Dragonfly Mountain Japanese Sword Forging School

Due to interest we have added two more courses to the 2010 school year schedule.

We will be holding a special Oroshigane Seminar on the days before the September Basic Forging Course on September 3-5, 2010. As a special bonus for students who attend, they will be able to have a portion of the class swordsteel project.

A Tsuka-maki, Handle-Wrapping, Course has also be added to our schedule for October 16-17, 2010.

Plenty of space remains in these newly added classes, but our last two Basic Forging Courses of the year in September and November are filling up. Remember reservations are made on “first come, first serve” basis.

Those interested may reserve a place in our classes from this site (with payment executed through PayPal’s secure site) and can contact us for further information.

Also, let us remind everyone again that we will not be attending this year’s San Francisco Token Kai, due to Gabriel and Maria’s wedding!

This June and July we hosted Basic Forging Courses, and we are proud to announce that all the students of both were successful and finished the class with their own differentially-hardened wakizashi of forge-welded cable.

The students of the June course, Christopher, Paul, and Robert, and the two of July course, John and Zach, all showed talent. We would honored to have any of them return for further classes in the future.

Photos from the classes have been added can be seen in our 2010 School Year Photo Gallery!

After experiencing various technical difficulties last week with both of our websites, dragonflyforge.com and tomboyama.com, we are pleased to have both functioning smoothly again. Those interested in reserving a place in our classes may do so again through our school’s website, tomboyama.com, from which will link to PayPal’s secure site for the payment details.

While doing the required repairs, we took the opportunity to upgrade the page templates and hopefully improve the overall look and functionality for the better. Feel free to let us know what you think about the changes!

Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō was happy to welcome the first class of the 2010 school year to the dōjō. The full class was a Basic Forging Course, and all four students successfully forged wakizashi of forge-welded cable! It was a thoroughly enjoyable week of class, and we would like to thank Cameron, Dean, Michael, and Ryan for making the class a delightful experience.

We welcome any alumni of past classes to revisit Dragonfly Forge or further their studies in the Japanese sword arts. Also, we be honored for alumni who are working on their own sword projects to submit photographs for our online gallery, as we are aware that so many of you have been busy forging new blades, as well as working on mountings and fittings too! Hopefully, we can help to exhibit the flourishing of interest and dedication to the art of the Japanese sword outside Japan.

Some photos taken during the April 2010 Basic Forging Course have been added to our photo gallery, and can also be seen below. We plan to continue adding more photos as the year progresses.

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A brief video interview with Michael Bell, founder of Dragonfly Forge, has been uploaded to YouTube. He speaks regarding becoming a swordsmith, his apprenticeship, developing forged cable swords, and our swordsmithing school, Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō.

We would like to thank Frank Knight for taking the time and effort to produce the video and allowing us to share it. Thank you Frank!

Dragonfly Forge and Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō are proud to unveil our new mon, which will serve as a logo for the business and school. Our mon features three dragonflies facing outward, enclosed, like the majority of mon, within a bold circle. A more background information on our mon, mon in general, and related links, please visit Dragonfly Forge‘s homepage.

With the annual Oregon Knife Collectors (OKCA) Show coming less than a month away, Dragonfly Forge is gearing up for it and the upcoming school year of our swordsmithing school.

The OKCA show will be held at the Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene, Oregon on April 16-18. On Friday the show is open exclusively to OKCA members, who can attend free. Saturday and Sunday the show will be open to the public, with free demonstrations on Saturday.

The April 2010 Basic Forging Course is already fully booked with four students, but space does still remain in all of our other classes at this time. All of our classes are booked on a “first-come, first-serve” basis, with a deposit required to reserve one’s place in the session. Those interested can see our 2010 school year schedule and reserve a place in our classes, or visit our school’s frequently asked questions page for more information.

While our currently commissioned orders are certainly keeping us plenty busy, we have also been hard at work preparing the school for another school year. More tongs have been forged, with help from apprentice John, because as any smith knows, “you can never have too many tongs”. Maintenance has been done on our half mile driveway, and more work has been done on the shop and grounds. Students from prior years returning for more lessons will hopefully find the dōjō improved from last year. We’re looking forward to another enjoyable year of classes in 2010 !

