Alabama Forge Council Bladesmithing Symposium
Part 2: Michael Bell on Japanese Swords

Article and Photos by Adrian Ko

This year, the Alabama Forge Council's (AFC) annual Bladesmithing Symposium featured special guest Michael Bell - a swordsmith from Oregon and one of the premiere smiths working today, trained in the Japanese tradition by five-year apprenticeship under Master Swordmaker Nakajima Muneyoshi in 1970.

For many of the participants - mainly knife-makers - this exciting event was their first hands-on exposure to forging and mounting of a full-length katana blade. (Photo, right, features a welded cable blade measuring 7-3/4", chaka wood and water buffalo horn.)

Michael brought the participants through a step-by-step process of creating the billet, forging the blade to shape, clay tempering, and heat treating, and covered other areas such as handle wood carving and handle silk wrapping. This article is an simple overview of the topics he covered over the three days of the AFC Symposium.

Perhaps what intrigued most bladesmiths including those experienced in forge welded damascus is Michael Bell's use of cable as source of steel which he finds results in remarkable strength and aggressive cutting ability.

Michael Bell details the metallurgical happenings of forge-welded cable. "When steel cable is brought to welding heat, a small amount of carbon is burned from the surface of each component wire. This creates a lattice of iron in the forged blade that is interlaced througout the metal, which serves the same function as the iron core seen in many Japanese swords." Forge-welded cable has been his standard for martial arts grade swords, as he finds them second to none in toughness and cutting ability. "When the edge of the sword is hammered and worked in shaping, it precipitates carbon back into the iron which eliminates soft areas in the cutting edge."

This enthusiastic bladesmith has succeeded in forge welding cable without any lapping or inclusions where many else have either found strenuous or have failed. When asked how he does it, he shrugged, blinked. "I don't know... I just do it!" he said honestly.

The purpose of the clay is so that when the blade is subjected to final heat treating and water quenching, the clay allows the covered portion of the blade to cool at a slower rate than the exposed edge, thus allowing the edge steel to form martensite and the body to form pearlite. The softer pearlite body allows for impact absorption and shock tolerance while the harder edge allows for cutting ability and edge retention.

After the blade was clay treated, it was left to dry. The participants waited eagerly until evening, as the night would allow people to see the heat treating more clearly.

Later that night, Don Fogg fired up a propane forge. It felt like an Olympian torch inauguration. The lights were darkened and faces were bathed in orange light from the forge. It was almost a spiritual moment watching the entire process, bonding with techniques and traditions similar to those practiced by the ancient Japanese smiths over the centuries.

Michael Bell's concentration did not falter as he passed the katana it back and forth within the fiery chamber, constantly checking for consistency of heat distribution, taking his time until the right moment.

And then it happened. Bell swiftly drew the forged-straight blade out over to a water trough. The water spat and sizzled as the blade was quenched. The anticipation of the two hundred participants piqued, as experience has shown the quenching process to be the point where a blade would be made or broken, as many hours of arduous work would be lost if the blade were to crack in the quench.

But it did not. There were no "ping" or "popping" sounds as the steel was abruptly cooled. Bell drew the blade out of the water to show the audience, and the now curved blade as welcomed with a gusto of excited applause and cheers. A blade had been born into the world.

Michael Bell explained he would correct the blade for any warpage and curvature, even vary the thickness of the clay coat to achieve the intended shape.

The next morning, Bell conducted a Q&A session, as for many this was their primary exposure to the process of forging a Japanese-style blade. The newborn blade was passed from person to person.

On the final day of the Conference, Michael Bell covered various aspects of Japanese polishing, handle-making and handle-wrapping, demonstrating his technique by securing the silk cord with a rubberband as he worked on each section, explaining how folded paper triangles helped with the shape of the Japanese-style diamond wrap.

Special Thanks

The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Jim Batson for making him a special guest at this event, allowing him to sit at the front row to block the view for others behind him! And to Don Fogg for helping this author see his dream afresh.

Warmest thanks to Daryl Meier and Howard Clark for inviting him to the event, to eat, forge and be merry. Also heartfelt gratitude to David and Pam Counts, and Al and Mary Dippold for the most comfortable bed and rooms outside of the Hilton!

Contact Information

The Alabama Forge Council's website is http://www.bham.net/afc/ - a calendar of future events, member gallery, metalworking F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) are provided.

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