HandMade Real HandMade Katana Sword

[Chen rich]

Hi All,

I will try to do my best to show you how I make swords. I plan to photograph each step making this sword and then you can know it was really handmade.

Today I will make a Japanese Katana

If anyone has any questions please contact me and I will try to answer it for you.

Please to enjoy the pictures.

Rich Chen

1. the first picture is the powdered steel. this is what i use to begin. I have 10 metric tons in my workshop.

[Chen rich]

2. Here I weigh the powdered steel. I begin with 30 kgs.

[Chen rich]

Charcoal for the fire in the titial. I will use 65 kgs of charcoal.

[Chen rich]

Here i pack the titila with mud to seal it.

[Chen rich]

1. Here i start the fire in the titila
2. I add charcoal and powdered steel.

[Chen rich]

Here I knock out the clay and drain off impurities in the steel.

[Chen rich]

Here I remove the titila top and finish the burning.

[Chen rich]

11 hours later the Tamahagane is ready to take out

[Chen rich]

1. Carrying the Tamahagane in water to cool it.
2. Cooling the Tamahagane in the water.

[Chen rich]

Beating the Tamahagane with a hammer to remove impurities.

Thank you all for reading this and I hope you enjoy the photos.

I will add more pictures as i make this sword.

You can read more about me and my work at:

http://web.zbsword.com/en/

if you have any questions you can send me email at:

zubeng@ymail.com

My web site is still under construction. sorry it is not so good.

[Lee Fenical]

Very cool Rich!
are you the sole smith at your forge?

[Chen rich]

Very cool Rich!
are you the sole smith at your forge?

i only do work for my self. there is no other smith in my work room. my son and my wife are here and i have 2 students to study from me.

then some friends come and help some and i pay a boy to work for me sometimes to clean and other things.

[Mario N]

Very good pictures.
Today day is very hard to find for sale one sword made with this artistic way. today day the factories take a piece of metal and machine it and they say "handmade" even Howard Clark use pneumatic hammers.

Thank you

[C Yarbrough]

I really enjoy seeing pictures of how swords are made. Thanks for posting them! I'm going to go check your website out.

[Timo Qvintus]

Cool topic, but why is this in "Modern Production Katana" forum?

[Chen rich]

Cool topic, but why is this in "Modern Production Katana" forum?

it is made today in modern times. but i make it in the traditional way. please forgive me but my heart and soul is in the steel. it is my life. i do not have any other hobbies or things that i do other than make swords. there is no life for me outside this workshop. i work 14 to 16 hours a day.

i think it is fitting for this modern area.

there is no wrong way to make a sword. only different ways. if the sword saves your life or defends your life it is worth the steel.

however some are more pretty and traditional.

[Lee Fenical]

From the pics you have on your site your stuff looks very nice.
Can't wait to see some more detailed pictures of your work.

[Timo Qvintus]

it is made today in modern times.

"Modern" isn't so much the defining word here as much as "production." By "Production" we're usually referring to production-lines, ie. mass-produced swords. Yours obviously isn't mass-produced, and therefore I think the thread deserves to be in a place where it would be better appreciated by people, such as General Discussion, Home Improvements or even Bladesmith's forums.

[Glen C.]

Hello Rich,

Thank you for sharing your time and explanation of your work on the forum. It is obviously a work of great commitment for you and it is a very nice thing for all to see.

When Timo writes as he has, it is simply to further promote what you have posted to more than a section meant to discuss the swords made in great numbers with less personal means.

That said, I will move the discussion to the General discussion area for now. That will allow all to participate. There is an area where this would best be highlited but posting access is not open to all. That being the Japanese-Style Sword Makers Cafe.
Because each post must be approved for that section, interaction with others would be akward at best. With your permissions, I could copy your progress and sharing there as an archive of the sword being made.

Glen

[Shane B]

Very good pictures.
Today day is very hard to find for sale one sword made with this artistic way. today day the factories take a piece of metal and machine it and they say "handmade" even Howard Clark use pneumatic hammers.

Thank you

True but then I dont think that concept of apprentaces has really caught on much in todays world making it hard to run the hammers and hold the piece....thus the power hammer

[Paul Smith]

True but then I dont think that concept of apprentaces has really caught on much in todays world making it hard to run the hammers and hold the piece....thus the power hammer

That is very true. Many smiths in Japan use power hammers also. I don't see how it makes a difference to either the steel or the end product whether you have an apprentice or a machine swinging the hammer. Wait, I take that back as there would be a difference. Since a power hammer always hits consistently, the steel would come out with fewer flaws from poor strikes.

[Chen rich]

Hello Rich,

Thank you for sharing your time and explanation of your work on the forum. It is obviously a work of great commitment for you and it is a very nice thing for all to see.

When Timo writes as he has, it is simply to further promote what you have posted to more than a section meant to discuss the swords made in great numbers with less personal means.

That said, I will move the discussion to the General discussion area for now. That will allow all to participate. There is an area where this would best be highlited but posting access is not open to all. That being the Japanese-Style Sword Makers Cafe.
Because each post must be approved for that section, interaction with others would be akward at best. With your permissions, I could copy your progress and sharing there as an archive of the sword being made.

Glen

yes thank you. if you think it will be better in the other place that is good. you can move it as you want to.

my idea when i saw the people talking about handmade swords was to show my handmade way. that is the reason for this picture progress of my making the sword. i want people to know how i make the swords.



thank you
rich chen

[Chen rich]

That is very true. Many smiths in Japan use power hammers also. I don't see how it makes a difference to either the steel or the end product whether you have an apprentice or a machine swinging the hammer. Wait, I take that back as there would be a difference. Since a power hammer always hits consistently, the steel would come out with fewer flaws from poor strikes.

i agree. it is so difficult to find someone with the passion to make a good sword. you have to have this feeling in your blood in your life. it is not a hobby.

so i have had to use air hammers and such just as the masters in Japan do. However we only use air hammers for the rough work. the folding of the steel. the final work is all hand made. there is no way to substitute that.

it is sad the art is lost or almost lost. we should all try to keep this alive.

thank you all
rich chen

[Chen rich]

That is very true. Many smiths in Japan use power hammers also. I don't see how it makes a difference to either the steel or the end product whether you have an apprentice or a machine swinging the hammer. Wait, I take that back as there would be a difference. Since a power hammer always hits consistently, the steel would come out with fewer flaws from poor strikes.

i must talk about this please:

the air hammer i use is variable. i can strike the steel as strong as i need. sometimes it is strong and sometimes it is soft. i watch the steel and read it like a book to know what i need to do and what i want to do.

thank you all

rich chen

[Russ Ellis]

Very cool, I will continue to follow the progress here with interest.