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Tag Archives: process
Process: Making the Mountain Kotanto
The wider profile of the mountain style kotanto is inspired by a kamakura sword and has a more deeply curved tip (fukura-tsuku) and shorter drop point. The simple and humble mounting style is inspired by the age-old style of farming and foresting… Continue reading
Silver Soldering Habaki with a Charcoal Forge & Fuigo
A clip from yesterday’s work: silver soldering a habaki with the charcoal forge & fuigo box bellows. Watch the machigane area and you can see the solder begin to melt and flow around 0:40 until it is pulled out to stop the… Continue reading
Arashiage – Hand Filing a Forged Tanto
Hand filing a classical tanto style blade forged from half of a reclaimed horse carriage leaf spring. (4x) Arashiage is the rough shaping stage that comes after hizukuri (fire shaping) and before yaki-ire (hardening). Serious students of the forge can read more and watch the full process version here.
Making a Mountain Tanto
The wider profile of the mountain style tanto is inspired by a kamakura sword and has a more deeply curved tip (fukura-tsuku) and shorter drop point. The simple and humble mounting style is inspired by the age-old style of farming and foresting… Continue reading
Making a Tanto Style Takedown Handle
The tang and handle of a classical tanto are constructed in a manner that requires only a single bamboo peg to hold the entire knife assembly together. In addition to the sense of beautiful simplicity, this design allows the knife to be… Continue reading
Sounds of the Workshop: Tanto Overview
The tools are simple and few, but the work is long and hard. A collection of clips documenting the steps and sounds involved at many stages of the process of crafting charcoal forged classical tanto and mountings from reclaimed materials. Footage from several recent projects is included, some extended and some previously unreleased, some from Japan and some from Canada, photos of the finished aikuchi tanto appears at the end of the video.
Touzai Tanto
Touzai (東西) can be literally translated “East West” and carries the idea of spanning across distance or covering and including everywhere. There is also a saying, “kokontouzai” (古今東西) which means for all time and all places, literally “old, now, East, West”. This… Continue reading
Making Sekigane for a Wrought Iron Tsuba
Guards for classical Japanese style takedown knives are generally formed as variations of flat discs that slide over the tang. When working with wrought iron or steel, small copper inserts called sekigane (責金) are often used to prevent contact between the blade… Continue reading
Making an Outdoor Knife
The Japanese swordsmithing tradition has been in place for generations and many of the design elements have been tested and refined for centuries. With careful study and practice, this can be a solid foundation for today’s bladesmiths and knifemakers to build their… Continue reading
You Need A Swordsmith’s Fuigo Box Bellows
Japanese style box bellows (fukisashi/吹差鞴) reached their current and finalized form by about the sixth century. They are constructed almost entirely of wood and allow a smith to supply a highly controlled air blast to the forge by pulling and pushing the… Continue reading
Case Study: Making a Hon-Yaki Nata
Nata (屶, directly translated “mountain sword”, or 鉈) come in various sizes and shapes, but most fit the description of a light brush hatchet or heavy camp knife. Common characteristics include thick spines and heavy blades, often with single beveled edges similar… Continue reading