You are here: Home / Archives for admin

Swordsmith Walter Sorrells

June 13, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Walter Sorrells

Bibliography on Walter Sorrells

Walter Sorrells is a martial artist who studied karate at the same time learning iaido – the art of drawing a sword. Since he was fond of practicing iaido, he was then influenced in the art of shinkendo  and later on crafting swords. At that time wherein he was crafting his very own swords, he was also mastering iaido so his skill in drawing the sword and making the sword developed and matured simultaneously.

While he was busy learning how to use a sword and create it, the said activities provoked him to write a novel about a blacksmith taking his own experience into account for the sole purpose of making it original and unique. Unfortunately, that particular book didn’t become famous (unlike his other writings) but his skills in crafting swords developed and went to a whole new different level and began to find it nifty and fun.

As he was growing up, he became fond of painting, drawing, and woodworking – anything that he can use and create with his hands. And while he was learning and mastering martial arts, crafting and making sword was just added to one of his many hobbies. This doesn’t imply that he is a novice when it comes to creating wonderful crafts using both of his hands.

Aside from being a martial artist, blacksmith and many more, he was also a prolific writer before being mesmerized with sword-making. He was influenced to write novels by being fond and enthralled of the history, crime, weapons, and myths or story-telling. He considers that all of his past experiences and his likes are somehow connected with each other with the way his life is running and turning out to be.

Since he is involved in sword-making, he never engaged in such an activity without being equipped with the right ammunition for the job. He tried to read, comprehend, and absorb as many information he could get his hands on. Not only that he limited his resources to reading books but he also participated on different workshops, attended conferences, and listened to forums.

But the most important thing that he made sure he’ll always do – practice forging the swords until he reaches or achieves that feeling of ‘ecstaticness’ whenever he looks at the blades that he just finished forging. He also stressed the fact that for a person to learn, he needs to experience failure over and over again. This is the only way that an individual would improve his game. His toughest challenge right now is knowing how to incorporate all of the changes he made in the past to make the perfect sword because as of the moment, every time he forges a sword, it always comes up being better that the previous but having the a new setback to improve on.

Walter Sorrells was influenced by a lot of philosophies he learned during his practice of martial arts and sword making. To be a good smith, one should consider a lot of aspects in making one. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the smith should be into iaido or any martial arts that involves the utilization of swords. He believes that there is no requirement to become a blacksmith. As long as you have the hands and the tools then you are good to go. The success of a blacksmith lies on the functionality of his crafts. Once it serves its purpose then it is said to be a quality blade.

Filed Under: Bio

Interview with Swordsmith Walter Sorrells

May 17, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Knowing that you have a backgound in various japanese martial arts, how or when did you decide it was time to start making japanese sword ? There are a lot of folks out there with a great interest in both martial arts and swords but I don’t think many of them are ever thinking about trying to make their own katana…

Walter at work

I was always interested in Japanese swords. We practiced iaido as part of our training in the school where I studied karate. Later I took up shinkendo, but that actually happened at about the same time I started making blades. So my sword-making and sword-wielding skills developed together.

As it happens, the initial impetus for my sword making was that I was writing a novel about a swordsmith. So I thought, “Well, I’ll do a little research and get my hands dirty so I can make the character seem authentic.” Sadly, the book died. But I caught the blade-making bug pretty badly and have been making blades ever since.
In terms of why I would actually go to the extreme of smelting steel in my back yard and all doing all this stuff: it’s just fun to me.

I’ve always liked painting, drawing, woodworking and generally working with my hands. So this is just an extension of that. Martial arts happened to be a doorway into this particular craft. If I’d been into historical reenacting, I’d probably be making European style blades today.

Speaking of your background, what many people might not know is that you are also a successful novel writer. Are these 2 completely different jobs or are they somewhere crossing some lines every now and then ?

Yeah, I alluded in the earlier question to the fact that I’m a writer first and a sword maker second. But I try to live an integrated life – meaning that I try to do work that I enjoy, and to work at things that I do for enjoyment. Work hard, play hard. All the activities and intellectual pursuits of my adulthood were pretty much in place by the time I was about thirteen years old. To put it another way, I guess I have a permanently adolescent view of the world.
I’ve been fascinated by weapons, history, crime and story-telling since I was a kid. So it’s all connected in one way or another. We’re all the hero of our own story, right?

Like many others, you started out with making stock removal swords but there’s still a huge difference between that and forging them. How did you obtain the necessary knowledge for that or was it rather an “I try , fail and start over again until it get’s better” process ?

I’m kind of an information sponge. I’ve read pretty much every word that’s been written in the English language about blade making. I’m exaggerating a little, but, yeah, my approach is to throw out as wide a net as possible, gather as much information as possible, then go into the workshop and bang away. The internet is really helpful, too. I can’t exaggerate the importance of forums like Don Fogg’s in my learning process. Going to hammer-ins and conferences and knife shows and Japanese sword shows are all useful sources of knowledge, too.

But ultimately you have to fail a lot in order to improve your game. Every sword I make is a disappointment to me in some way…but that’s what makes me keep coming back. If you just reached a certain level and then kept doing the same thing over and over, you might as well work in a factory.

That said, from the moment that I started messing around with blademaking, I was aiming to work on Japanese style blades. As soon as I got started, though, I realized that I needed some foundational skills before I tackled Japanese-type work. I just didn’t know enough. So I spent several years making hunting knives and folders and things of that nature, learning about heat treating, hammer control, grinding, and so on. But I always saw that as kind of a transitional phase of my training.

With all the modern (made in China) katanas, there are a lot of discussion about ‘this is not a traditional made’ sword. For most people , the definition of a traditional made sword stops when a hamon shows up and or when the blade is folded for several times and a hada is visable. What’s your definition of a traditional made katana ?

