Island Forge: Part 3 – Roof
This series of photo essays will document the preparation, construction, and set up of a simple swordsmith style kajiba (鍛冶場, forge building) from the ground up. The main inspiration for aesthetic, form, and technique is the humble Japanese inaka farm building style of a century ago. Framing & Sheeting The roof was assembled on the…
Island Forge: Part 2 – Timber Frame
This series of photo essays will document the preparation, construction, and set up of a simple swordsmith style kajiba (鍛冶場, forge building) from the ground up. The main inspiration for aesthetic, form, and technique is the humble Japanese inaka naya (納屋) style of a century ago. Joinery The Western Red Cedar timbers were milled locally…
Island Forge: Part 1 – Foundation
This series of photo essays will document the preparation, construction, and set up of a simple swordsmith style kajiba (鍛冶場, forge building) from the ground up. The main inspiration for aesthetic, form, and technique is the humble Japanese inaka naya (納屋) building style of a century ago. Foundation The location for the kajiba slopes down…
Film: Study the Old to Know the New
In a forge on Vancouver Island, reclaimed steel is turned into tanto. Directed, Photographed, and Edited by Trevor Komori Location Sound: Sean Brouwer B Camera Operator: Liam Leyland Music Composed by Kurtis So Production Assistants: Vivian Hu & Judy Zheng still images | behind the scenes | making this tanto | view on youtube
Glass Top Fuigo – Inside View of Box Bellows
A look at the inside operation of a prototype fuigo (鞴) box bellows…four wooden flap valves (called ben / は弁), two for intake and two for the manifold, control the direction and location of the airflow on each stroke of the piston to provide double action to the single output into the fire. more about…
Making a Bamboo Scoop for Water Forging
Simple technology for pouring water on the anvil, takeno mizusashi (竹の水差し) made from a piece of bamboo. Forging with a thin film of water on the anvil and hammer prevents forge scale or oxide from being hammered into the surface of the steel. The hot steel instantly vaporizes the water and the resulting steam explosion…
Making a Handle for a Japanese Swordsmithing Hammer
Traditional Japanese swordsmithing hammers have rectangular eyes with no taper. The handles are not wedged but are held in place by a compression fit involving careful shaping, hand forged wood (kigoroshi, 木殺し), and soaking in water. The wood is shaped a mm or two oversized, compressed by hammering, and then driven through the eye. When…
Making Fire with Bamboo – museum forge first lighting
The first night turned out to be quite an event as there were three forges and six blacksmiths/strikers operating in the museum workshop. Thanks to Tim of Reforged Ironworks, and Josh for their energy and charcoal chopping to get the forge up and running, and their assistance swinging the big sledges to finish drifting and…
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 useful in daily forging activity but may be crushed into fines or saved…
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…
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.
Building a Charcoal Tanto Forge
This forge is a scaled down version specifically geared for tanto and smaller knives but has a removable spacer to allow for a larger fire when needed. Details about traditional measurements and clay mixtures here.
Museum Forge Project
Building western Canada’s only full-sized traditional Japanese style swordsmith forge. See the whole process and more video here.
Making a Swordsmith Anvil from Scrap
A Japanese swordsmith style anvil made from junkyard scrap. The two side pieces are cast steel or iron John Deere 8255C rear counterweights from a shovel dozer. They weigh about 200-240lbs each and measure about 2 1/8″ x 14 3/4″ x 25″. There is a ‘T’ shaped face and stem that extends to the ground…
Building a Traditional Swordsmith Forge
Traditional Japanese swordsmithing forges are purpose-built with certain design elements specific to the tasks involved in tanren and hizukuri. This article will discuss several of the features that are common to this type of construction and follow the process of crafting a swordsmith’s forge at a museum on Vancouver Island. (see the updated workspace) Most…