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A Sen-Dai is an workbench functioning with wedges to clamp work pieces down or sideways. especially useful for operations like polishing the surfaces of blades. The bench is very easy to build and requires minimal woodworking/blacksmithing skill. something on the level of a weekend project :"P

This was done for a restaurant here in Louisville called Mirin, an amazing ramen house where everything is made from scratch. It is high carbon damascus with a flat grind and differential hardening. The hamon is pretty high up but the transition can be seen as the etch fades closer to the forge mark and on the last picture in the same area. The blade has a solid distal taper and is the lightest knife I have made by size. The handle is bloodwood with a mosaic pin and a nickel/copper mokume gane bolster. The grain on the mokume is very tight and can barely be seen in person along the side, but it can be seen on the flat in the first picture. Feedback welcome.

I have not posted in a while I have been busy. Anyways I made this blade for son who wanted something Japanese so I decided to do an East meets West blade with some cheeky pop culture thrown in. My boy is 6 and loves Pokemon so I made some wrought iron menuki poke balls. 1095 differentially heat treated blade 6"ish Wrought iron tsuba and kashira Copper seppa and fuchi which I attempted to chase a little.

This is the second installation in my series of themed tanto, The Yuugure Kotanto. Here's the story: Yuugure means dusk or twilight, and this is what I tried to model the blade after. The saya has a dark black, ishimeji (or "stone") finish with blackened and brushed copper cladding. It reminds me of the night sky when the last orangey hues of the sunset are just beginning to fade away. The copper can appear very dark black or a bright orange depending on the angle it is viewed at, this coupled with the rough texture of the ishimeji creates a really interesting aesthetic. The habaki, seppa, fuchi, and kashira are all blackened and brushed copper, giving them a dusky, aged feel. The tsuka has a white samegawa wrap and was lacquered over with natural urushi. After the lacquer cured, I lightly sanded the nodes of the samegawa so that it looks like little white stars are peeking out from the black background. I would like to add that the kings node is featured on this cut of same! The entire blade is secured within the tsuka with a single, dark katalox mekugi. The blade itself has a wispy hitatsura hamon with some excellent activity. The mounted blade can be displayed on the dark black, matching wenge stand. The stand is all made from the same cut of wenge, so the color and grain pattern match throughout the stand. Also included is a small wenge mallet and a tapered brass pin for knocking out the mekugi and dismounting the blade. Some info on the blade: OAL: 9" from the kashira to tip of the kissaki Saya + Tsuka dimensions: 10"x7/8"x1.75" Blade Width: 1.3" at widest point Blade Thickness: 1/8" at the munemachi with a distal taper to the end of the kissaki Hamon: Hitatsura with great activity Blade Polish: Light etch mirror polished to 2000 Mountings: Habaki, Seppa, Fuchi, Kashira, Tsuka, Saya, Mekugi Mounting Materials: Walnut, Katalox, Copper, Samegawa, Urushi, Iron Oxides Blade Material: 1095 with a differential quench in brine The blade has a single katalox mekugi and can be completely dismounted for easy maintenance and sharpening. The blade has been honed to 6000 grit on waterstones and is very sharp. I'm asking $SOLD for it and it ships free in the contig. U.S. First to ask gets it, shoot me an email at YozakuraForge@gmail.com or PM I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you all have and would love to see your comments on the blade Thanks for looking -Grant

Haven't posted on here in several years, but I thought this might be a fun blade to jump back on here with. This tanto was made from an Enfield Mark III barrel with a mild steel core forge welded into it. The idea was to mimic the kobuse forge welding scheme used in many Japanese swords. It was kind of an interesting process getting the hot core down the barrel during welding. If I did it over again, I might have done a few things differently in the forge welding process, but it seemed to work out okay. I did a video on my Youtube channel. I can add the link if anybody's interested in seeing it.

The Phoenix Art Museum has a current exhibit of Samurai Armor. The exhibition, organized by The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum in Dallas, Texas, features more than 140 objects of warrior regalia, with full suits of armor, helmets and masks, weapons, horse tack, and other battle gear. It traces the evolution of the distinctive appearance and equipment of the samurai through the centuries and examines the warriors’ history through works of consummate craftsmanship and exquisite design. Dates:March 1, 2017 to July 16, 2017 http://www.phxart.org/Samurai

hey guys just finished this one up Blade: ~5" of tekefu white no. 2 suminigashi. This thing is a laser and tapers down to a needle point. Handle: Wa style featuring black g10, copper and old growth cocobolo PRICE: $450 If you have any questions feel free to comment/inbox me. Thanks for checking it out!

Hey guys just wanted to share what I have been working on. Forged from 5/8" round W1 With a blade of around 6". Blade style is show zukuri. I know tango are generally Hirazukuri but I wanted to change it up a bit. Please tell me what you think and feel free to critique. The blade is in its rough filed state. I also want to mention that I have not started shaping the tang yet. Thanks for checking it out!

