Tanto in the shobu-zukuri style of standard-twist forge-welded cable construction. 10 inch nagasa with dynamic hamon. Polished by Brandon Thell.

Copper habaki. Koshirae to be mounted with hamidashi tsuba of antique forged wrought iron with matching wari-bashi (or wari-kogai). Partially ribbed two-tone saya.

Handle wrapped in same and silk ito. Fuchigashira of shibuichi.

By Gabriel Bell.

Here are some inital photos of the cable tanto. I was just able to take a few quick photos; with the all the moving into the new shop and work on improving our facilities, we are not very well set up for photography of polished blades at this time. Please disregard the specs in the photos, which are small shavings from the freshly carved saya. These photos are at least enough to capture some of the effects in the steel. I must say I am very pleased with this blade, things disappear and reappear in the steel as you move the blade in your hands. There is a lot of activity to spend time looking at. The koshirae is still in progress, but I will be sharing some photos of the hand forged antique wrough iron wari-bashi in a few days. With the matching hamidashi tsuba, this tanto will be mounted in my personal favorite style.

Contact us if you are interested.

Since we began teaching formal swordsmithing courses at Dragonfly Forge, we have been very lucky to teach friendly and talented students, many of which have been able to return for more instruction at the Tomboyama Nihonto Tanren Dojo. This year’s students have been as enjoyable and talented as ever, and with this years completion of our new dojo, teaching the curriculum are pleasure.

All of the students who have taken our course this year have been successful, and have been able to take home a handsome and functional blade.

Our June Basic Forging class was attended by a 13 year old student, Kevin, who showed a great deal of natural talent, even at his young age.

In July, another talented student, Bruce, attended our July Basic Forging Course. During the class, Bruce forged and heat-treated a very nice wakizashi, as well as a small tanto.

Several photos of these two students have been uploaded to a new gallery of our swordsmithing school. We will continue to add photos to the album as possible. Former students who would like to submit photos of their time at the dojo or of their completed projects are greatly appreciated.

Two new photo galleries were added.

The first is a collection of photos from outside the shops, in the garden, etc.

The second gallery is a selection of a few photos of visiting friends from our Open House and Dojo Blessing from back in April, 2008.

Outside the Forge

A random collection of photos taken outside the shop, in the garden, etc.

11 Photos

Dojo Blessing and Open House 2008

Photos from the temple blessing ceremony for the new dojo and open house on Apirl 14-15, 2008.

8 Photos

UPDATED 7-30-2008  Our August Basic Forging Course is fully booked.  There are still vacancies in all our other classes.

We are also pleased to be offering an October Basic Forging Course. The class will run from October 6-10, 2008.

We have also recently updated our Photo Gallery section with new albums. New photos will continue to be added as possible.

At Work

Photos of us at work at Dragonfly Forge.

21 Photos

Japan Spring 2006

Photos from Gabriel's semester abroad at Tokyo International University and Michael's visit to Japan.

31 Photos

Every seat in the August 25-29 Basic Forging Course have been filled. All of our other courses for the year still have at least one vacancy.

We also may be holding an additional class in October if there is demand. If that is the case, the information will be posted online. Feel free to contact us regarding our courses.