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Ajou University Industrial and Information Systems Engineering

Materials & Manufacturing Processes Spring 2012

Report Title: Japanese Samurai Sword Making Process

Submitted by: Hassam Ahmed

Date: 20/04/2012

Japanese Samurai Sword Making Process

In this report I am going to discuss that how to make famous Japanese Samurai Sword. And Im going to cover following Areas. 1. Introduction 2. Analysis 3. Summary & findings

Introduction
Samurai sword is one of the famous sword. Its popularity is due to its making process which takes a month of time period and its wide use in Japanese wars. In the making of Samurai Sword high level of skills are required and making a single sword like KATANA requires a month of time period to make it in use. The Samurai Sword was widely use by Japanese warriors in their wars and battles in their early ages. But now Japanese use their Samurai Sword for sword fighting and for their culture heritage.

Analysis
Discussing about the process of making of a Samurai Sword , there are many steps including making of steel etc. etc. Ill discuss the following steps one by one in detail. Step 1 : Making of the UNIQUE STELL. Step 2 : Forging the Steel Step 3: Polishing the steel.

 Step 1 : Making Of The UNIQUE STELL.

First step include in the making of Samurai sword is to find the perfect type of steel. This steel is made in traditional Japanese furnace which is usually known as TATARA. The process of making the steel goes on for three days and three nights without any break. And it requires a lot of care and observations in order to make it perfect for the making of Samurai sword. Iron sand is used for the making of this steel because it has very less impurities as compared to ordinary iron sand. And the main reason of choosing this iron is that it does not contain any sulphur and phosphorus impurities. These impurities causes iron and sand brittle. The sand is now added in the furnace and the furnace is maintained at a very high temperature. When the sand start melting, carbon charcoal is added in the furnace which then mixed melted iron sand and forms unique steel. In Japanese these steel is known as TAMAHAGANI. After making of this specific steel, each piece of the steel is carefully observed by experienced persons and good pieces of the steel are send to the Samurai sword maker.

Step 2 : Forging the steel

The process of forging the unique steel known as KATANA which takes a very long time of forging for about 3 months. The heat from the forge and constant hammering is used to make the surface of steel flatten. After this the steel is wrapped in paper and then covered by the clay and ash in order to prevent the steel from oxidation. Again it is heated to 1300o C and then hammered. This process combines all pieces of steel together. This process must be complete quickly before the temperature of the steel drops making it impossible to work with it. The hammering process weights down the steel to about 50% of its actual weight. The expert sword makers guess the concentration of carbon by the colour of the steel. Now the experts makes the folds of the steel by hammering to the point where there are 5000 folds/cm.

The steel is moulded in such a way that the hard material is on the edge and the ductile material is on the back of the blade which makes the sword shock resistance. Now a very secrete mixture of clay and charcoal powder is used to protect the blade during further hardening process. This process is very carefully controlled by sword maker and it is known as HAMON. After the process is finished, mean coating is finished a line appears on the blade. Metallurgical speaking, it is a line distinguish between martinsite and the paralite. Now again the sword is heated to 800oC and this time temperature is carefully maintained and controlled. Because if the temperature goes up to the range then the sword will break. If it stays low, then the proper hardening never comes. When the blade gets red hot , it is then quickly quenched in water which causes the sword to become very hard. This rapid cooling of sword causes the blade to get more sharpen. The structural changes appears during the rapid cooling process gives the sword its unique shape.

 Step 3 : Polishing The KATANA

The step in the manufacturing of JAPANESE Samurai sword is polishing the KATANA. Different types of katana sword requires different types of polishing styles based on their look. During polishing two things are carefully look after one is its sharpness and the other its shinning. During polishing the blade get more sharpened. The design that the sword maker makes during forging get more prominent during polishing. The process of polishing also requires a lot of time. But its the actual thing which gives the perfect look to katana the famous Japanese Samurai sword.

Summary & Findings :

In this report we discuss how the famous Japanese Samurai sword is manufactured and what are the different secrete techniques used in the manufacturing of this famous Samurai sword. In short this sword is not easy to manufacture although it requires a lot of time and experience for just making a single sword. Although the use of Samurai sword is almost finished but its beautiful look and its sharpness still attract people towards it from all-around the world. Now a days samurai is manufactured not for wars and battles but for its traditional and cultural need.