Sword making - a brief introduction by the sword smith

If you are interested in swrods you can read about Japanese sword making in the excellent book "The Craft of the Japanese Sword" written by Yoshindo Yoshihara and Leona Kapp. I can highly recommend this book to get an idea of the overall description and implementation if you are interested in the study of Japanese sword technology.

Bellow you can find some information about the techniques and tools used in my workshop.
I also want to share with you my experience and achievements in this area of my interest.

With no hesitation, I say that the most fundamental process in the making of a Japanese sword is blade forging. Steel, fire, simple forging tools and blacksmith skills are basics needed for this job.

A couple of words about steel
To fulfil all blade expectations you must deliver a sword sufficiently flexible and durable to avoid breaking during direct contact with another weapon, yet one with a very sharp and robust cutting edge for accomplishing cutting tests.
It’s not easy to combine these features because they depend on the chemical and physical properties of the final product.

Through trial and error Japanese blacksmiths invented this methodology many ages ago and the secrets of sword making were tightly guarded and passed on through generations within each family.

A typical mixture of 0.7% carbon and 99.3 % iron will deliver a good chemical combination for a Japanese blade.

Remember, a Japanese blade is not a laminate of dirrerent kinds of steel plates but a piece of steel that consists of soft and hard components of steel forged together in a special way to achieve the best visual and functional properties.

To compare it with a Damascus blade, for example, the percentage of carbon is pretty low. However, most of Damascus blades where not tempered at all!

For the forging process I use charcoal as a fuel for three reasons:
Firstly, it reduces impurities, secondly, it avoids overheating the steel, and thirdly I am following the Japanese sword maker’s tradition.

The next process Yaki- ire (hardening the edge) requires proper preparations.
It involves filing the blade to it’s final shape and covering it in mixture that consists of clay, ground Chame stone and powdered charcoal.

This mixture perfectly isolates those parts of the blade that should stay soft and flexible after the tempering process. If not done correctly the sword can easily break by sudden heat or twisting.

The blacksmith’s shop must be dark to allow assessment of the blade temperature gradient before plunging it into the water. If the difference in temperature of the blade exceeds 20 deg. C (only 3 %) I can expect big troubles eventually leading to total destruction of the blade, which happens all too often. There is no gauge to be used during this stage of sword making, only experience and the blacksmith’s eye.

After hardening the edge and tempering in order to make the blade less brittle, the excess material on the cutting edge must be removed. Sometimes, if the customer wishes so, before the polishing process decorative carvings or simple grooves are cut into the blade.

Then the blade is ground on a sandstone and polished on Japanese water stones starting on the very rough stone called Arato, then Binsui, Kaisei, Nagura and finally Uchigumori or Kasumi depending on the blade.

At this stage, the hamon and jihada (texture of steel) become clearly visible.

The grinding and polishing process called Togi can consume 2 weeks of heavy hours and crazily expensed stones produced originally in Japan. For the finial polish sets of small stones as hazuya, jizuya are used.

The polishing process is finished after hadori if it is desired. Collectors more interested in metalwork generally prefer that the hadori step is omitted.

Koshirae is normally made by another workshop and specialised craftsmen devoted to this kind of art.

Habaki ,tsuba, menuki ,fuci ,kasira comes from specialized gold or silversmith shops.
However, for custom orders, customers, with my help, always decide on the overall shape and style of the koshirae suitable to each individual blade.

If you have any question about my shop, experience or other things do not hesitate to ask me. I will answer you as soon as possible.

A few words from the sword smith about himself
Japanese swords have been my great passion for many years.
I am not a collector, rather a process engineer fascinated with the perfection of this craft.

From theoretical issues found in many books and observations in practical workshops- forging, polishing and so on, 16 years of my life has been devoted to studding and learning this art form.
At this point I would like to say thank you to my teacher and great master Janusz Lukaszczyk who taught me how to understand this enormously difficult craft especially for European culture.
The average Japanese sword production time takes 3-4 months, depending on difficulties and the type of customer requirements.

Finally the quality and unique technology make no difference if the swords are made in Japan or abroad, it’s they way they are made that makes all the difference.

Paweł Spleśniały.