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!

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!

Continue reading this article in The World newspaper by Teri Albert at theworldlink.com…

The April 2010 Basic Forging Course, with students and sensei hard at work forging wakizashi to shape.

Dragonfly Forge’s swordsmithing school, 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.

Continue reading at www.tomboyama.com…

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!

Continue reading this article in Ethos Magazine by Frank Knight…

Dragonfly Forge is proud to unveil our new mon, which will serve as a logo for our business and swordsmithing school. Our mon features three dragonflies facing outward, enclosed, like the majority of mon, within a bold circle.

Mon are heraldic symbols of medieval Japan. Like European family crests, they developed amongst the aristocratic class first, gradually being adopted by commoners and merchants. They came into widespread use by the 12th century, especially for use in battle, seen on flags, armor, tents and other military equipment to help distinguish clan member from enemy.

Today, the influence of the mon can still be seen in the Imperial chrysanthemum, the paulownia of the office of the Prime Minister, or probably most visibly, the Mitsubishi logo.

The three dragonflies within the mon are symbolic of the three family members who run Dragonfly Forge: Michael, Anna, and Gabriel Bell. They also reflect upon the past, present, and future of the lineage: our foundation in the teachings of Nakajima-sensei, the current body of knowledge taught by master Michael Bell, and the future of the tradition to be continued by Gabriel Bell and Michael’s other apprentices.

Each of the three dragonflies has a tail shaped as a ken, reminiscent of a well known Japanese creation myth in which a famous and powerful sword is born from the tail of a slain dragon. In the tale, the fearsome Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed serpent is defeated by the storm god, Susanoo, after he tricked the beast into drinking too much sake. In the fourth tail, he discovered a great sword, which he called Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (“Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven”), which he then presented to his sister the sun goddess, Amaterasu, to settle an old grievance. The sword also features heavily in other Japanese legends, later being renamed Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (“Grass-cutting Sword”), and becoming one of the three pieces of the important Imperial Regalia.

We will begin featuring the mon on our website, and anywhere else deemed appropriate. Come visit the annual OKCA Show in Eugene, Oregon on April 16-18 to see the mon for the first time, as well as to see a few of our swords and to learn about our swordsmithing classes.

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 at our school’s website 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. We’re looking forward to another enjoyable year of classes in 2010 !

Unfortunately, Dragonfly Forge will not be attending the San Francisco Token Kai this year, 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 greatly more important than any sword show, no matter how much we love swords. We with 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 at our school’s website, or contact us for more information.

Please visit Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō’s website to see the 2010 schedule and reserve a place in our classes.

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The koshirae is in the Tensho style, of which some characteristic stylistic features are: the waisted tsuka, leather tsuka-maki which is wrapped over, rather than through, the kashira, which is made of buffalo horn and is approximately the same size as the fuchi. This koshirae has a shibuichi kogai inlet into the saya. The fuchi is also shibuichi. The menuki are of “water dragons” and also matching shibuichi, wrapped in leather ito, which is lacquered in a dark brown, over black lacquered same. The saya is a bright “Momoyama Red” and black striped pattern with gold highlights. It features buffalo horn koiguchi, kojiri, kaerizuno, and kurigata, with gold-plated shitodome. The sageo is of reddish black silk.

The large tsuba is of antique wrought iron with lustrous dark brown patina that will continue to darken and even out nicely as it ages. It is of a crab (kani) silhouette, pierced and carved, and inspired by a classic Owari school design. To see a photo of the tsuba in the process of being sculpted, visit this page.