# Making of a Wakizashi (under Michael Bell) - WIP



## mikedtran (Oct 7, 2016)

My mild obsession with Kitchen knives somehow landed me at Myrtle Glen Farms without cell reception, eating farm fresh meals for breakfast and dinner and driving 40 minutes each morning to Dragonfly Forge in Coquille to work on a wakizashi under Michael Bell's tutelage. Dragonfly Forge is located at the top of hill on a 20 acre property and has amazing views and an amazing energy.

This experience has given me a new appreciation for how much sweat, blood, and tears goes into making a blade. I have never put so much time into making anything. I learned a tremendous amount from Michael, Gabe, and John at Dragonfly Forge. Anna, Michael's wife also cooked up delicious locally sourced meals for lunch everyday!

I would highly recommend this to anything who wants to learn more about the blade making process.

I don't like to write too much so this will be succinct - please feel free to ask me about any of these steps and what I learned about them and I will elaborate =)

One thing I will say is my stomach was very uneasy before heat treat as the idea of the blade cracking after having put 25 hours into it was too much for me to even think about.

*Day 1:* Forge-weld cable steel into billet -> Forge billet to shape
*Day 2:* More forging -> normalizing -> surface grinding -> belt grinding -> filing
*Day 3:* More belt grinding & filing -> clay up (and wait overnight for it to dry completely)
*Day 4:* Heat treat -> belt grinding & filing
*Day 5:* More belt grinding & filing -> stone polishing

This is in it's current state, I will continue to work on this blade. Likely doing a ferric chloride etch before heading up to PNWG and when I get home will do a polish up to about #2500 grit sand paper then take it to the Okudo Suita + lemon etch + silicon carbide rub.

Myrtle Point Farm + Farm Fresh Food Example:










Dragonfly Forge:









*Day 1:* Forge-weld cable steel into billet -> Forge billet to shape

















*Day 2:* More forging -> normalizing -> surface grinding -> belt grinding -> filing













*Day 3:* More belt grinding & filing -> clay up

















*Day 4:* Heat treat -> belt grinding & filing













*Day 5:* More belt grinding & filing -> stone polishing


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## aboynamedsuita (Oct 8, 2016)

Super cool Mike, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished project! (PS congrats on getting an okudo too )


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## milkbaby (Oct 8, 2016)

Awesome photos! Looks like a lot of fun? You said you were dreading the heat treat, but what was your favorite part? 

Thanks for sharing the pics! :doublethumbsup:


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## mikedtran (Oct 8, 2016)

tjangula said:


> Super cool Mike, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished project! (PS congrats on getting an okudo too )



Will try to finish it up within the next 7-10 days depending on how busy I am. I know the tip is going to give me hell though as it is a completely seperate plane.



milkbaby said:


> Awesome photos! Looks like a lot of fun? You said you were dreading the heat treat, but what was your favorite part?
> 
> Thanks for sharing the pics! :doublethumbsup:



It was a ton of fun, but also completely exhausting. The amount of concentration needed to work effectively in the smithy is intense. 

I definitely felt queasy going into heat treat mainly because it is an instance where everything could be for nought. I would have to say I learned the most about good belt grinding technique, but I'm a weirdo and really enjoyed filing work =)


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## Matus (Oct 8, 2016)

That must have been great. Thanks for posting all the photos. You mentioned filing - I am curios what had to be filed other than the shoulders of the blade?


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## mikedtran (Oct 8, 2016)

Matus said:


> That must have been great. Thanks for posting all the photos. You mentioned filing - I am curios what had to be filed other than the shoulders of the blade?



It was definitely awesome!

We filed all surfaces before heat treat for two main reasons. First being with the file you ensure a very flat surface vs. slight convex/concave of the belt grinder. Second and more importantly it creates a really good even texture for the clay to stick on. 

Post heat treat we filed the tang and spine as that is traditional for Japanese swords. The tang is actually a very important part of Japanese swords and the second place looked at after the tip of a blade to determine era and authenticity. 

Each maker/school had a specific filing pattern on the tang as well as specific tang shapes. The Japanese were very particular with how the planes of the blade flow into the tang. (I learned all this from Michael and Gabe)


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## Matus (Oct 8, 2016)

Thank you, that is interesting information. I would have not thought that tang of a sword was of such a high importance. Though I do understand that a tang failure would be fatal.


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## mikedtran (Oct 8, 2016)

Matus said:


> Thank you, that is interesting information. I would have not thought that tang of a sword was of such a high importance. Though I do understand that a tang failure would be fatal.



Glad you enjoyed the info!

To help with tang stability they run the hardened steel/hamon into the first inch or so of the tang. The second thing is the Habaki which is suppose to be a shock absorber for the tang =)


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## Dave Martell (Oct 8, 2016)

Thanks for sharing this.


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## panda (Oct 10, 2016)

tell him you're gonna turn this into a monster suji instead.


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