This is my First attempt at producing Japanese sword fittings or any sword fittings. Im really enjoying this and welcome any feedback to enrich my journey into a deeper understanding of the art. the following photo was taken of the porous structure after breaking the shibuichi into manageable sizes following is some in progress of forming annealing and rolling the following is tsuba layout cutting and building an edge profile menuki plates pre forming cutting holes in kashira in progress as a whole the bench i work at in disarray layout of undercut pockets to be made for a cold connection inlay setting the silver inlay i also use fine punch to further secure the inlay and texture the surrounding area. making about 2 dozen a2 tool steel repousse tools was a little overkill because i ended up only using about 5 this adjustable jig aids in cutting wire and tube at a set length over and over again, great tool very handy i switched to an engravers ball vice because its so versatile and a thermolock plastic due to my lack of expirience with red pitch witch led to more clean up than i wanted to put up with. these three photos show a bit more detail of the inlay process where i use a small chip of metal to further secure the silver inlay similar to what i know as a blind rivet. this next set is just a different technique than the last at better setting the inlay into place. this time a metal rod was inserted into the silver tube and both cut at the same time. both techniques have their own pros and cons, number 2 helps prevent tube distortion while number 1 has less clean up work just to name a few points sorry no pictures of patina in process but these are small so it went quick, just got them hot on a glass stovetop and dunked them into liver of sulfur. the following photos are of completion ready for the customer.

Hey guys as you know I am working on a shirasaya for the tango I forged. I was wondering how the location of the mekugi ana is determined. I understand that it should be located on the 2nd diamond but I am first making a shirasaya and then full mounts. It will be a while before I gather enough cash to purchase the required materials so I don't understand how to determine the location of the hole. Can I use a regular drill bit or is a tapered one preferred? If so what size and where can I buy it? Thanks. -Jeff

Here are two kitchen knives i just finished, a gyuto and a funayuki. Both are forged from a composite bar of 4 alternating twists with a straight laminate edge. They are both symmetrical double grind and full convex with a micro bevel. Here's a link showing some of the making process. Critique and criticism very welcome, it will help me make the next ones better! Gyuto Total length: 395mm Blade length: 250mm Height: 46mm Point of balance: right at choil Weight: 230 grams Thickness after collar: 3mm Full distal taper Funayuki Total length: 280mm Blade length: 147mm Height: 44mm Point of balance: Where copper collar meets wood Weight: 195 grams Thickness after collar: 3.4mm Full distal taper Thanks for looking

Found this at a Flea Market for cheap and had to do something to rectify the abuse this beauty has been through. Judging from the damage, this knife has suffered from a lack of care for quite some time... First of all, it was used as a cleaver, going off the way the handle is cracked - Deba knives, incidentally, should NEVER be used in this fashion! Secondly, used to cut stuff it was not intended to cut, going off of the numerous chips in the edge, none of which are too large thank goodness. Deba knives are much harder than western cutlery, and therefore can chip out if used for anything except the intended purpose, in this case cutting up fish. Lastly, attacked with a motorized grinding stone in a misguided attempt to "clean" it up. This last one damaged the tip especially. Sending this out for professional repair would likely cost somewhere between $100-$200 and that is just not in the budget. Therefore, I will be doing the work myself. My plan is to re-shape the tip profile, as indicated by the black sharpie. Clean up the concave surfaces on the back and above the bevel with some high grit EDM stones. Re-establish the bevel to follow the new shape of the edge and attempt to crisp up the line where the bevel meets the upper surface of the blade. Remove the handle and fabricate a replacement. One wood used in Japan for handles (aside from Ho) is Ichii, or Japanese Yew, Taxus cuspidata. My thoughts are leaning towards finding some dwarf ornamental yew (many houses in the area have them and it should be possible to get some) and a horn bolster. I will have to find a horn for cheap somewhere that I can cut up to get the right piece from near the tip. My research indicates that this knife was from the 1950's time frame. Sold through a company in Japan called Masano or Masado (I saw the name but, forget the spelling now) but, made by individual smiths. All seem to have the flimsy brass ferrule instead of the traditional horn, most likely to reduce cost. A review, by some fellow in Sweden, on YouTube, indicates he is very enthusiastic about the one he got. A translation of the Japanese text, by those who can, would be most appreciated. I suspect what it says already (an indication of the type of steel used and construction) but, might be surprised. Advice, from those who know, would be appreciated as well. Thanks! ~Bruce~

Quite often I'm vexed by not being more multilingual. Usually, Google Translate can help, but not in this case. I'm wanting to come up with a signature for my Japanese-themed work that isn't my usual maker's mark, but rather a chiseled signature referencing the Tidewater Forge. I know there will be no exact translation of this, but I'm hoping something poetic like "fire near the sea" or even "forge by the ocean", or some similar meaningful variant can be found. I don't just want to carve "fire" and "ocean" next to each other, because that's not what I'm trying to evoke, but I'm simply not equipped linguistically to come up with the right phrase. Any help from our Japanese-literate here would be most appreciated.

I have no idea where to post this. If any of the moderators would like to move it, feel free. I was visiting a friend last week and he pointed out his Del Cheapo Daisho on display in his office. He admited they were not that great. Then from behind the office door, he brought out his other katana. He told me his father paid 30.00 for it in a pawn shop, but other than that, he didn't know much about it. I examined it, and the more I looked, the more I liked. It's a typical size, fairly thick blade, folded steel, and a genuine hamon. Real ray skin and leather wrapping on the tsuka. With the little bit I know (and I mean LITTLE), I could tell this was not a replica, and certainly no United Cutlery piece of crap. It's a serious piece of work. I have a Hanwei katana that I love, and this sword outclassed it by light years. He showed me a certificate that came with it, but it was all in Japanese, which neither one of us read. I didn't think to take any pictures of it at the time, but I'm sure I can get some from him. Is there anyone who can translate the certificate if I can get a picture of it? Buck