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Building a Kagi-ba

Danocon

By Danocon
in Nihonto

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Danocon Enthusiast

Danocon

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Hello all

 

My name is Dan O'Connor and I have lurked around here for a while.

Great information guys-Thank you

 

If anybody is interested, I am building a Kagi-ba (sword forging shop) from the ground up. I have been forging blades off and on for about 30 years. I am truly an amateur but I was able to work with some Japanese swordsmiths in the 80s. Including the Yoshihara brothers. Please don't misunderstand, I am not claiming to be trained by them just that I had the opportunity to work with them the times that they were in Dallas.

 

 

Anyhow I am chronicling the build and subsequent forging of blades here.

 

http://www.katanabuilders.com

 

I cover the building of the forge itself, the fuigo (box bellows), making charcoal and on and on.

This is not a fast operation since I have a fairly demanding day job but it is proceeding.

 

This may add some background and insight to go along with your study of Nihonto.

Come and look if you like, comment if you like.

 

Thanks again for all the great info here.

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drdata Collaborator

drdata

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Sounds fun. I dabble a bit in the making of stock blades, getting into heat treating and all that with a recent coal forge acquisition, and the fast realization its not large enough for my wak. ;(

 

So much to learn and that darned day job always interrupting.

 

Best of luck.

 

Regards

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Danocon Enthusiast

Danocon

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Please show us some of what you have already forged.

 

_________________

Ken Goldstein

 

Uh No :D

 

I have been away from the forge for 8 years now as I built my house. And while I would not say I am not proud of what I have made before I would say that much of it reflects a lack of commitment. I bounced between swords and woodworking tools-planes mostly.

 

Building this Kagi-ba is in many ways a new beginning. There is a huge difference between Japanese style blades and Nihonto. Am I pursuing recreating Nihonto? Not exactly-But there are levels and nuances I can take from the long tradition of Nihonto that will keep me busy for as long as I wish to pursue it.

 

That is one reason why I visit this forum to be exposed to these many levels and nuances.

 

And I am most interested in how the shaping of these elegant blades shapes me. Bladesmith Don Fogg says that the hammer works both ends-the blade and the bladesmith.

 

So what I have made before is done and does not define what I will make.

 

Check in from time to time if you like see how we are coming along :)

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Danocon Enthusiast

Danocon

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Sounds fun. I dabble a bit in the making of stock blades, getting into heat treating and all that with a recent coal forge acquisition, and the fast realization its not large enough for my wak. ;(

 

So much to learn and that darned day job always interrupting.

 

Best of luck.

 

Regards

 

Thanks Harry

 

I am not sure how big your forge is but even a traditional charcoal sword forge only heats an area about 12" long at the most. Getting an even heat over a katana length blade for yakire is one of the more difficult skill sets to acquire.

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Fogarty Rookie

Fogarty

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Hi Dan,

 

The pics of your forge build were really nice! I hope to see more of it as it goes along. Great stuff! I hope your new start and new commitment to the craft ends up with some fantastic blades bieng forged.

 

I am a bladesmith who is working on Japanese style blades right now. Im forging them out of W-2 round bar that I bought a bunch of from Don Hanson, that steel is just incredible for hamon formation. I use a gas forge because Im disabled and it is much more convienient to work with. Don Foggs forum is one of the coolest places on the internet.

 

Here lately Ive been thinking about forging some tantos or small waks out of 5160. This steel seems to have a bad rep for sword forging but for even large working knives it is the bomb. As a deep hardening alloy steel it will only show a simple hardening line. But if you do it in the style of a suguha hamon, maybe even clay coated so the hardening line would somewhat follow the clay I think it would turn out pretty good and if you give it the right number of narrow temp band thermal cycles so that you get that nice carbide banding you can even get it to look like it has a straight grained hada (maybe) on the unhardened portion. It would make a great user or martial arts knife that would stand up to huge amounts of abuse and still look really cool. I think this fits in with your idea of the non traditional but with levels of nuance that put it above a stock removal blade or one that has been quickly and simply forged.

 

Here recently I just made my first sen and I have found so many uses for it. An incredible tool that makes shaping blades easy as pie. Using a sen is way better than draw filing for me. The Japanese bladesmiths never had the division of labor we had in the west to make complex tools like files so they made something easier to make and easier to use too!

 

Chuck Fogarty

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Brian

Brian

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Folks,

While I have the ultimate respect for what people are experimenting with as far as forging goes, I just have to remind everyone that we decided long ago that our focus will only be on traditionally made swords, and in particular true Nihonto. So interesting as the subject may be, and I don't mind the occasional link to other projects, I have to ask everyone to keep the non-traditional topics to the other forums made for this topic.

Appreciate your understanding, and feel free to discuss anything on topic, or use the pm feature to compare notes. :)

 

Thanks,

Brian

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Fogarty Rookie

Fogarty

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Yikes! sorry about that Brian..................

 

Dan, do you have your experiences working with the Yoshihara brothers written up anywhere? I would love to hear the details on that and whatever you were able to take away from it all. MAybe on Don Foggs forum? or your website?

 

Thanks!

 

Chuck Fogarty

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cabowen Grand Master

cabowen

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I wonder if there is any possibility of a sub forum here dedicated to the metallurgy and manufacturing involved in making traditional Japanese blades????

 

One can learn a great deal and deepen tremendously one's knowledge and understanding of traditional blades through study of the metallurgy and production process involved....

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Danocon Enthusiast

Danocon

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I wonder if there is any possibility of a sub forum here dedicated to the metallurgy and manufacturing involved in making traditional Japanese blades????

 

One can learn a great deal and deepen tremendously one's knowledge and understanding of traditional blades through study of the metallurgy and production process involved....

 

This was really the main point of my post. Didn't mean to start a post off topic. There are indeed many places on the web to discuss the ins and outs of making blades in the Japanese tradition. But the nature of the material ,the tools and the limits of human skill really dictate the end product.

 

It is not magic and as Chris said, understanding the processes can lead to a better overall understanding of Nihonto.

 

For me, I am completely lost when you guys use minute details of the sword to identify a swordsmith-its why I am here.

But I have also seen questions asked that could be easily answered if the process from beginning to end was known.

 

Chuck,

The discussion of modern monosteels in the recreation of Japanese style blades is deep and fascinating. But Brian is right. Bringing them into the discussion adds nothing to the study of traditional Nihonto. The Tamahagane, oroshigane and even the imported steels that the smiths used have left an indelible mark on the craft.

And also as Chris alluded to-The metallurgy alone of these complex materials can be a lifetime study.

 

I will sneak in here and comment that I have settle on W-2 as well for just the reasons you stated. ;)

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  • 2 years later...
cabowen Grand Master

cabowen

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Now that is impressive!

 

Please post pictures of some of your work, which if the shop is any indication, should be very nice!

 

One small nit to pick: the correct term is kaji-ba 鍛冶場, not kagi-ba......

 

Best of luck!

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Danocon Enthusiast

Danocon

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Just wondering here, I can't tell by the pics. Fine traditional looking smithy, but, is it attached to your main building? As it has quite a fire hazard, if it is, does your fire insurance on the house remain valid? John

 

John,

 

I have gone to great pains to make it fire resistant. Except for the trim and the one door all the walls are either concrete Hardiboard or slate. Floor is concrete and concrete tiles. Besides it is just a fireplace on steroids.:)

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  • 3 months later...
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