Thread: Kagi-ba-Sword forging shop

Originally Posted by Danocon

...I always return to a statement Don Fogg made. The hammer works on both ends. Forging the blade and the smith....

The togisihi (polishers of swords, are very like those obsessed with honing) have a similar saying...the stones polish the man, not the blade.

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

The togisihi (polishers of swords, are very like those obsessed with honing) have a similar saying...the stones polish the man, not the blade.

I can see that. The rythmic motions. The minute and ever changing adjustments needed according to the feed back from the blade and the stone.

In fact there are many endeavors that can or cannot be a a Zen experience. Depending on the practitioner.

This act of shaving can be very Zen. It is a practice you can do every day. It requires developing a skill set and keeping those skills sharp
It requires us to be mindful NOW of what we are doing.

Anything done in a mindful way has the potential to polish the man.

This my OCD helps not.

Sorry,

Been a while since I updated this.

Got the charcoal making well on its way. Not perfect but getting there. I now have about 800 lbs of charcoal.







Then I have to chop it






All this getting ready gets old. Time to make something.

Orishigane
This is a way to adjust the carbon content of iron higher. If tamahagane comes to the smith with too low a carbon content he will do this to increase it. Many smiths will look for old temples that have burned and collect the old iron. Old iron or wrought iron is a totally different material than modern iron and steels.They say that the currently produced Tamahagane in the Hitachi Tatara is not the same product produced hundreds of years ago.

The basic premise is to build a tall charcoal fire in the forge, get it hot, then pile the old iron on top and cover with charcoal. The iron semi liquifies and picks up carbon on its path downward. How much or how little is the $50,000 question and part of the art of it.


So, I had some nails from an early 1800s barn that tested to be wrought iron. I now have fuel, a place for the fire and an air supply-Let's do this thing.



Forge before fire


Big fire-This using only the hand powered Fuigo (box bellows) for an air supply.


End of process


Whoop! I have an iron thingy



I am not real good at at this but it looks to be more than .5% carbon. Mike Blue could give a better assessment.



Now I have to finish my power hammer to process it.

Going to change some parameters and try again this weekend to get a more dense product.

Great to see the update. I really like this thread Dan.

The sparks definitly look right for carbon steel. You could try the quench test for oil or water hardening.

Wow!

It has been months since I posted anything in this topic.
The power hammer build has absolutely consumed me





First stage of testing complete and now tweaking the drive system.



Lots more pictures here

Very exciting, It is good to hear from you.

Charlie

Thanks for sharing - I really like the thought you've put into every stage of your project and particularly the aesthetics, that it is not just functional but pleasing to the eye.

I bet it gives you a lot of pleasure to be in this space!

All the best,
Michael