Forging a billet of steel

I have found very few smiths who find this to be an important issue. It’s mostly sword buyers and collectors who start all these idiotic flame wars about the question. I mean, the most strict definition of a traditionally made Japanese sword is that it’s made from tamahagane produced in Japan by the NBTHK, and is forged by a sword maker who has completed a Japanese apprenticeship, and is licensed by the Japanese government. Can an American (or a Chinese guy, for that matter) produce a functional equivalent of such a blade? Absolutely.

But ultimately I find this to be an uninteresting, backward-looking question. I’m really interested in the Japanese sword making tradition. One of my goals (not yet realized) is to make swords that are indistinguishable from the best traditionally made Japanese blades. But to me that’s not the end of the line. It’s just one interesting thing that a bladesmith can aspire to. I find the Japanese tradition inspiring…but I’m not trying to “be a Japanese smith.” I’m Walter Sorrells. I live in America. When they play the Star Spangled Banner, I stand up and salute the flag. To try and somehow “be a Japanese smith” seems like a kind of misguided notion. I just like Japanese blades and am interested in how they look and how they work and how they’re made. It’s a challenge, but it’s not an existential goal.

Likewise, for a collector or buyer of swords, you want to be aware of the methodology used by the sword maker and you want it to match up with your goals as a buyer. Do you want to hang it on the wall? Do you want to use it for iaido? For tameshigiri? Do you only have 45 euros to spend? Do you want a blade signed by a famous Japanese guy who died eight centuries ago? As long as everybody’s participating in the game with a full knowledge of how the blade was made and what it was made from, then everybody should be happy. There’s no right or wrong way to play the game.

To continue on the traditional subject, how different would the katana world lok like today if smiths in ancient times had the same sources of steel as today ? I can’t imagen they would have refined or even ever started to fold their blades or use different kind of laminations to make it stronger. Perhaps the whole culture aspect around it would be non excisting ?

You’re absolutely right. If performance is the sole metric, then a blade made from monosteel is clearly superior to a traditionally made blade. All kinds of armchair smiths out there will dispute this. But I’ve personally tested a great many swords and as far as I’m concerned this is a settled matter. Smiths a thousand years ago were making weapons. If they’d had billets of W2 steel available, they wouldn’t have bothered folding the stuff. Folding was done to refine primitively smelted steel into something that was useable. Period. This is not a matter of debate; it’s simple fact.

Now, there are people who think that making the claim that modern steel is functionally superior somehow undermines the supposed “perfection” of traditional smiths. This is moronic. The achievements of traditional smiths must be seen in the context of their historical era. They used great skill and extremely primitive equipment to make objects of exceptional durability and functionality and beauty. That is an achievement that stands entirely on its own, and dwarfs anything I’ll ever do in my shop.
The esthetic issue is different.

I think that folded steel (in particular folded steel made from primitively smelted raw steel – i.e. tamahagane) is obviously more complex and esthetically interesting than monosteel. Personally I find that both function and esthetics offer interesting challenges, so I play the whole field. Where does tradition end and modernity begin? To me those are just little boxes. Yoshindo Yoshihara uses a power hammer. Does that make him some kind of modern fraud? Not to me. Ultimately all that matters to me is that when I pick up one of his blades, I go, “Wow! This is beautiful.”

Modern steel billet

For what it’s worth, my definition of a “traditionally-made blade” is a blade forged from primitive steel, folded, forged to shape, differentially hardened, and roughly falling within the bounds of the Japanese tradition of sword geometry and construction. That’s why I like to say that my work is “Japanese-inspired.” That means I feel free to draw from, imitate or reject anything within that tradition on a case-by-case, blade-by-blade, client-by-client, whim-by-whim basis. If you buy a sword from me, you’ll know exactly how I made it…and then you can put whatever label on it that you want.

A lot of people argue over these issues. It all seems a bit ludicrous to me. The fact that these arguments are frequently conducted by people with very little knowledge only makes the situation more grotesque. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re just screwing around. Swords have precious little relevance in modern times. If making and using swords isn’t fun, then why do it? As a craftsman, of course you take your work seriously. But, come on, lighten up a little, guys. We’re not curing cancer here!

Does a smith need to be ‘into’ a sword drawing arts (a practitioner in other words) to be able to make a good functional sword for a practitioner ? As a follow up, is there a difference between making a sword for a collector and for a practitioner, assuming they both want a descent blade but the first one (collector) doesn’t actually want to use it.

I don’t think there’s any required background for a smith. But I do think that Western smiths do need consider their blades as functional tools first and foremost. High level Japanese smiths don’t have to worry about function because nobody pays twenty, thirty, forty, fifty grand for a sword and then goes out to chop up floor mats with it. Western smiths, on the other hand, have to presume that somebody will eventually use every blade they make.

Particularly in the United States, with its aggressive liability laws, you don’t want a blade flying apart and stabbing somebody in the face. Also, ethically, if you make a tool, you want it to function safely and effectively.

So anyway…all of that said, people who train with swords will necessarily have a leg up when it comes to performance issues. My sense of proportion and weight has changed a lot over time, and it’s happened entirely because of my experience using my own blades.
As a result of all that, I don’t think there should be any difference between a collector blade and a user blade, per se. All collector blades should be functional.

Most of your blades show a very eye catching hamon (Your Mount Fuji hamon is one of them I’m thinking of right now). Is there some type of steel & technique you prefer above another to create them and does different kind of hamons affect the overall (cutting/performance) ability of a blade ?

