refined lacquering style), please include your request as an order note.

Is there some care and maintenance information available?
In a nutshell: use carbon steel knives for tasks they were designed for and keep them sharp, clean, and dry. More detailed information can be found here: Knife Use & Care

How is this process different from a normal custom knife order?
This webpage for the “Tools for Satoyama” project aims to create a simpler and more time/cost effective way for clients to personally design and order a handmade custom knife. The grouped options and minimal components help to streamline the decision making process.

How do the “Tools for Satoyama” knives differ from a custom classical tanto?
The core quality and process is the same for both, but three main differences that contribute to the 100-150 hours labour for a classical tanto are the size (larger blades take more time and resources), the number of components and fittings (fully mounted tanto can have 12 or more parts), and the finish of each part (polishing the blade and fittings, complex urushi finishes and handle wrappings).

Are there more detailed terms and conditions for ordering?
More details and the standard terms for ordering knives can be found here: Terms & Conditions

Get in Touch

Want to order a full sized satoyama style tanto or a custom classical tanto instead? Do it here. More questions? Please contact info@islandblacksmith.ca

back to choose a blade cart & checkout

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