A rover kotanto with a charcoal-forged 1965 Series 2a Land Rover leaf spring steel blade, water quenched with clay and sharpened with waterstones, a small knife that has the foundation of the Japanese sword, a simple wooden mounting accented with a detailed sword part.
The subtle and rustic appearance of hammer marks on the blade and hand-carved wooden handle finished with 100% natural urushi made from tree sap—reminiscent of hand-hewn beams in a kominka farm house that are darkened by years of smoke drifting up from the irori hearth.
Forged from a reclaimed 1965 Series 2a Land Rover leaf spring, the deeper blade profile of the field style kotanto is based on a kamakura katana and has an elegant taper with slight drop point. The temper of this high carbon steel blade has been left relatively hard in order to hold a keen edge for tasks such as wood carving and hand work. This particular combination of steel and heat treatment is well suited to users who require a good edge and are willing to take care of it.
The tang is constructed in a similar manner to a Japanese sword requiring only a single bamboo peg to hold the knife assembly together. In addition to the sense of beautiful simplicity, this design allows the knife to be taken apart for cleaning, polishing, detailed cutting tasks, or major resharpening work.
The handle and scabbard are carved from hardwood and finished in traditional fukiurushi lacquer to a beautiful deep colour. Solid silver gold plated nos kirimaru menuki paired with a forged reclaimed brass seppa accent the handle and the removable peg is carved from susudake, a piece of bamboo that served for a century or more as part of the ceiling or roof in a kominka, darkened and hardened by decades of smoke wafting up from the irori hearth.
The blade is just over 4.25″ long, the overall length is 8.25″, and around 9.75″ when sheathed. The spine at the munemachi is about 5mm thick.
Katachi (geometry): hira-zukuri, iori-mune (peaked spine)
Hamon (edge pattern): suguha
Boshi (tip pattern): ko-maru
Nakago (tang): futsu, kuri-jiri, one mekugi-ana
Mei (signature): mumei (unsigned)
Koshirae (mounting): satoyama aikuchi style, issaku (except for the menuki)
Materials: reclaimed Series 2a Land Rover leaf spring steel, brass doorplate, reclaimed hardwood, natural urushi lacquer, susudake bamboo, silver and gold kirimaru menuki
This piece is in a private collection in California.
Process
This knife was forged and underwent yaki-ire at the museum forge. It began as a section of leaf spring from a 1965 Series 2a Land Rover, which seems to be listed as 60sicr8 steel and has not changed formulation since 1948 when the very first series 1 Rover was built.
Ready for a day at the museum forge, the old 1966 Rover still earning its keep hauling tools overland at almost 60 years running (and on its original springs).
A load of several hundred pounds of tools ready for a day at the forge.
Opening the forge and preparing to unload the tools and steel.
This knife began as a section of leaf spring from a 1965 Series 2a Land Rover, nearing the end of its useful service life on a vehicle that was undergoing restoration.
A cold chisel was used to separate the leaves of the spring.
The leaves are cut and sorted by size and condition before forging to shape on the anvil.
The charcoal swordsmith style forge with hand-powered wooden box bellows is used to heat the steel as it is forged.
View across the forge and out to the forest between heats on a cool and cloudy spring morning.
After many heats the steel has been forged almost entirely to its final shape using a hand hammer. A small amount of hand filing forms the notches and cleans up the spine, bevels, and tang, completing the profile.
A mixture of natural clay, charcoal powder, and polishing stone powder is prepared with water. Adding the thin clay layer delays the cooling of the body of the blade during yaki-ire (hardening).
After the clay dries, the steel is heated carefully in the forge to the lowest possible red-hot critical temperature and plunged into water to cool quickly. If it survives the stressful process of yaki-ire a knife will have been born.
The blade has survived the process of yaki-ire, due to the differential cooling rates the edge is now very hard while the spine of the blade remains tough and ductile, the best of both realms.
A scrap of hardwood will become the handle and scabbard. A kanna (hand plane) is used to smooth the halves inside.
The tang and blade are carefully laid out and traced using the tip of a kiridashi (carving knife).
Using a saya-nomi (scabbard chisel) and kiridashi (carving knife) the handle halves are carved inside to fit the tang snugly.
The halves must fit together and hold the tang firmly, the omote half completely supports the edge of the tang.
The handle halves ready to glue together.
The scabbard halves are carved next, carefully aligning them with the handle halves.
The interior carved and ready for fixing together using nikawa (hide glue).
Once the glue has been allowed to cure for a week, the exterior can be shaped using kanna (hand planes), chisels, and kiridashi knives.
Excess wood is first removed from the exterior of the blocks as they are squared and smoothed down to approximate dimensions.
The outline is further refined towards the finished shape using mameganna (small hand plane).
The final profile is shaped using mameganna and finally the ends of the handle and scabbard are sawn to length and shaped with a kiridashi and files.
A seppa (blade washer) is roughly cut from an annealed reclaimed brass door push plate using hammer, chisel, and shears.
The nakago ana is carefully shaped and filed to envelope the tang.
The back is carefully punched to provide contact points with the tang.
And then the seppa profile is traced from the handle and cut roughly with a chisel.
The final shape is filed to the line and then the edge is coined using an edo-period filing technique.
The placement for the mekugi-ana is chosen and drilled through the tang using an antique hand-cranked post drill and then, with the knife assembled, through the handle using a kiri (hand drill, shown).
The mekugi (retaining peg) is carved from susudake, bamboo that has spent the greater part of a century as part of the ceiling or roof inside a kominka farmhouse, darkened and strengthened by the smoke from the hearth.
The surface of the wood is smoothed with fine files and the mounting is ready for lacquering.
After the natural fukiurushi has cured over several days the kirimon menuki are glued into carved notches with nikawa (hide glue).
Once fully cured the blade is sharpened, and the knife is ready for final assembly.