Mount Fuiji in the mist hamon

Mount Fuiji in the mist hamon

I find hamons to be really interesting to make. I view them as primarily an esthetic component of the sword. For functional purposes, the best hamon would probably be a medium suguha. But I don’t find that to be all that fun to make (especially on monosteel blades where there’s no hada to take up the esthetic slack). I like using 1050 and W2 best. They both yield fairly detailed hamons.

On lot of cheaper (and even more expensive) production blades, the machi doesn’t line up and the mune machi is usually placed a bit higher. This is probably done to keep costs as low as possible or because the lack of proper knowledge but can it be considered as a flaw and even dangerous when the sword need to be used for cutting exercises ?
It seems reasonable to think that would be the case, but this is one of those things where you really can’t know the answer without a lot of testing. Obviously it’s an esthetic flaw…but I’ve never tried beating up a blade with a misplaced machi, so I can’t really say for sure if it would be significantly more likely to break.

Do you have an all time favorite blade you have ever forged throughout your smith career and why ?

Well, I still don’t feel like I’ve quite hit my stride as a smith. I’ve done a couple of tantos that I thought were pretty nice, including an osoraku tanto that I just finished. But I’ve had a backlog of orders that I’ve been trying desperately to get rid of for about three or four years and that puts a lot of pressure on me to just get swords finished.

Obviously you’re not going to ship blades that have significant problems. But sometimes you just think: I wish that was better. I’m really looking forward to just making blades for my own pleasure again – without any feeling that by putting excessive amounts of effort into one customer’s blade, I’m screwing everybody else in my order queue. I think you’ll see my work hitting a new level in about two years. So I guess what I’m saying is that my favorite blade is a blade I haven’t made yet.

You’ve done a number of instructional videos for teaching various aspects of the craft of bladesmithing. Tell me about how you got into that.

I’m a huge believer that there shouldn’t be secrets in a craft. Artistry and hard work can’t be taught…but they are what distinguish good craftsmen. The tricks of the trade are just that: tricks. My dad was a college professor and my mom was a minister, so I was raised to believe that people should share and communicate knowledge rather than hoarding it.

Anyway, I think my most obvious strength as a smith is my hamons. As a result I used to get a lot of email from people who’d basically say: “How do you make your hamons?” It got a little burdensome answering all the emails about the exact same question. Moreover, there’s no way to do justice to what is really an honest and reasonable (but complex!) question in a three paragraph email. So I thought that I’d make a short video and sell it for a nominal amount just to cover the cost of the thing.
Once I started making the video, though, I got obsessed and have now finished a whole set of video’s.

I’ve seen a lot of really crappy instructional videos and I just felt like I owed it to whoever was watching the video to provide clear and accurate audio, careful editing, a scripted voice-over, close-ups of significant details, decent lighting, a camera that didn’t wobble, and so on. Once I made the decision to do all of that, I realized I was sort of crossing the Rubicon on this project and it would end up being a much more serious and time-consuming endeavor than I’d originally intended. I invested in a bunch of video production equipment and off I went.

Making Hamons video cover

Anyway, once I was done with the hamon video I got a lot of response from people who basically said, “This is the best knifemaking video I’ve ever seen.” But I saw a lot of ways I could improve on that first one. So I went on to make a polishing video, then a mounting video, then a forging video. With each of them, I’ve tried to improve every aspect of production, moving to Hi-Def, improving my set, my lighting, my microphones, etc. Basically I try to make the videos that I wish I had been able to buy back when I first started making blades.

I’ve got one more in the works. It’ll be about the construction of habakis, fuchi/kashiras, etc. Not about decoration (a subject about which I’m not even vaguely qualified to teach anybody!) – but just the physical construction of the fittings, so that if somebody wants to mount their own blade, they can make functional fittings themselves.

I’m still looking to interview other Western (Japanese) Swordsmiths , Tsukamakishi, Togishi, etc, who would you send me to and do you have 1 question for him (or her) ?

Well, I’m friends with Chris Osborne, who has really been developing as a polisher. I think he’d be a great person for you to talk to. He’s very exacting, very serious about what he’s doing, and a hell of a nice guy. Another person to talk to is Rick Barrett. He’s so good with a grinder that every time I see him I want to punch him in the face. In all seriousness, I think he’s the best pure craftsman among Western smiths working in the Japanese tradition.. The sugata on his blades is very good, too. If you look at the nakago on one of his blades, you’ll see that it’s just perfect. That’s a sign that a guy is sweating all the details. Also a nice guy.

Walter’s Video gallery

Filed Under: Craftsman, Interviews

New Folded & Forged Katana with hand polish

February 24, 2010 By admin 2 Comments

Ok after all of the troubles I’ve got with the Konron dudes (have to post that thing here some day) there’s finally light at the end of the long, dark funnel.

A few weeks back we received the first monosteel katana sample from the Zhui Feng forge and last week the folded piece came in. Not necessary to say I was happy as a little child. Yeah, still after all of these years, when new pieces come in, it’s like Santa Claus who’s dropping a package :) )..always super excited !

Anyway let’s dig into this and give you a first review and some facts. This is the piece we’re talking about

hand polished katana

Our Handpolished beauty

Doesn’t look bad at first sight right ?

This katana is a forged&folded piece. The forge is making their own steel in a Zuku-Oshi Tatara (high furnace – for the people who can read Dutch, I’ve posted an article about Tamahagane maken here). So basically we can say they are producing their own tamahagane for these pieces.

Second thing I have to pint out is that they are using the traditional method to forge the blade, in other words they are using a lamination method (can’t remember which one but will ask it again) to construct the blade.

