Category Archives: News

New regarding Dragonfly Forge’s swordsmithing school, Tomboyama Nihonto Tanren Dojo (Dragonfly Mountain Japanese Sword Forging School)

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Annual Oregon Knife Collectors Association (OKCA) Knife Show

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Dragonfly Forge will soon be attending the Oregon Knife Collectors Association (OKCA) annual knife show in Eugene, Oregon.

The show, held at the convention center at the Lane County Fairgrounds, will be held April 8-10, 2011.  Friday admission is open to club members only, but Saturday and Sunday the show is open to any who enjoy “things that go cut.”

A large variety of lectures and live demonstrations will be held throughout the weekend, including a presentation by Michael Bell, master swordsmith of Dragonfly Forge, scheduled on Sunday of the show at noon.  Entitled “Origins: The Evolution of Blade Technology”, the talk will focus on the metallurgical development of blades worldwide, from around 1000 BC to present day.

For more information on the annual show, please visit the OKCA website.

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2011 School Year Begins

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Tomboyama Nihonto Tanren Dojo concluded the first two classes of the 2011 school year last week. The dojo hosted a Basic Forging Course last week, as well as a 2-day session of our Kajioshi Course over the weekend.

We are proud to announce that the March Basic Forging Course was a great success. It was a pleasure working with the three students of the class, Aaron, Jesus, and Justin.

One student, Aaron, stayed over the weekend to continue his studies further with the Kajioshi Course taught over the weekend. Although the first day of class was largely still spent on the grinder refining shape, by the second day Aaron moved to water-stones and learn the basic technique used with them.

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2011 Swordsmithing School Course Schedule

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11nov2010basicforging7 300x200 2011 Swordsmithing School Course Schedule 

2011 School Year

Dragonfly Forge is happy to announce the schedule of classes for the 2011 school year of Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō (Dragonfly Mountain Japanese Sword Forging School).

We will be beginning the school year the last week of March and we are looking forward to another great year!

For the coming year we are offering a couple new classes, as well as offering a new schedule with two pairs of successive five-day classes over a two week period. These were added due to interest by students wanting to be able to cover a broader curriculum in one visit.

In May 2011 we will be holding a five-day Basic Forging Course the week of May 9-13, and the following week we will hosting a five-day Kajioshi-Habaki Combo Course.

Then in July, we have scheduled a 5-day Koshirae Course, followed the next week by a five-day session of our new Tsuka Course. which not only covers the art of tsukamaki, but also the carving, proper shaping, and laying of same, in order to make a complete handle. By offering this extanded two week curriculum students may have an opportunity to more thoroughly study the making of a complete koshirae.

Although students may take any of these classes individually, if they register for both classes in a two week session, we will be offering a discount of 15% from the tuition due at attendance.

Our other new class for the 2011 year is our Intermediate Forging Course, which is intended for students who have already taken our Basic Forging Course, or otherwise already have some experience bladesmithing. Details of the course can be read below.

All of our classes run from 9 AM to 5 PM on the dates of the session. Lunch is provided.

Space in our school is limited per class, and a deposit is required to secure a seat, which can be paid through our site which links to a secure PayPal site. The remaining tuition is due on the first day of the course.

For information on experience necessary, accommodations, travel directions, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions Category.

2011 School Year

March 2011
Monday, March 21 – Friday, March 25 – Basic Forging Course
Saturday, March 26 – Sunday, March 27 – Kajioshi Course

April 2011

Friday, April 8 – Sunday, April 10 – Oregon Knife Collectors Association (OKCA) Knife Show
Saturday, April – Sunday, April – Tsuka–maki Course

May 2011
Monday, May 9 – Friday, May 13 – Basic Forging Course
Monday, May 16 – Friday, May 20 – Kajioshi–Habaki Combo Course

June 2011
Monday, June 13 – Friday, June 17 – Basic Forging Course
Saturday, June 18 – Sunday, June 19 – Kajioshi Course

July 2011
Monday, July 11 – Friday, July 15 – Koshirae Course
Monday, July 18 – Friday, July 22 – Tsuka Course

August 2011
Saturday, August 7 – Sunday, August 8 – San Francisco Token Kai
Monday, August 15 – Friday, August 19 – Basic Forging Course
Saturday, August 20 – Sunday, August 21 – Habaki Course

September 2011
Monday, September 5 – Friday, September 9 – Intermediate Forging Course
Saturday, September 10 – Sunday, September 11 – Kajioshi Course

Basic Forging Course

This is a hands-on course designed to give the student a working familiarity with the tools and metals utilized in the forging of a sword blade. Each student will forge his own blade of at least wakizashi length from forge-welded steel cable. Skills learned will include forging, grinding, filing and heat-treating, with attendant emphasis on metallurgy and proper shaping and aesthetics. All tools, fuel, and material included.

The price of the course is $1300 and is limited to four students per session. A deposit of $300 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before the session begins.

