Description

The very first blade forged from a small piece of very old and rare salvaged shear steel mining car rail more than a century old. This small rustic outdoor blade with a lot of character needs some edge work to finish and sharpen it in diy style.

The clay tempered test blade was hand forged in a charcoal fire and still bears the hammer marks, pitting from a dozen decades of corrosion, and other surface textures but appears to be mostly sound other than a shallow area along the spine of the tang.

One side (the ura) was partially polished and reveals some hada (surface grain texture) from the layers of steel forged together. It has been left as tempered and the edge is about 1/2mm thick and ready for its final bevel. The final edge work should only be done by hand on a waterstone or diamond stone to avoid damaging the temper. The tang is unhardened and may be drilled to suit the final mounting.

The blade is about 3.5″ long and the overall length is just under 6″. The spine at its thickest is about 3mm. Finished with a light coat of 100% natural tung oil.

Specifications

長さ/刃長 Nagasa (blade length): 88mm
重ね/元重 Motokasane (spine thickness): 3mm
元幅 Motohaba (blade width): 14mm
中心/茎 Nakago (tang length): 60mm

形 Katachi (geometry): hira-zukuri, maru-mune (rounded spine, but with iori/peaked at the tip)
銘 Mei (signature): mumei (unsigned)
拵 Koshirae (mounting): none

Materials: reclaimed mining car rail shear steel

Process

This piece was forged at the museum forge. It began as a pre-1900s mining car rail web made from very rare layered shear steel that has a lot of character.

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