And that’s a big difference with some other Chinese manufacturers who are also making their own steel BUT lot of them don’t laminated their blades which results mostly in a very bad edge and or soft blade. So it’s nice to look but not really good if you like to actually use it for tameshigiri.  Still have another tamahagane piece here from another manufacturer with chips in the edge just from some soft cutting (reed !!)…And for a sword in that price range that’s not something you like to see.

I didn’t do a cuttingtest yet with this one but the bending test I did is already promising and the forge is willing to give a nice warranty on this blade. Once they’re back in the forge (Chinese new year now) I’m finalizing this thing but I will try to aim on a very looooong warranty :)

The beauty of this blade is without any doubt it’s handpolish. To be honest (actually I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t) it’s the best polish I’ve ever seen on a Chinese blade in this price range..period! And have seen quit some handpolished pieces in the last 6 years. This one is very subtle yet prominent … judge yourself :

The nice handpolish

The Nice HandPolish

The only thing I want to see a little better is the polish of the kissaski but we’le get there…

This piece only feature 1 mekugi-ana where I definitely like to see 2 once they go into production as well as telling them very clear which side they have to start wrapping the tsuka. Typical Chinese to start at the wrong side…But for the rest, very tight wrap and nicely shaped diamonds.

The tsuka is very well constructed (forgot to take some pics of that), has a nice Rikko shape and is covered with real rayskin of course and bleu silk ito. No Chinese ito but the Japanese stuff. And I’m sure because I’ve send them the ito :)

Same goes for the fittings, I still had some Japanese imported fittings lying around here and I send them with express mail so they could mount them on the sword. First they were only planning to send me the bare blade (since Chinese new year was very very close and they were running out of time) but I preferred to see a mounted sword. Think you have the same feeling about that…

Despite the fact that this sword is a rather big ‘thing’ with it’s 78cm blade and no hi, it still handles very well and has a nice balance.

Anyway, enough for today…we’re back on the track and very soon, the option to make your custom katana will be available again. But this time with a better and more accurate delivery time.

I was so pumped that i had made a video :o

/p>

Leave me some comments there as well if you can and hook me up there because i have more video’s to come very soon..

For more detailed pics, you can head over here.

For the freaks, these are the specs :o )

Tsuka28cmSakihaba23mm
Blade (from tsuba)78cmSakikasane4,5mm
Point of Balance15,5cmKissaki40mm
Motohaba32mmWeight1250 gram
Motokasane7mmSori 19mm
TsubaSteelFittingsJapanese Import

Let me know what you think guys, need some feedback here…good and or bad…

Filed Under: Shop Updates

Katana Related Questions answered by Pierre…

February 20, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

I think that in many ways Nihonto evokes certain emotions in people. There is always an answer why people like them. Some people adore them for the fine pieces of art that they are. Other people have very strong sentiments regarding Nihonto, and have a special meaning why they love it, or what it does to them. My question is really a dubble question:

What does it do to you when you help create a blade, and when does your feeling tell you when something is in your eyes a good piece?

This is a very interesting question. Actually, Kawachi Kunihira’s book, The Art of the Japanese Sword, starts with this sentence: “When you look at a japanese sword, what do you feel?”   It is exactly the same thing. The swords are always the same, but each viewer will have a different reaction. Some people find them scary, others cool, others yet powerful, some people think of discipline, the way of the warrior in life, others yet think of killing and cutting people down, others see pure art.

I cannot really pretend that I help create a blade. The work that I do on some swords is purely technical and all the aspects that actually influence the quality of the blade are done by the (my) master. Imagine a chef, and he needs to make a great sauce. He might ask you to cut carrots and another guy to pour water (and these guys will become very good at cutting carrots and pouring water, among other things all necessary to make a sauce), but only the chef will make the sauce. When the apprentices become chefs, they make their own sauce!

As for my feeling… hmm veeeeery tough question! I am so intimate with swords that my feeling is complex and always changing. If I stick to your question, that is, what I feel when I see a really good sword, well I can say it is something etheral, like the sword was not made my a human. Perfection in anything always inspires this feeling, I think. I want to produce this kind of work, but maybe I never will!
The more I advance, the more picky I become. Less than divine perfection is not enough. I enjoy every sword, though, but my observation becomes more rethoric, less emotional. Swords that really move me, I always feel that I want to meet the guy who made it!

What would be a simple coposition to make the hardening clay and what type of commercial steel is better to try to forge our “first sword” (or folded knife or some just for starters)?

The first part of the question : 3 parts clay, 2 parts pulverized polishing stone, one part charcoal.

Hmm.. I don’t know western steels at all! If you can find them, Hitachi Materials’ Yasuki steels are the best (those commonly called “white paper” and “blue paper” and “yellow paper”). If you can find some Yasuki white #2, it’s a very very good cutlery steel. Otherwise, you can shop for Sweden steels, they have been famous for a long time.

But you know what? They are still expensive. Steel is expensive. There are so many old steels lying every where, please recycle and practice! Your best bet is to find old files and work from there. Many people make great knives from files. Go to flea markets and buy old rusty files for cheap!

In any case I suggest you start working with carbon steels. Forget alloys or stainless for now.

What is the real purpose of the habaki and why is it such an important part of the blade. How about the placement of the mune and  ha machi. I see lot of swords where they don’t line up, is that a normal thing ?

That is a very important question. The habaki is indeed critical. Well, a very simple and practical answer is: What happens if you remove the habaki and put the sword in its scabbard? The sword will not hold! The habaki’s purpose is to keep the blade secure in the scabbard, that’s it! That’s why it’s tapered: it wedges against the four carved out corners inside the scabbard.

