Twin Oaks Forge

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

This site is from a Texas bladesmith. It includes information on forging steel blades and tools. I'm not sure how historically accurate his methods are, but he is using the tools he describes.

The site

I began making knives in the early seventies and in the early eighties I met Yoshindo Yoshihara a Japanese swordsmith. I worked with him during some of the times He was here in Texas along with another smith named Nakagawa from the Kansai area of Japan. While I still occasionally make swords they are more a personal thing and I do not take orders for them. The sword section is just to show some of my work or if I happen to have one I would like to sell I will put it there.

www.twinoaksforge.com/index.html

The forge

This is a modified version of a Japanese style sword forge. The only real difference from the ones I have seen is the covered dome. I saw something similar that a Japanese Saw maker was using. It made sense to me, the more heat you can trap the less fuel and effort you need to expend. Even though I use older methods I see no reason to be inefficient.

www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/FORGE%20BUILDING.HTM

The bellows

This design is hundreds, maybe thousands of years old. It is quite efficient and once you establish a rhythm it is less tiring than you would expect. It is valved so that you get airflow on the push and the pull stroke. Kind of like circular breathing. This is the design sword smiths use for all of their work, including welding during folding. It will supply enough air to heat large cross sections of metal.

www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/BOX%20BELLOWS.HTM