Thanks Daniel. We used to participate in a Tatara created at the University of Minnesota; but the professor running them has since retired. Kihari himself came from Japan to run one of the early sessions himself. We've followed your progress through some of the content you've posted, under the right conditions I'm sure Kihara would love to visit Texas sometime;)
Estimated probably 50k or 55k which is way dam more then steel or iron only cause the way they have to make it in 3 days without losing heat or restart and the fact they have to pick the right spot or the material either is too bristle or too soft
Short answer is if your being presented Tamahagane to buy it probably wasn't made here, licensed sword smiths in Japan have access to top grades and it goes down to knife makers beyond that. Buying it as an outsider simply means you have a good relationship with the right person.
Same goes for everyone lucky enough to participate and the work is actually proceeds and extends beyond the 3 days quite a bit. You can view part of it as tourist through the Hitachi Corp, but to actually participate requires years of training and understanding so as not ruin the end result.
yearly only. it takes to 3 full days to smelt in a tatara according to kihara-san's teacher(the former murage in shimane before he took over the role).
No they do has much as possible your wrong cause the demand of jewl steel is in great demand the community of sword making master are asking for the greatest pure tamahagane steel it's the most important part of Japan katana making
@@davidslefort6541 No sir. Tamahagane isn't widely used anymore, and the few licensed tamahagane company just need to make enough to sell to the even fewer Japanese sword smiths in the country. One slab 3m by 1m is enough for a year. Aside from the few chefs knives they make for collectors, tamahagane is far inferior compared to the rolled steel that's mass produced worldwide.
The only iron ore Japan has is ironsand. Sand does not work well in bloomeries or blast furnaces because it gets blown around by the air blast. Using a wider, open furnace gets around this problem by dispersing the flow.
The height of the tatara, the shape at the bottom, the sintering process of the materials with the interrupted cycle of air from the bellows all produce an ideal environment for a very specific product and I have never seen the same quality material produced in any other smelting process.... but by no means does that mean it's pure, its jewelled steel... Tamahagane
Amazing. Participating, studying and practicing smelting here in the U.S....Would love to be a guest there one day.
Thanks Daniel. We used to participate in a Tatara created at the University of Minnesota; but the professor running them has since retired. Kihari himself came from Japan to run one of the early sessions himself. We've followed your progress through some of the content you've posted, under the right conditions I'm sure Kihara would love to visit Texas sometime;)
Tamahagane Arts
Make that North Carolina and you have a deal! ;)
Tamahagane Arts
I was there with you at the Minnesota event, and I always wanted to know if you have any other things going on in the future?
Kihara-San came to Minneapolis in 2004 for two weeks. It was very good to see him work.
awesome work 👍🏻.ok but what happens.to the rest of the steel?
This to me (an old navy Foundryman) is Magic!
The bellows is a man powered treadle like a teeter totter kind of thing......surprised it was not shown.
The bellows in Shimane are in a separate building, but the tatara in Nimi has bellows powered by humans.
Approximately how much money does this amount of Tamahagane sell for (how much per kilogram, and how much steel does this process yield)?
a grand us dollar depending of the quality of the wholy finished tamahagane result
Estimated probably 50k or 55k which is way dam more then steel or iron only cause the way they have to make it in 3 days without losing heat or restart and the fact they have to pick the right spot or the material either is too bristle or too soft
Black sand ore in Japan is often volcanic in origin with lots of grace materials that benefit smelting. It's very good metal as a result.
Short answer is if your being presented Tamahagane to buy it probably wasn't made here, licensed sword smiths in Japan have access to top grades and it goes down to knife makers beyond that. Buying it as an outsider simply means you have a good relationship with the right person.
Is it true that there are currently only licensed tamahagane makers in japan?
only in shimane prefecture is the remaining old skool smelter(shown in the video) place in the country.
Man it's ironic. Id pay to work all three days and consider it a form of tourism lol. Well done indeed.
The master who is in charge of this process often doesn't sleep or speels very little untill it's finished and it can take from 36-72 hours
Same goes for everyone lucky enough to participate and the work is actually proceeds and extends beyond the 3 days quite a bit. You can view part of it as tourist through the Hitachi Corp, but to actually participate requires years of training and understanding so as not ruin the end result.
Small problem...it's a smelting processs, not a sintering one.
***** Things are often mislabeled before they are fully understood. That subtle knowledge doesn't always result in a name change.
Tamahagane Arts Ooooo-kay. Yeah. Right. Be that as it may...this is a fairly well-defined process.
And getting better defined every day.
how often do they do they do this? every week? month? day to day?
yearly only. it takes to 3 full days to smelt in a tatara according to kihara-san's teacher(the former murage in shimane before he took over the role).
No they do has much as possible your wrong cause the demand of jewl steel is in great demand the community of sword making master are asking for the greatest pure tamahagane steel it's the most important part of Japan katana making
@@davidslefort6541 No sir. Tamahagane isn't widely used anymore, and the few licensed tamahagane company just need to make enough to sell to the even fewer Japanese sword smiths in the country. One slab 3m by 1m is enough for a year.
Aside from the few chefs knives they make for collectors, tamahagane is far inferior compared to the rolled steel that's mass produced worldwide.
Abe was great and Horio will also be great if he takes over after Kihara.
Annual and everything is tightly controlled by the ministry to ensure quality and demand are maintained.
This is truly a lost art
Bobby Foster Pretty much everything 500 years ago can be considered a lost art.
It clearly isn't lost- there it is, right now!
Its the only unbroken sword making tradition in the world and it hangs on by a a thread.
Does anyone know what they are using for a bellows? It is rhythmic, so it is not an electric blower.
i think its a few large fuigos
Why don't they use a real furnace ?
The only iron ore Japan has is ironsand. Sand does not work well in bloomeries or blast furnaces because it gets blown around by the air blast. Using a wider, open furnace gets around this problem by dispersing the flow.
Are you kidding, they have the best furnance.
@@prayogi5396 Nah, nah...
The height of the tatara, the shape at the bottom, the sintering process of the materials with the interrupted cycle of air from the bellows all produce an ideal environment for a very specific product and I have never seen the same quality material produced in any other smelting process.... but by no means does that mean it's pure, its jewelled steel... Tamahagane
A little thing called TRADITION.
Blacksmith。炭で顔が真っ黒になるから？
I am the real TATARA
Cringe
Then I shall forge you into something useful