Don't know what else to do on your Sunday night? Watch these

Very interesting video. Particularly at around 11 minutes when they pull the Tamhagane from the forge. At 16 minutes, they take all the pieces and smelt them together. Tim Zowada makes his own Tamahagane for his razors.

And this one!

^^^AWSOME !!

Tnx

My two personal favs

http://youtu.be/Il7aJ7wQkxI

http://youtu.be/u4tkfN8tAJE

Those were great! I actually saw the Dovo video on my phone the other night. Couldn't understand a thing, but it was interesting to watch.

Thanks for that!

That's way cool. Thanks for posting.

Those were fantastic videos. I especially enjoyed watching him make one from scratch! Wow!

Oh my lord the first video makes me feel honored to own a masa iron sand tamahagane razor

I love the culture behind the making of the steel. I wonder where the majority of that huge block they pulled from the forge goes? There probably isn't that big of a market for sword making. I bet some of that block went into some kamisori razors for sure.

jrlk2005 said:

I love the culture behind the making of the steel. I wonder where the majority of that huge block they pulled from the forge goes? There probably isn't that big of a market for sword making. I bet some of that block went into some kamisori razors for sure.

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From British blades.com



"Tamahagane is a strictly regulated product. To buy any you have to have completed the seven year apprenticeship as a tosho (swordsmith). Then you can buy the stuff appropriate to your rank and experience. So, the better/older you are, the better the material. The last unverified quote I had about cost was around 200 USD per pound (if you could get some). Some of the very old traditional tool makers (planes, chisels etc.) have been able to get some tamahagane, but very few.

Akira Kihara, the smelter, would give you a chunk for reference purposes but it's not nearly big enough for anything you're thinking about. He's been to the US once to demonstrate. There is a plan to have some sort of tatara smelt by him in the UK next year."

I'm guessing it's all sold... Such an operation wouldn't be worth it if they only made 1 batch per year as they said that big Chunk would only fetch 50k

Fantastic history lesson: Thanks for posting

Final polish is with a piece of jnat size of 2 grains of rice for 3 days! I feel so shameful mentally complaining while doing 50 laps on 12k Nani.

I've seen that documentary a few times. I just love the process of turning the iron sand into steel.

There was an American razor maker who made his blades from start to finish. By start I mean he started with sand.

I forget his name for the moment.

Legion said:

There was an American razor maker who made his blades from start to finish. By start I mean he started with sand.

I forget his name for the moment.

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I believe you're thinking of Tim Zowada - He makes his own Tamahagane gathered from Iron sand on the shores of Lake Superior he calls "Tim-ahagane"

http://www.tzknives.com/Razors.html

Yes, it may have been him.