Otherwise, there are many types of habaki and many approaches to their use. Most traditional swords have their machi in line, but it is true that I have see some swords with the ha-machi a bit higher. I  don’t know exactly why, but I feel it might be to allow to fit a cheaper habaki ;-)    It’s easier to fit the habaki if it doesn’t have to wrap around the edge, so maybe only cheaper swords have their machi not in line?!
I will ask around!

Filed Under: Ask Pierre

What do you think about this Katana Prototype ?

February 7, 2010 By admin 9 Comments

In case you are not interested in the story, you can see the detailed pictures of the prototype here and over here you can let us know how much it sucks :o

These are the specifications by the way :

Tsuka28cmSakihaba20mm
Blade (from tsuba)73,4cmSakikasane5mm
Point of Balance12,5cmKissaki35mm
Motohaba30mmWeight1000 gram
Motokasane7mmSori 18mm
TsubaSteelSori TypeKoshi Zori

Ok this is the short story : Since I decided to break up with Konron (more about this in a feature post)  I’ve decided to hooked up with the people at the Zhui Feng forge and gave them 2 prototypes to work on.

I worked with them a few years back but at that time, their prices were on the higher side and I was unable to compete with companies such as Cheness , Chen, etc  so I decided to stop working with them in order to catch up with the ‘market’.

The quality of their swords was very good but I was looking too much at other companies and especially the price tag.

Now, a few years later, I became a bit smarter (finally :o ) and realize I don’t have to follow the Cheness,Hanwei or any other companies track and play the ‘cheapest price’ game.

So I hooked up with them again and gave them 2 prototypes to work on.

Right now they already finished our monosteel sword and should finish the folded steel prototype before Chinese new year. Since that is next week, I’m not sure if they are able to do so.

The blade is already done but they had to wait for my fittings which will arrive there tomorrow if all goes well.

Since working on new prototypes (with a new forge and new people ) is always a pain in my ass, I like to ask you to give me some feedback and let me know what you like/dislike on this model and what you like to see in a 300-400 euro sword.

You can find the monosteel prototype here and soon i will post the pics of the folded sword here too to hear what you think.

The pricetag is not exactly sure at this moment but it I’m aiming for a 350-375 euro pricetag for the monosteel (i promise i do something special for our members once they go into producion ! If you want to be a part, just fill in your name and email at the homepage)

I don’t have any pricetag ready yet for the folded katanas but since they are making their own steel to forge the blade  (they are not using ”ready to go’ billets as most of the factories does)  and  a lamination construction, I don’t think I will be able to offer it below 1100 euro or . But we will see…

So here are the first pics of the monosteel prototype :

The rest of the detailed pics can be found here

Now, i would really appreciate your feedback and toughts on this piece. Head over to here and let me know what you think ! I really appriciate your help and if there’s anything i can do you a favor with, just let me know :o

Filed Under: Samurai Sword news

How important is a Japanese Sword’s weight & balance ?

December 15, 2009 By admin 2 Comments

How important is balance and weight in the manufacture of a sword to a contemporary japanese swordsmith ?

Obviously a fine sword has a fine feeling in hand. Some swords are made only for their look, and feel terrible in the hand. It’s up to each swordsmith to put more or less consideration into the actual practicality of a sword. Of course, there were many fencing styles and schools of sword making over the past 1000 years, and not all swords were fine tools either! As for myself, I’m hoping to make fine fencing tools as well as fine works of art, all in the same sword. Bear with me!

In order to be allowed to make swords in Japan, you need a licence. But how can you learn how to make a proper sword and pass your test if you are not allowed to make any during your apprenticeship ?!

You work on your master’s swords! That’s why it’s important to have a great master, and a proper training situation. Your master will be making swords, and then he will delegate work to you. He will ask you to actually make that or this part of the sword. That means he trusts you enough, and that trust has to be built. Because there is no such things as practice: we’re always working for real, from the start. We never “just practice”. Not much room for mistakes. I often hear of apprentices making terrible mistakes, and wrecking swords that were almost finished. It’s very scary. One way we practice, though, is by making our own tools, but we make them for real too!

You’ve got to be learning all the time. Your teacher will do something many times in front of you, and then once he will just say “do it!” and you have to do it well and perfect right there, or you just lost your chance to step up. This is stressful, but it’s very good to keep the standards and learning attitude very finely tuned. I once heard that traditionally, potters in Japan would train their son by making him stand in front the throwing wheel for hours while their father was working. At some point, when the father would say “do it!” after many weeks or months, the son would just know what do to.

I experienced that myself many times. I watched my master work for so long, by cutting charcoal next to him or assisting him directly, that I know intuitively what to do. The other day I surprised myself again, because I had to do something I had never done, and I couldn’t remember how to do it at all. But when I sat at the forge, my hands knew what to do! I knew every step and I just did it. It was a proof that japanese apprenticeship is the best way to learn. You don’t need to fill your brain with theories and explanations. Just observe very attentively a competent craftsman, and then do it. Observe again, and do it again. No need to talk, no need to explain.

Filed Under: Ask Pierre

How is it to be a Japanese Swordsmith Apprentice ?

October 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

What do you do for a living while apprenticing? I have heard of apprentices living with their masters in a sort of barracks-style life.

Traditionally, apprentices lived with their master’s family, being part of the family. That meant they also participated in daily chores. Newcomers would help the wife cook and clean around. Not much forging for the first year. Nowadays there are many different situation, including the classical one, because japanese swordsmiths are not rich, and cannot always take charge of additional family members.

In my case, for the first three years of my apprenticeship, I was teaching English on week-ends, and visited my master daily on weekdays. That meant no day off for a year or so, and then only Sundays. From the fourth year, however, I’m lucky enough to have a mixture of much support from my wife, and then a tiny bit of English teaching (a couple of hours per month) and some side business (I act as a broker for western sword owners who want to purchase a sword, or get one restored or appraised).