Sessions scheduled:
Monday, March 21 – Friday, March 25
Monday, May 9 – Friday, May 13
Monday, June 13 – Friday, June 17
Monday, August 15 – Friday, August 19

Intermediate Forging Course New for 2011!

In this course, intended for experienced students who either taken our Basic Forging Course already, or have other experience bladesmithing first-hand.

In this class students will participate in the first the forge-welding of wire rope, cable, and then forge-fold the cable billets multiple times.  Students will then hand forge tanto from the folded steel.  The blade will then be shaped with grinders and files, and prepared for heat-treatment.  Hopefully, after a successful yaki-ire, we will continue to refine and sharpen the blades, as time allows.

Tanto, having the greatest variety of different styles of blade shape will be the focus of the class. Students will forge a blade of shobu-zukuri, hira-zukuri, osuraku-zukuri, moroha-zukuri, or of another shape and are encouraged to explore a geometry besides the typical shinogi-zukuri.

All tools, fuel, and material included.

The price of the course is $1300 and is limited to four students per session. A deposit of $300 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before the session begins.

Sessions scheduled:
Monday, September 5 – Friday, September 9

Habaki Course

A two day hands-on weekend course where the student will make a copper habaki. Skills learned will include forging and annealing the metal, hard-soldering, filing, shaping, polishing and decoration. All tools and materials required are provided.
The student should provide his own blade, properly shaped on water-stones in preparation, to ensure a well-fitted habaki.

The price of the course is $520 and is limited to four students per session. A deposit of $120 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before the session begins.

Sessions scheduled:
Saturday, August 20 – Sunday, August 21

Koshirae Course

Students will learn how to carve handles (tsuka) and scabbards (saya), as well as fitting tsuba, fitting seppa and fitting fuchigashira to the tsuka. Included in the course is the making of mortise and tenon kojiri and koiguchi, and kurigata made from buffalo horn. Tools used are traditional saws, chisels, knives, and planes and will be on hand for students. Alder wood will be provided, although students may bring their own.

Tools and materials will be provided, but students should have their own sword blades with a well-fitted habaki, plus tsuba and fuchigashira.

The price of the course is $1300 and is limited to four students. A deposit of $300 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before session begins.

Sessions scheduled:
Monday, July 11 – Friday, July 15

Tsuka Course     New for 2011!

This is a new five day class for 2011 which was added due to interest by students wanting to make a complete handle.

The class will cover the carving of the inside of the handle and achieving proper shaping of of the wooden core. Also covered will be the inlaying of same-kawa (ray skin) panels into the handle. There will not be time for students to do a full single-piece wrap of same on their own swords, but the technique for doing so will also be discussed. Once this has been completed, student’s will spend the last couple days learning the art of wrapping the handle cord, tsuka-maki.

Tools and materials will be provided, but students should have their own sword blades with a well-fitted habaki and saya, and tsuba (if not gaurdless, aikuchi), as well as fuchigashira, shitodome, and menuki. Tsuka will be carved of alder wood, which is provided, but students may bring their own if they so wish. We can provide pieces same for student’s tsuka, but student may bring their own skin if they would like.

This class can either be taken together with the Koshirae Course, or separately if student’s only wish to make only a tsuka. By taking both the Koshirae and Tsuka Courses, students may more thoroughly study making a complete koshirae.

Sessions scheduled:
Monday, July 18 – Friday, July 22

The price of the course is$130 0 and is limited to four students. A deposit of $300 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before session begins.

Although students may take any class individually, if they register for both classes in a two week session, we will discount 15% from the tuition due at attendance.

Continue reading 2011 Swordsmithing School Course Schedule →

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Autumn 2010 Swordcrafting Classes at Tomboyama, 2010 School Year Concludes

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As the leaves of the Japanese maples once again began change to bright red in the crisp fall air, Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō began winding up the 2010 school year.

In September, we hosted a Basic Forging Course and Oroshigane Seminar. Athanasios, the student who attended both, traveled from Athens, Greece to participate in our classes here at Tomboyama. Because of the difficulty of making such long distance travel arrangements, we were happy to schedule a special session of our Oroshigane Seminar for our Greek pupil as well. After returning to Greece, Athanasios has been busy setting up his own shop and has begun a swordsmithing blog, “Gaijintō”.

A specially scheduled Tsuka-maki (Handle-wrapping) Course was added in October. Our student, Thomas, learned and practiced the art of tsuka-maki by rewrapping the handle of his “dōjō cutting sword” with nice black silk ito.

We finished up the school year with the final of Basic Forging Course last week, November 1-5. Two students, Chip and Fred, attended the class, which was a later addition to this years schedule.

And now as the weather becomes colder and the rain more constant, Tomboyama now closes its doors for 2010. Winter storms can make travel arrangements problematic for students, many of which travel in from out-of-state. The winter break from classes also allows us to catch up with our own demanding workload.

If prospective students would like to make recommendations as to preferred dates for next years courses , we will happily take them into consideration as we now prepare for the schedule for the 2011 school year. The schedule for 2011 school year classes should be posted here online within a month.