Unfortunately, Dragonfly Forge will not be attending this year’s San Francisco Token Kai, as it scheduled for the same weekend as Gabriel and Maria’s wedding on August 20th. Once we learned of the conflict, rescheduling was not an option, and obviously the wedding is of great importance, so no matter how much we love swords we will be unavailable on the dates of the San Francisco Token Kai. We will certainly be attending the 2011 Token Kai and still greatly recommend for those that can attend this year to do so.

We have also already scheduled an additional Basic Forging Course for November 1-5, 2010 due to interest. Those interested may reserve their place online, or contact us for more information.

We are proud to begin and announce an online photo gallery of swords and mountings made by students of the school who have continued their projects from class. It will include new blades that alumni of the school have forged on their own, after taking one or more of our classes.

At this time it only has photos of blades by two alumni, Jeff Adachi and Niels Provos. Jeff has taken every class we have offered. He has shown great talent and has been very supportive of our endeavor. The new gallery has a few photos of a tantō forged from a batch of oroshigane he has made himself after taking our Oroshigane Seminar last August. Niels took our Basic Forging Course last September and has been busy in the forge since then! There is a photo of a tantō forged of folded cable by him.

It is our intention to add more photos to the gallery, so we would like to invite any alumni of the dōjō to submit photos to us if they so wish. Please email your photos to Gabriel Bell.

2010 School Year

Michael cuts the hinge for a fold of the oroshigane steel while Gabriel holds the billet during our August 2009 Sword-Steel Making Seminar.

Michael, Anna, and Gabriel Bell of Dragonfly Forge are happy to announce Tomboyana Nihontō Tanren Dōjō’s schedule of classes for the 2010 school year! We are looking forward to having much fun in the forge again! We will certainly enjoy seeing returning alumni and new students both.

Our Basic Forging Course is certainly the most popular class we offer, four sessions of which are currently scheduled for 2010. October is once again left open with the possibility of fifth Basic Forging Course being scheduled, if there is sufficient interest. We will also be offering two sessions each of our Habaki and Kajioshi Courses, with a special 5-day combination Kajioshi-Habaki Course new for 2010 in May. There is also a Koshirae Course, and following that aTsuka-maki Course scheduled in August.

All of our classes run from 9 AM to 5 PM on the dates of the session. Lunch is provided.

Space in our school is limited per class, and a deposit is required to secure a seat, which can be paid through our site which links to a secure PayPal site. The remaining tuition is due on the first day of the course.

For information on experience necessary, accommodations, travel directions, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions Category.

Basic Forging Course

This is a hands-on course designed to give the student a working familiarity with the tools and metals utilized in the forging of a sword blade. Each student will forge his own blade of at least wakizashi length from forge-welded steel cable. Skills learned will include forging, grinding, filing and heat-treating, with attendant emphasis on metallurgy and proper shaping and aesthetics. All tools, fuel, and material included.

The price of the course is $1250 and is limited to four students per session. A deposit of $250 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before the session begins.

April 26 – April 30, 2010
June 21-25, 2010
July 5-9, 2010
September 6-10, 2010
November 1-5, 2010

Habaki Course

A two day hands-on weekend course where the student will make a copper habaki. Skills learned will include forging and annealing the metal, hard-soldering, filing, shaping, polishing and decoration. All tools and materials required are provided.

The student should provide his own blade, properly shaped on water-stones in preparation, to ensure a well-fitted habaki.

The price of the course is $500 and is limited to four students per session. A deposit of $100 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before the session begins.

June 26-27, 2010
September 11-12, 2010

Koshirae Course

– Carving and Shaping a Sword Mounting

Students will learn how to carve handles (tsuka) and scabbards (saya), as well as fitting tsuba, fitting seppa and fitting fuchigashira to the tsuka. Included in the course is the making of mortise and tenon kojiri and koiguchi, and kurigata made from buffalo horn. Tools used are traditional saws, chisels, knives, and planes and will be on hand. Alder wood will be provided, although students may bring their own.

Tools and materials will be provided, but students should have their own sword blades with a well-fitted habaki, plus tsuba and fuchigashira.