I also spent three weeks at my master’s own master, the traditional way. Like my master used to say, the only free time you have is on the toilet and in the bath! Otherwise, every minute is controlled and directed by your master, and there’s no procrastinating around. From 5h25 in the morning to 23h00 at night, it was work, with a total of 1h40m for three meals and one tea break. It’s good to develop one’s skills. It’s very bad for one’s social skills ;-)

I read that you didn’t practice any fencing martial art. How can you know or understand the requirements of certain practitioners who use a katana?

When you seriously get into making something, very often you understand more than those who use it. I’m sure that F1 engineers understand what happens during a race than the pilots. The pilots are more intuitive, and they have experience. The engineers understand problems of gravity, g-force, rubber against pavement friction, engine combustion, engine power transfered to wheels, direction, aerodynamics, etc.. A fine swordsmith understands very well what a fine sword should be. We get so intimate with each blade we know them by heart.

For example, we understand how well a sword can cut, without actually cutting something, by feeling the nature (hardness, brittleness, “tightness”, etc) of the steel when we forge it, by feeling its reaction when we quench it, and by feeling its nature while shaping it with drawknives, files and polishing stones. Moreover, when a polisher works on a sword, he understands just as much how good the sword is.

Cutting power is just, after all, determined by blade geometry and the hardness-toughness of a steel.

And yes, it works: we agree with sword users and they agree with us!

This being said, I practiced Aikido – will practice again when I get near a dojo again! – and I practice kenjutsu katas with a bokken sometimes. It doesn’t have much to do with my work, it’s just to keep me in shape ;-)

Why did you choose to become a smith rather than a polisher or fittings maker ?

It’s really the environment of the swordsmith that reached me. Working in the forge, by the live fire, pumping the bellows, shaping steel into such beauty and elegance.. I can’t get enough! Beside, it’s the one main element of creation: all other trades revolve around swords, but we swordsmiths make the swords. It’s a little bit like comparing the trade of a painter with a frame maker and an oil paint manufacturer..

They’re all equally important, but they all revolve around the painter. I’m not saying I want the world to revolve around me (actually it’s the opposite, if I had a choice), but the swordsmith is the creator and creating is my breathing. I need it to live. So it’s the freedom to create and the context of work.

A special trade is polishing, though. I have infinite respect for the polisher’s work. It’s tedious and very very very difficult! People who think they can polish without training are usually very wrong. It’s infinitely complex, and without the polisher’s work the swordsmith’s work would be invisible. I could never do it myself, though!

Filed Under: Ask Pierre

Pierre , a Japanese Swordsmith Apprentice in Japan

October 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Hi everyone!

I would like to thank you for your interest in my little adventure, and thank you for your questions. Such questions are the best way to understand myself, really, because I have to think about aspects of my life that I usually just live without much consideration. I enjoy the game and hope the answers are satisfying for you.

What first interested you in becoming an apprentice?

pierre2

Pierre at work in his smithy

What really motivated me in becoming a swordsmith apprentice in Japan was the prospect of developping

skills that allowed me to play at “that” level. This is something I yet have to attain, but there is no doubt that the rigor and devotion the Japanese put in their work in general allows for a certain degree of accomplishment that in the West is often isolated to hardworking individuals.

In the West, we tend to get satisfied with less; and, I must add, this reflects in a much better quality of life in general! The Japanese are terrible at enjoying their lives, they’re working machines. Japanese pay attention to detail and are always proud to do their best, and this reflects in every aspect of their culture.

On top of that, the very intuitive approach of the Japanese to craftsmanship was also very appealing to me. I often get questions regarding technical aspects of my work (there’s one down here!) and I just can’t answer, because we do everything by “nose” and by experience, by intuition. Of course, I believe in the scientific method and in a more in-depth analytical approach (and am using them too), but what the Japanese taught me is that the only genuine teacher is Experience. One truly learns only by doing it.

How long have you dealt with nihonto/swordmaking?

I entered apprenticeship in early 2006. This is therefore my fourth year as an apprentice. Although I had a vague, typical young boy interest in swords and martial arts my whole life, until I actually entered apprenticeship I had never ever studied the nihonto or anything related to sword making.

I remember once, when I had just entered apprenticeship, someone mentioned to me Masamune (the most famous name in sword history, a smith who would have lived in the 13th century), and I just asked where he lived, and if I could meet him! I knew nothing at all regarding anything japanese sword, and much later I realized this had helped me be accepted within the world of swords.

As for the making, I have been working with my hands all my life (woodworking, home renovation, potery) so feel very comfortable making stuff and getting dirty, but I had never ever got anywhere close a smithy.

In Japan, an apprentice will be accepted or refused in a traditional craft without regards for his background or experience. The apprentice is to come and learn, he therefore doesn’t need to know! On the contrary, knowing is sometimes seen as a disadvantage, for one will already have habits and concepts, some of them maybe in the way of performing well, or at least in the way of “doing in Rome as the Romans”.

What is important is the apprentice’s attitude and commitment. Japanese don’t care about natural talents, they see it as a weakness sometimes, because he who is naturaly good tends to make less efforts than he who is poor with his hands. They consider that anyone who puts the right amount of effort will get there sometimes. Of course, the best of the best is he who has natural talent and puts in an infinite amount of efforts.

I like that very much. No one can’t say they can’t do it because they have no talent of anything. It’s just a matter of keeping the focus steady for as long as required, and then one gets there, no mistake.

Out of which characters does your Mei consist?