We are looking forward the 2011 school year!

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August 2009 Alumni Kajioshi and Bonji Courses, Oroshigane Seminar

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September 19th, 2009

Last month, we were thrilled to have four alumni of Tomboyama Nihonto Tanren Dojo return to the school to attend our August 7-9, 2009 Oroshigane Seminar.

Unscheduled August 2009 Bonji and Kajioshi Courses

Three alumni joined us two days earlier for special unscheduled two-day classes in bonji and kajioshi.

Students Jeff and Allen carved bonji in blades they had forged themselves of folded cable and Steven studied blade shaping and practiced achieving subtle refinement of shape on the water stones.

August 2009 Oroshigane Seminar

“Oroshigane” is a Japanese term used of the processes a smith uses to adjust the carbon content of sword steel, and also used to  refer to the steel made from such processes.

For the seminar, we began with two forms of iron, electrolytic sponge iron and antique wrought iron, which we added carbon, through the process of carburization, to create steel.

Both electrolytic sponge iron and antique wrought iron are extremely pure forms of iron.  In Japan, electrolytic sponge iron is known as denkaitestu, and is sometimes used for oroshigane by swordsmiths who cannot attain tamahagane, or are interested in making their own steel.  Electrolytic sponge iron is literally “distilled iron”, a byproduct of the electric arc furnace.

True wrought iron is an antique form of commercially pure iron. Although many products are described as wrought iron today, such as guard rails and gates, they are made of actually made of mild steel and only retain that description because they were formerly made of wrought iron.  Because of it’s corrosion resistance, wrought iron was often used for marine applications in the past.  Like denkaitetsu, wrought iron is an extremely pure form of iron, although it is also high in silica.  It is distingiushable from mild steel by its fiberous grain.  Because it is no longer made on the industrial scale, wrought iron is sometimes jokingly called “unobtainium”.

Modern steel contains several alloyed metals and impurities, not found in nihonto.  Some impart desirable qualities or counteract the effects of contaminents.  Most important of these is manganese.  Manganese prevents phosphorus (an embrittler) from migrating to grain boundaries and creating weaknesses, and also promotes deep hardenig. But manganese also makes steel shinier and more reflective, two qualities which make an sword forged from modern steel different from a traditionally made Japanese sword and which are instantly discernible to a experienced eye.  By beginning with a very pure sources of iron and adding only carbon, we are able to produce a steel that is compositionally the same as tamahagane and visibly indistinguishable.

 

Our Oroshigane Seminar lasted a three days: the first spent carburizing the two forms of iron, and the second two days spent building two different billets of steel.

Three graphite crucibles were packed with alternating layers of crushed charcoal and iron.  Once filled they were sealed with refractory cement.  A layer of crumpled newspaper over the iron/charcoal prevented the cement from dripping down and introducing grit into what would hopefully become sword steel.

The three crucibles were then loaded in a propane fire specially built for smelting steel for a five hour burn.

The carburizing of iron to form steel is a product of both temperature and time.  As long as the environment is carbon rich (carbon can  be absorbed into iron as carbon-monoxide, but not as carbon-dioxide) , once the temperature has reached a high enough temperature, the carbon will precipitate into the iron.

The burn being done outside in direct sunlight made judging the color inside the fire very difficult, but the crucibles did appear to reach a light yellow color.  We estimate the fire reached a temperature of about 2100 degrees F.

The next day we eagerly opened the crucibles to examine our results.  Did we create steel?   The initial inspection indicated success!

We eagerly light the forge and forged out a spatula-shaped paddle out of wrought iron.  On this paddle, flakes of the now carburized electrolytic sponge iron were stacked and fluxed.  Then using first a hand hammer, and then our Little Giant power hammer named “Lulu”, we began forge-welding the individual piece of carburized iron into a usable billet.  Once the billet reached a large enough size, we cut a hinge in the middle, folded half over, and forge-welded the fold together.  This forge-folding process serves to evenly distribute the carbon through the steel, just as kneading bread dough serves to spread the yeast throughout.  It is this folding process that is also responsible for the grain or hada characteristic of Japanese swords.  However, because heating of steel to welding temperature causes “carbon loss”, the smith must weigh the refinement of the steel and grain with the loss of carbon content during this process, in order to produce a quality billet sword steel.

 

On the final day of the seminar, we proceeded to perform the same process as the day before, slowly building up another billet of oroshigane.  Only this time the billet we built was comprised mostly of wrought iron, only a small percentage was denkaitetsu.  This billet was also folded three times.

Although we seem to have had great initial results from the August Oroshigane Seminar, until we forge, heat-treat, and beginning polishing a water stones a blade made from our oroshigane, we will only have partial confirmation.  Michael and Gabriel Bell both plan to continue, each continuing to fold one of the billets and forging an blade, in order to gain further knowledge.

We hope to have some exciting results to share as soon as progress continue