Category Archives: The Making of Japanese Swords
A small scale high-furnace is operated at Les Forges de Montréal. It is supplied with charcoal and iron ore. In order to improve the furnace's efficiency, the ore is prepared into pellets. This ingenious tool facilitates the making of those pellets.
Iron smelting pellet maker
A small scale high-furnace is operated at Les Forges de Montréal. It… Continue reading
The teko is the tool — a plain bar — that is used to hold the steel block to be forged. The said block is welded onto one end of the teko. This video shows Manabe Sumihira performing such a forge weld.
Teko-zuke
The teko is the tool — a plain bar — that is… Continue reading

In preparation for tanren
Japanese traditional sword making is bound to the use of certain types… Continue reading

How to make a te-bōki
Useful hand-held straw brush and tool The te-bōki (手箒 lit. “hand-broom”) are… Continue reading
Aku, or charred straw, is used as a coating when forging traditional steels at very high temperatures in the processes of japanese swordsmithing. The charred straw is both a light source of carbon for the steel, as well as an anti-oxidizing coating when it liquifies near welding temperature.
Making aku – Fabrication d’aku
Aku, or charred straw, is used as a coating when forging traditional… Continue reading

Sumi-kiri san nen…
Sumi-kiri, the elaborate cutting of charcoal by apprentices is said to take… Continue reading
Sumi-kiri, the cutting of the charcoal by japanese swordsmith apprentices, as poorly performed by me. In this video, one strike out of ten is ok, while all others made me frown… size wrong.. size wrong.. swing wrong.. size wrong.. strength wrong.. size wrong.. wrong angle.. and so on.
It is said it takes three years to learn this properly. I think they’re being optimistic.
Sumi-kiri – Charcoal cutting
Sumi-kiri, the cutting of the charcoal by japanese swordsmith apprentices, as poorly… Continue reading

More than a year without updating Soulsmithing
A bit of news… It’s been over a year since I properly… Continue reading

Gallery: The Sumihira Zuku-Oshi Tatara
A week in images at Manabe Sumihira’s zuku-oshi tatara Mr.Manabe uses akome-satetsu,… Continue reading

Home-made steel: A week at Manabe Sumihira's zuku-oshi tatara
Most of those who know about the tatara – the traditional Japanese… Continue reading
A week spent at Japanese swordsmith Manabe Sumihira’s helping out with the operation of his tatara. Manabe chose to operate a pig iron smelting zuku-oshi tatara instead of the more commonly known kera-oshi.
The pig iron decarburizing process can be seen here (in Japanese, click on various links): http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~sumihira/19sageba/00sage/00sage%20.html
More details are available on these pages:
Home-made steel: A week at Manabe Sumihira’s Zuku-oshi Tatara
The Sumihira Zuku-oshi Tatara
Manabe Sumihira Zuku-Oshi Tatara
A week spent at Japanese swordsmith Manabe Sumihira’s helping out with the… Continue reading

Forging Japanese Swords
This site is a window into the world of Traditional Japanese Swordsmithing… Continue reading