I don’t have a mei! I’m an apprentice. My mei will be given to me upon becoming independent, usually by my master, and usually containing one of his character, in this case either Miyairi Yukihira’s “hira” that was passed down to us, or Kawachi Kunihira’s “kuni”, depending on how things go in the coming years (stay tuned!).

Was it difficult to get accepted as an apprentice being a westerner?

It has nothing to do with race, sex, or any other factor. It has to do with what I mentioned before, and because I was never pushy, and never in a rush (from the moment I discovered swordsmithing, four years elapsed before I entered apprenticeship, if you can wait that long, you’ll be accepted).

Because I simply firt with the craftsmen, visiting some of them regularly, and reading books on my own, they saw that my focus was the same for years, and that I was pushing for results. At some point the relationship with who became my present master was such that it was natural for me to become his apprentice, and keep visiting him everyday to learn.

Many Westerners have this perception that it is very difficult, but this is because most that come to be accepted as apprentice are in Japan for one month on a tourist visa, and pushing to get results before they fly back to their country! This is the exact opposite of how things go in Japan. First settle in Japan, assimilate the language, cutlure and customs, start meeting people in the sword world, make friends, and then things will fall in place naturally, without having to make efforts or push.

View in front of Pierre's smithy

View in front of Pierre's smithy

You are a three year apprentice, did you bodge any swords along the way?

Fourth year now. Apprentices don’t make swords. For starters, it is illegal for them to do so (you need the licence to legally make swords in Japan), but even without the licence issue, an apprentice is working on his master’s work.

If, for the sake of simplicity, the making of a sword had ten steps, the apprentice will start by cleaning around, cutting charcoal and observing. Then he will become more involved in preparing the work set-up, and observe closely his master.

Then he will be asked to make step one, and his master will take care of steps two to ten. Then he might be asked to work on step five, not necessarily in order, and so on. The apprentices work on swords, they do every aspect of the work, but they never make a sword by themselves from start to finish, otherwise that’d mean they’re independent swordsmiths!

Have you worked on your own swords, tanto already?

See question above.

If yes, could you share you experience with us? Was it difficult to help / to do everything yourself?

See question above, but yes, it’s very difficult!

Could you show us some of your work?

Wait a few more years ;-)


How are you accepted by the japanese smith community? Are they  accepting of a gaijin learning there trade, such a traditionally japanese skill set?

The Japanese are a very welcoming people in general, and most craftsmen are usually lonely, and glad to have visitors. If they can perceive that I am serious, they are very happy that I came to learn one of their traditions. Most never believe that I will ever continue, and people are getting more an more suprised that I am still there after four years. Yet, I don’t think many believe that I will complete my apprenticeship.

In the begining, this was tough, but now it makes me smile and I enjoy showing them that I’m not a quitter. But to answer the questions, Japanese are generally very welcoming, and very generous of their knowledge. Of course, this gets much better when they feel you are making an effort to truly learn their culture, speak their language and study dilligently. They hate those who talk a lot but don’t do much, and so do I.

Just a little note here, there was a big discussion about the word Gaijin vs Gaikokujin :o

The real word for foreigner is gaikokujin (“outside country person”). Gaijin is a modern contraction of the word, and usually perceived as a bad word to use. It’s not a real word, but by removing the “koku”, it turns the expression into “outsider”, which means a lot in Japan (everything here is about groups, and who’s “uchi”, in the group, and “soto”, and outsider).

In the kanto area, people are timid about using “gaijin” for they think it’s innapropriate and insulting to foreigners. In the kansai area, people are a lot more easygoing, and most are now used to using gaijin as a common word (they use it on TV all the time), and not many people think much of it. I use gaijin now with people I know, and when it’s a formal conversation, I use gaikokujin. If you’re not sure, definitely use gaikokujin: it’s the proper word!

What path lead Pierre to Japan?

Girls!

I always say that…   But throughout my life, I became interested in several things, and only later did I realize they all led to Japan. It started with the sword fencing style in Star Wars (not purely japanese but..), with Luke Skywalker’s clothing (a japanese craftsman’s working “samue”; and, although I don’t fall for it much, Darth Vader’s mask is very much a samurai kabuto!), then martial arts (those I was interested in were japanese), the samurai-geisha themes, temples-in-the-mountains-with-fog, Zen, a common attitude towards work and social relationships that was natural to me, etc.

All this pointed the way to Japan, and once in 2002, I met a japanese girl who never became my girlfriend, but allowed me to come and stay with her family. This was an open door, and I jumped on the occasion to experience daily life here for one year (one month at my friend’s, and the rest on my own). And girls kept me here ;-)

Were you a smith before you went to apprentice?

Never ever even got close to a smithy!

Pierre's smithy

Pierre's smithy

Do you study any other Japanese arts? (anything from Ichibana to budo)

I did practice Aikido a lot both in Canada and Japan (and wish I could now, but the nearest dojo is an hour drive and money is scarce). I also enjoy Shakuhachi and the game of Go, although my serious lack of discipline makes me hesitate to say that I “practice”! Otherwise my best affinity with Japan was my attitude towards work: caring for details, quality, working simply to produce masterpieces, working intuitively, being aware of my whole self in the process of creation.. All this is natural in Japan, but raises eyebrows in the West.

What is your favorite style of blade?

I don’t have any favorite style. I have swords that I fall in love with, but no specific style. I do like Sue-Bizen blades (my master’s style) for they were very practical tools, very down to Earth and functional. The great tachi of early Kamakura move me without doubt, too. I also like early Muromachi tanto, the remnants of an era of assassination and self-protection!

