First lighting of the newly rebuilt charcoal forge in the island kajiba followed by stamping the tang and then hand forging and filing a classical tanto style habaki, silver soldered in the charcoal forge and closely based on an antique Edo period habaki. Polishing and patinating will be done after the saya has been carved. information about the machigane | habaki making process
Tag Archives: Charcoal
Sumi-kiri – chopping charcoal for bladesmithing
Charcoal is chopped and then processed through four sizes of screen, the largest is for tanren, the second for hizukuri (I tend to use the largest for hizukuri as well and keep the second size mainly for yaki-ire), the third size isn’t… Continue reading
Making 篩 for charcoal screening
Traditional Japanese swordsmithing forges are fueled by softwood charcoal which is first chopped, screened, and sorted into several sizes for different stages of the forging process. The “furui” (篩) or sieve is used to separate different sizes of charcoal during the sumi-kiri process. This one is the smallest mesh of the four, made from window screen, and saves the fines for the charcoal bed and allows the powder to fall through. See the whole museum forge project here.
Making 箕 for charcoal sorting
Traditional Japanese swordsmithing forges are fueled by softwood charcoal which is first chopped, screened, and sorted into several sizes for different stages of the forging process. The winnowing basket shaped “mi” (箕) is used to store and move charcoal between screens during the sumi-kiri process. See the whole museum forge project here.
Soulsmithing part 5
Pierre Nadeau of soulsmithing.com prepares to light his new forge in Canada. The focus of this video is sumi-kiri, charcoal chopping, screening, and sorting techniques, and will offer some valuable details for astute observers. Read more about the project, or watch the… Continue reading
Testing Blacksmithing Charcoal
More about making softwood charcoal: How Charcoal is Made
Making Charcoal for Blacksmithing
More about making softwood charcoal: How Charcoal is Made
Chopping charcoal (sumi-kiri)
More about making blacksmithing charcoal: How Charcoal is Made
Charcoal Kiln V.3.0
We always seem to return to the roots eventually, don’t we? After a year of forging with charcoal made in Charcoal Retort V.2, it was time to address the issues with the system. The main one was that, though much improved from… Continue reading