Thought it was time to share some technical data as well as a bit of a rant.  I'll soon be adding a technical page here on the site that will give some insight into how I do things as well as my personal feelings on blades as both a smith and a martial artist. Lately I've heard lots of people making statements about the beauty of my blades and attention to traditional aesthetics but in the same breathe wonder about functionality.    In most cases I spend about an entire week giving attention to the fine details including proper niku, geometric correctness, finishing the blade so that the polisher only has to polish and not reshape the blade, finishing the nakago and finally signing and dating the blade in Japanese.  First off, I think I'd have to say  "why would I spend all the extra time and effort to make a blade beautiful and traditionally correct only to neglect performance?".  Doesn't make sense logically and that's probably why I haven't ever made profound claims in the past about performance.  So I figured it was the time to share some of the extra steps I take to ensure performance in my blades. First and foremost, with the help of several other "metalheads" I've spent a great deal of time studying metallurgy and then incorporating and blending modern science with some of the traditional methods I use.  I've spent close to a decade alone studying quenchants both modern and ancient to pick apart the benefits and shortcomings of each.  As such I've settled in to using a modern quenchant that gives me superior results in performance while still being able to obtain any aesthetic feature present in older Japanese blades.  It took me at least 6-7 years of this time just to fine tune my heattreating so that I can, more or less, get these features on demand.  I found out very quickly that water is simply unacceptable for any other reason than being traditional.  Even when trying to control the medium it is unruly and the results can be dangerous.   Generally there is a 50-70 percent failure rate due to cracks but that only includes those that are visibly discernable.  Under the microscope you can quite often find both perpendicular and longitudinal stress fractures that are invisible to the naked eye.  Once seeing this first hand, I said goodbye to water as a quenchant forever. As per my general heat treating process, it is not as simple as just hardening the blade to make a pretty hamon.  I spend several days after forging doing pre-heat treating.  This includes annealing as well as at least three full normalization cycles for each blade to reduce grain size.  Only after a thorough pre-heat treatment is complete do I clean and clay the blade.  After claying, the blade is heat treated which I do in a propane forge  maintaining temperature by eye alone.  I do this rather than using salt baths for two reasons.  One, it is calming for me and maintains a bond with tradition.  Secondly, it allows me more control which is very necessary especially when forming utsuri or trying to achieve uniform nie and nio.  After hardening the blade undergoes tempering in an oven to relieve residual stresses. This is a critical process, as proper tempering will eliminate the chance of any embrittlement and possible chipping  to the blade.  Fully tempered martensite is tough stuff and when supported by a fine grained pearlite body, you have a blade that will outlive you many times over. I also destroy at least 4 blades per year, flawed or not, in an effort to track my own performance.  This generally starts with normal cutting of matts moving up to pine 4X4's  and then moves into severe tests such as edge on edge impact tests,  torque tests on the cutting edge to insure no chipping and finally destruction in a vice by first checking flex and then bending the blade over 90 degrees in one direction and then the other until the steel finally gives.  This generally takes in excess of 6-7 bends.   All of this really proves nothing scientifically but it does give me an immense amount of respect for what a blade can do when made properly. For over twenty years I have been obsessed with the Japanese sword and the various mysteries involved with its forging. I started my journey into swordsmithing while I was yet a teenager by joining the various sword study groups and regularly attending shows (Token Kai) around the U.S. Around the time I first began delving into the craft there was very little written about smithing of the blades themselves so most of my knowledge was self taught through trial and error. As I gradually learned new techniques and succeeded at producing traditional aesthetics I found myself drawn even more strongly toward tackling even the most minute details in the steel which has brought me to smelting my own steel from refined iron and iron sand. I do use a variety of modern tools and techniques in making my blades as I don't have the liberty of having apprentices to work my hammers or the room to build large tatara. As such I primarly use propane to fire my forge and hand made smelter as well as a 115 Lb. air hammer and various modern grinding tools for doing my final shaping. For my specialty, Japanese swords, I only use my own personally smelted orishigane or tamahagane and 1075 (for cutting blades). I have chosen to use traditional materials solely in an effort to master the multitude of traditional characteristics found on properly made Japanese blades. These include the formation of utsuri, chikei, sunagashi and formation of varying sized nie and nio as well as controlling their placement on the blade. Many smiths spent their whole lives trying to master their control over the naturally induced features in a blade and I fully expect this to be my lifelong journey as well. I also frequently make various contemporary swords and knives based off fantasy inspiration and the darker side of my psyche. The steel for these blades will vary depending on the overall design and effect desired. On occasion I will use pattern welded steel from Daryl Meier but unless otherwise noted all blade materials and fittings are made by myself. Occasionally I will collaborate with several other exceptional bladesmiths and artists. These projects will be specifically noted and detailed. LEFT: Enomoto Sadahito RIGHT: Rick Barrett