Whose blades do you most admire? (other than your sensei’s of course)

My master’s are not those I admire the most! He is very good, actually, but I feel his work is too “new”, too clean. But don’t misunderstand me, his blades are stunning and I respect most of his work very much. If I go back in history, I loved the late Miyairi Yukihira’s work very much, impressive steel.

Then four centuries earlier there was Sukehiro, whose nioi-guchi is just a technical impossibility! Before that Yosozaemon (Sukesada, Sue-Bizen) had impressive work. The great Soshu smiths, of course, are just beyond understanding sometimes (I have Norishige in mind). And the Ko-Bizen smiths’ steel is what moves me the most, right now. I wish I could go back in time for a just a month… just to watch them! I also like Muramasa very much, but saying that in sword circles is like saying “my favorite painter is Picasso”…

It’s too common to be appreciated! But I genuinely like Muramasa. I think he was cool, and he was a free spirit. He tried different things and he was obviously very skilled. I’m talking about the second generation, the best of them.

If you could have any blade out of history to study (for one week), what would it be ?

Ko-Bizen Sadazane (I held it in my hands for half-an-hour once, but that wasn’t enough!). Priced at $200 000.

Do you want to sell your swords in the western world? Or do you  want to ‘come back’ and work as swordsmith?

Yes to both questions. I will always have a foot in Japan, and one in the West. But I’m hoping to build my forge in Canada (at least for now, let’s see what will really happen!)

If you don’t know the type of steel/carbon content you are going to treat with traditional claycoating and water quencing – Do you have any tips on what to do to optain strong hamon and no cracks in a katanalength blade. I realize that you can’t really give any guaranties for succes, but I would like to hear your opinion.

Try, and judge!
I’m sorry, but there’s no way around it. Even for us, the steel we use is always different, so we never know its carbon content or internal structure. We have to test it. Take samples, quench them, write down your datas (temperature by eye, in your own words, time heating, temp of cooling bath, etc). I think, for the sake of practice, you should try heating up only the edge without any clay, and see what happens. When you get something at that, then applying clay will make more sense: you will know why and what you want.

I would like to know more about the L-6 bainite blades. I have read some good things about them but would like to ask someone who knows more about it than me.

Wrong: you know more about it than me!
I don’t know anything about L-6 and I don’t understand bainite enough to even discuss it. It’s very simple: I work only with carbon steel smelted in Japan. I’m isolated from the world and have no clue what is happening “out there”. I am curious, though, and would be glad to learn about whatever’s steel-related! I’m always very thirsty to learn new stuff, and I don’t know anything at all about modern industrial alloys. Nothing. Nothing at all.

I’m like a caveman of metallurgy ;-)


More goodies can be found on Pierre’s website

Filed Under: Interviews

What would you like to ask to Pierre ?

July 19, 2009 By admin 5 Comments

pierreThrough a couple of friends, I was able to get in touch with Pierre and was very , very excited about that. To keep things very short, Pierre is a “Western guy” who traveled for the first time to Japan in 2002 and was amazed by the fact that there were still real traditional swordsmiths living and working in Japan.

The very idea of working alone, at peace, retired in a workshop set in the countryside, nearby a fire, with steel only for raw material, doing a work that never ceases to bring renewal and wonder, delighted him very much and In December 2005 he decided to chase his dreams and took of to Japan to start his Smith apprenticeship.

Now, anno 2009, he is still living and studying there and his aim is to become a licensed (westerner) swordsmith in Japan.
To quote Pierre :

“I’m at this point where I have touched everything, tried every technique but haven’t mastered anything! It’s very challenging and stimulating at the same time.”

I’m not sure about you but I’m very curious in such a way of living and Pierre is willing to accept questions and doing an interview..so…
Wondering how it is to chase an living your dream, this is your chance !!

Put your questions (regarding Japanese Swords) in the comment box below, or in the box on the right side of  this video and we make sure they got included in the interview. If there’s enough interest, we might plan to do some other things as well :o

So what would you like to ask to PIERRE ?

Filed Under: Ask Pierre, Japanese Sword Forging

Konron custom project – or how to make a leather ito yourself.

July 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Article was written by Loke Emil Petersen

This Konron custom project included a green high quality cotton Japanese kaku-sageo. The fuchi/kashira are standard Konron-stuff. It’s actually quite nice, but needed some bling-bling to it. Abrasive paper took some shiny brass into the floral design. The tsuba has had a treatment with iron chloride, heat treatment and wax coating.

The saya is black gloss with horn fittings. Unfortunately I did not take any pics of the tsukamaki process (My hands were fully occupied).

Why even bother some of you might ask? It is expensive and demanding to do tsukamaki yourself. Yes, but that really isn’t why I chose to make my own ito. The main reason is that leather ito typically is made from three or more pieces glued together.

The result is somewhat so-so because the gluing leaves ugly joints – which are often left visible in the maki. I asked several suppliers if they could make a better solution. But that would either be too expensive (usd 200+) or just more or less impossible. Next thing, I found a nice longish piece of dark green ox hide, thickness 1mm. The hide is large enough for 20 leather itos. Cost: 26 euro.

From this hide I cut the ito by using a roller scissor. (Set pics in here). I Doubled the hide and with one cut I made two identical straps 10mm wide. The straps were glued together accordingly and voila one leather ito:10mm-460cm. When stretched rock hard over the tsuka and the small pieces of hishigami the ito narrows down to a perfect 7mm.

However the really neat trick here is that I folded the ito in such a way that the one joint was completely covered. To put it simple I just folded the joint itself underneath the overlapping fold by the first “diamond”. Got it?

Anyway, this is how my Japanese Swords project turned out.

how to make leather ito

Enjoy and hope you found this article useful and if you have any questions, just reply right here under this post

Filed Under: How To
« Older Posts