in crocs and a hoodie

Most of the time, the camera is held by the 12-year-old son. We will try to improve the quality. Less shock.

@@katanamaking2606 Son will be a fine filmmaker. Embrace the imperfection. Tell son I like his work, your work too.

even for a 12 year old, he did a great job...

Yes, and at some point it can even become detrimental as the impurities can induce unwanted or unpredictable stresses as they migrate with heating cycles. Folding or repeatedly forge welding is supposed to remove some of these impurities as well as homogenize the steel so you have a consistent product with even properties through our it, reducing the size and number of weak points, but then successive hearing cycles risks uneven heating and hardness on some points. Not only that, going back to what you said the folding at some point is really just about bragging. If you were to fold the blade 20 times, that equals approximately a million layers. But that's also 20 opportunities to increase the amount of oxides introduced into the matrix.

Sadly most of these traditions have been forgotten and nearly wiped away. Great swords came out of Iran as well, Shamshir are awesome as well!

If I recall it's clay slurry and straw ash. The straw for carbon and the clay slurry to slow oxidation. If I remember correctly that is😂

The clay slurry is to prevent oxidation.

www.pavel-bolf-katana-kaji.com/cs/ Polisched swords

Yes. The surface is also cleaned of slag and scale.

I’m not too versed in this as I’m just starting blacksmithing myself, but the amount of carbon in the metal determines the strength. More carbon, the harder and more brittle it is. However, you lose carbon when you forge. To try to prevent carbon from escaping, he puts the grass ash on it, which is full of carbon. The clay at the end is put on to prevent certain parts from cooling down too fast, since that can also make the steel too brittle. Hope this helps!

ash, straw

For the katana, about 4kg of raw steel is needed for the hagane and 0.5kg of the shingane. (Steel for shingane is already ready, old foldet weld steel). A hon san mai or kobude packet weighs about 2kg before being rolled into a stick. I usually make it a katana and a tanto. When I started, I needed about 7kg of steel at the beginning of the process. I usually have nothing left for tanto. I estimate the amount of material. When I make an oroshigane, I put 5kg of steel into the forge and pull out about 4kg of kera oroshigane. I cut that in half and this 4 kg is the basis for the katana. When I add tamahagane, the packet is a little heavier. I usually add about 1kg, but part of the oroshigane is used to repair the teko gane (holding rod). So the resulting package is about 4kg. It is quite large and heavy. It may be better to work with less steel. Process two smaller packets and join them together after 5 folds. The number of folds is usually 10-12. It depends on the quality of the steel and the desired result. I'll do an extra fold or two if needed. The quality of the steel can be recognized. Properties change during forging, scales and oxides change. In the place where the packet is chopped and bent, the degree of processing is easily recognizable. If there are too many folds, the steel starts to degrade quickly. It starts to tear at the edges. After the next fold, it is no longer usable. Tears during forging. I'll make a video about it sometime. A large number of folds is one of the myths.

@@katanamaking2606 thank you for your reply.

ok, thank You

I use borax. But not often. If there is any problem, open weld defect, bubble. So I cut it open and fill it with some borax. It is important to thoroughly clean the surfaces that will be joined. No oxides. When I fold a packet, I always hammer it under the butt. To expel all the air. This is also important. Then there is no need to use flux on the inner surfaces. I also use it sometimes, but not a lot. When you apply Borax to the surface of the packet, it dissolves and fills the gaps between the layers. Prevents air from entering. The steel then does not oxidize. But ash and clay still works. When working with modern alloy steel, (for Damascus knives) I always use borax. Steel has other properties. Tamahagane is easier for blacksmith welding.

if it was modern steel it would be destroyed. You can heat traditional steel (tamahagane) to a higher temperature.

The sparks are actually the carbon burning out , not impurities . They start with extra carbon so if some is lost it isnt a big deal . You will note they are always rolling it in the rice straw ash . This puts carbon back into the steel .

After so many layers its pointless.

You have to layer it so many times to make a piece of steel that’s worthy of a sword. Eastern iron and steel is low quality. Imagine if they had western metals. I dare say the Japanese swords would look and function completely different.

Sometimes I use clay. It depends on what style, school I produce. Ichimonji without clay. That's the traditional way. No clay is used to create an authentic Ichimonji. For Gassan, Bizen Osafune and others with clay. You can see it on some videos.

That's the technique use commonly in Southeast Asia in their traditional blades when quenched in water creating a hamon. No claying

we will work to improve. The cameraman is 12 years old and in puberty. Difficult cooperation.

what cameraman? he uses drones 😂

@@katanamaking2606. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 he will improve ! 😘

A tripod or steady would surely help. However comma pause, so would not being a Karen and bitching about it. Not everyone on YT has professional videographers to film them.

@@soonerfrac4611 not bitching at all homie. Was making a suggestion in an (attempted) humorous manner. Keep your panties on.

clay. Gooey mud from the pond.

About 71 cm, I don't know the quantity. about 900 g

Very good friend. I will learn from you, you will be my master from a distance. Grateful.

Czech rep.

