Japanese Blades!

Japanese styled blades are a recent addition to my obsession. I grew up on "Saturday Morning Kung-Fu Theater" (good thing!), which got most of us hooked at a young age! This seemed to spawn a flurry of cheap blade sets and I was soon accustomed to the crap found in mall shops and surplus stores (bad thing!). Then came those turtle things and everyone wanted to be a "ninja" (Even worse thing!) and throwing stars, nunchucks and all the other assorted things got their second round of a flurry of mass production. I soon started to hate all Japanese weapons! Almost a decade later, I started checking out the Sword Forum site and saw a modern traditionaly made katana. It was amazing, intimidating and inspiring all at the same time. Although I've since lost the jpeg image, I can still vividly picture it in my mind. Ever since then (2001) I've been researching deeper and deeper into the "how's and why's" of Japanese blade forging and checking out just about every Japanese blade related site on the internet!. After a year or so of reading and learning, I started creating. Learning experiences at first (...hence, I cracked the hell out of most everything I quenched!) but finally some finished blades worthy of handles. Below are some pictures of the forging and quenching of some of the blades. I'm focusing on tantos for now with the occasional wakizashi. Finished blades will be showcased here. Occasionally, I will have one available for sale.

Here's one of the first ones (W1 steel). I had a real nice shape going on it, but got a bit agressive on the heat treat. The result was a severe crack.

Take 2...no cracks, but hamon is a too low" (W1 Steel)!

Take 5...even better results (1095 steel)!

A 20" wak blade from W1. Lots of neat stuff going one here.

Getting there... This one needs the lines cleaned up a bit. Made from 1084 steel.

Here's the beginnings of a scabbard for one.

Here's the beginnings of a high layer count one done in a san-mai style. the "skin" is 1050/1095 and the core is 1084 carbon steel. The contrast is exaggerated due to using a scanner to make the pic. In true light, the pattern is much more subtle. This one should be really neat when mounted and finished.

What all goes into making one of these? First off, I'm not an expert at Japanese blades! However, I do believe that any accomplished bladesmith with patience can do a decent job at one of these. Experimentation, learning, and knowing the difference between "good" and "scrap heap time" seem to be the key elements. Anyways, the following highlights some of the steps I go through in making one.
First is steel selection. I do not use tamahagane, nor am I folding the steel for most of the current blades. I generally use plain carbon steels. My favorite is W1 tool steel. This is easy under the hammer, takes a nice finish, and gets a nicely defined hamon. Not to mention, W1 drill rod is one of the cheapest sources of new steel! Here you see some 5/8" drill rod being hammered out flat and rough shaped into a blade.
After forging to basic shape, I grind the blank to about 75% of it's final shape. Quenching these is pretty rough on the blade, so be sure and leave 1/16" thickness along the edge. I generally take it down to 220 grit at this stage.
Next goes the clay. I've tried a variety of clays. Likewise, you'll find a wide sampling of recipes on-line. I've gone back and forth between satanite and a few other mixes. I used to use some refractory mortar from Rutland combined with good ol' Texas gumbo clay. This worked great, but was a pain to get off the blade afterwards. I have now gone back to Satanite. I add a touch of a high silica wet mortar from Rutland which helps the satanite stick to the metal (the black high temp goo used for adhering bricks to metal). I use popsicle sticks and paintbrushes and anything else that works to put the clay on the blade. Make sure the coat is even, otherwise you'll warp your blade! In the pics you can see different designs of clay. The closeup shows how thick it can be. On this particular blade, I lightly sanded the surface to smooth out the thickness. You should also notice that there is a very thin layer on the entire blade.
Now comes the water quench! Heat evenly to ~1500*F (this will be dependent upon what steel you're using) then quench in hot water (~150-170*F). In for 3 seconds, out for two seconds, in for three seconds, out for one, then in until cool enough to touch. I then scrape off the remaining clay and temper for two hours at 400-450*F(depends on steel). This is a method described to me by another maker. Since using this, I have yet to crack a blade. I've done 1084, 1095 and W1 without failure (cracks). I've done 1050 with just a straight plunge and no interruption without problems also. The pics here are W1 after scraping off burnt clay. This is the same blade as in the last pic in the prior section. You can see the outline of where the clay was. The actual hamon will be about 1/8" above this for W1. 1095 tends to follow the exact outline. Things like this need to be taken into consideration when claycoating. Again, experimenting is the key. Deep sori can be achieved even on short blades. If you don't want the curvature, you can quench in oil, allow the spine to harden, thin the clay out, forge with a downward curve...or any combination of these things plus a few more. Experimentation is half the fun!!!
There's many different techniques for all of this. This is just one. As I progress, I'm sure my methods will change as well. I've destructively tested all but two of the tantos I've made, and this seems to be working well for me so I'll stick with it! My main focus now is on hamon manipulation and blade finishing (correct lines). These are the areas I feel I need to work on most for now. I welcome any comments or constructive criticism. Living in College station Texas kind of limits the hands on experiencing of learning to do this, so I welcome any and all help!

For more info on the Japanese blade, blade making, blade polishing and blade mounting...check out these excellent sites:

Custom Sword Makers, Fitting Makers, and Sword Polishers Louis Mills John D Sword Polishing Barrett Custom Knives - Rick Barrett Blade Fittings.com - Patrick Hastings Morgan Valley Forge - Howard Clark Don Fogg Knives Namehage Sword - Anthony Di Christofano Door County Forge Works - Ric Furrer General Information and Supplier Sites Namikawa -Ltd The Japanese Sword Index Nihonto Sword Index Sword Terms Cotton Lacing Materials Tsuka Wrapping Instructions Bugei.com Samurai Superstore Hanwei Tsubas Polishing Info