The price of the course is $1250 and is limited to four students. A deposit of $250 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before session begins.

August 2-6, 2010

Tsuka-maki Course

– Handle wrapping

A two day session covering the silk wrapping on a Japanese sword handle. The course will cover preparation of the handle before wrapping, folding the papers, measuring the tape, wrapping and tying the knot. Students should bring their own handles with ray skin already wrapped or inlaid. Silk for the wrap can be purchased from the school at $5 per foot. All tools are included.

The price of the course is $500 and is limited to four students. A deposit of $100 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before session begins.

August 7-8, 2010

Kajioshi Course

Kajioshi means “smith shaped” and is the grinding of the blade prior to its being sent to a polisher. It has been observed that Western craftsmen, although comfortable with the technology, have a difficult time shaping the blade into a harmonious form. This course is designed to teach how to see and correct deficiencies in shape and geometry. Students should bring a sword blade where the shape is “just not right”. These will be studied and corrected, either by grinder or by water stone. Tools will be provided.

The price of the course is $500 and is limited to four students. A deposit of $100 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before session begins.

May 1-2, 2010
July 10-11, 2010

Kajioshi-Habaki Combo Course

NEW FOR 2010!

The Kajioshi-Habaki Combo Course is a new addition for the 2010 school year. The course, which is a combination of our two-day weekend Kajioshi and Habaki Courses, was created due to interest by alumni of Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō in continuing their studies in the Japanese sword arts by beginning to mount, the blades they forged here during a Basic Forging Course. And the first piece in a completely mounted Japanese sword is a habaki.

However, to make a well-fitted habaki, the portion of the blade underneath and around where the habaki slips into place at the machi, known as the habakimoto, must be completely shaped . This meant that in order to take the Habaki Course, a student had to either provide a old blade in need of a new habaki or have already performed kajioshi, the initial shaping performed on water-stones by the smith, on their own blade. Given that our Kajioshi Course is a two-day weekend course as well, students, who are traveling from across the country, or internationally, were interested in coming for a longer stay to study the Art.

By combining our Kajioshi and Habaki Courses into a five-day week-long class, students can bring their unrefined grinder shaped blades to class and, using their blade as a first-hand lesson, help to develop the aesthetic eye, shaping the blade on traditional Japanese water-stones.

The extra day of classes will give students time to properly prepare and refine the habakimoto, where the habaki will fit, with water-stones, laying the good foundation needed to make a well-fitted and ascetically pleasing habaki.

Once the student has properly shaped the nakago and habakimoto area with the waterstones, the final two days of the class will be spent forging, soldering, and shaping habaki of copper fitted to the student’s blade.

The price of the course is $1250 and is limited to four students. A deposit of $250 is requested, refundable up to 60 days before session begins.

May 24-28, 2010, 2010

With the conclusion October Basic Forging Course, the Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dojō 2009 School has come to close.

September 7-11, 2009 Basic Forging Course

Students and instructors pose together after the September 2009 Basic Forging Course

Our September 7-11 Basic Forging Course was attended by three students, Jacob, Niels, and Soko.  Niels blade was successfully heat-treated on the first attempt. Unfortunately, we regret to report that Jacob and Soko’s blades both cracked after heat-treatment, something that has rarely happened at the school.  Luckily, Jacob had the chance to reforged part of his broken wakizashi into a tantō, which successfully survived yaki-ire. The heart-break of a fatally broken blade is something every smith experience sometimes, including professionals, but we hate for the lesson to be learned first hand by students of our swordsmithing school. We believe Jacob and Soko still both enjoyed the class, a testament to their good attitude and understanding of the art.

October 12-16, 2009 Basic Forging Course

Michael Bell poses together with Harry, student of the dojo, and the sword he forging during the October 2009 Basic Forging Course

The October 12-16 Basic Forging Course was a special session scheduled later in the year due to interest.  It was attended by one student, Harry, who forged a beautiful blade of forge-welded cable steel.

Looking Forward to the 2010 School Year…

The October Basic Forging Course concluded the 2009 School Year for Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dojō. In the next month we hope to schedule the 2010 school year. Once it is scheduled, we will post it online and students may begin reserving places in the various sessions. We are looking forward to another great year of classes!