I've been waiting for you. When you come to me and start giving me advice.

These fairy tales are usually written by people who have no experience in this craft. But it's also an opinion. Even though I use machines, a lot of the work is still done by hand. The use of machines is, of course, debatable for orthodox supporters of "traditions". Anyway, thanks to machines, work is faster and therefore cheaper. The price of a katana blade from my workshop is similar to the price of a tanto blade from Japanese swordsmith. Swordsmit, who also uses a blacksmith's hammer and, when not filming, a belt sander. Of course, you can buy a completely handmade sword in Japan, but the price will be about 100% extra. I will make a video on this topic sometime. I can make everything completely by hand and balance the cost and time requirements. As for the harmonization of the soul. These are just fairy tales. It is interesting to study history. Biographies of some famous figures in the history of Japanese sword making. They often have nothing to do with harmony in the soul. If I drink green tea instead of coffee in the morning, the sword made will not be better. If I don't use any machine and do everything by hand, no one will know the difference either. What really matters are technological knowledge and skills. Anyway, Thanks for the topic. I will look into this in the future and make a video.

@@katanamaking2606 I was joking.

www.pavel-bolf-katana-kaji.com/cs/

I Got you👍👍

29 min. there is straw ash on the screen. It is used to wrap the packet. It is carbon and thus regulates the C content in the steel.

@katanamaking2606 I mean it went from block to blade without showing how he did it..

It will be on another video. There was no camera available, dead batteries. Or something similar.@@jaques2510

Primitive steels are different in half a dozen different ways from modern steels, especially when worked with solid fuels. The larger surface area allows them to rapidly pick up carbon and the lack of homogeneity means that some lost carbon through sparking is expected. There's a lot more nuance to it, but his work is sound.

It's carbon. During the forging process, it is absorbed into the surface layers of the material. Carbon content in steel can be controlled very effectively with this method. Just like when you put soap on yourself and then wash it off. It also has some meaning. Not everything we don't understand is nonsense.

I have wootz ready. But it's just an experiment. A Japanese sword is usually not made of wootz.

That adds character to me, and I wouldnt have noticed without seeing this comment

You know nothing....shut up

I disagree. This meets the definition of a katana.

Yes. It's shot horribly. My 12-year-old son filmed it. We are working to improve. Interestingly, these comments are usually made by people who have not filmed anything on their channel at all.

@@katanamaking2606 constructive criticism my friend!! Learn to take it openly instead of getting defensive, my goal isn’t to make you feel bad!

Yes. I went to a good kindergarten.

Now imagine if they had powered hammers back then.

If it was, it wasn't....these are completely pointless discussions. I work and study with what was and is. Theorizing about alternative worlds is for people who drive discussing nonsense. Nothing for me.

​@katanamaking2606 I agree! Thank you for taking the time to pass on your experience and knowledge. Also your camera boy is doing just fine.

They did. China, korea and all of southeast asia bought thousands of katana blades and copied them because they were well made. It's a myth that they were more fragile than other swords, plenty of european swords in museums are bent and just like any other sword they often broke in battle. Arguably many japanese swords are a little stronger since they're generally a bit thicker.

@@Cuchulainn42 many places did . The first ever tariff was placed on Swedish swords by the Germans . They were way too good and way too cheap so the germans couldnt compete . The germans didnt know the Swedes had a power hammer that was water driven.

Who are you? OSHA? Go sit down somewhere.

@@JimmySilverFoot Funny because Im talking to a guy on FB who also had no safety gear and the disk broke and planted itself into his baseball cap missing his face by a centimeter. @$$ hle.

WAAAAAA!

It's a good thing you're here. I think it's his first time doing this so he needs helpful comments from people like you.

Retype this without the condescending bs

Fortunately, watching the video is optional. You can leave anytime. My 12 year old son filmed it. I was glad he did. It took him a lot of time. Next time I'll put the camera on a tripod........ By the way. Your two half-minute videos on KZfaq are also not very stable 🙂

Harden the fuck up! This is not about camera quality but awesome workmanship and the best sword in the world.

It's interesting how strong the need is for idiots to write stupid comments. The blade is a Hon san mai construction, with shingane. 25 min video it is shown. It even says "shingane". If you looked closely you would have seen it. But I understand that an idiot looks at the beginning and end of the video and then makes comments. Shingan-less construction is not uncommon in koto swords. It was also used in swords of the Heian and Kamakura periods. So, if shingane wasn't there, it wouldn't be a mistake. Study, you fool. The application of clay is also not necessary. This technique is called hada yaki or zubu yaki. It was commonly used for glasses like Ichimonji. Hamon is distinct at the end of the video while sharpening the blade. I repeat again. Study, stupid. When you learn something, write comments.

Sorry, but you obviously know nothing about it. This technique is called hada-yaki, or zubu-yaki. It is a tripe way of tempering the swords of the Ichimonji school and some Bizen or Sóshu. . If you watched the video to the end, you also saw the hamon that was created this way. Then I don't understand why you write nonsense. People like you should do some studying first. Only then to speak.