Musashi Toradragon Katana and Yaki-ire Tempering

In our Musashi Katana collection, we have a sword called the Musashi Toradragon Katana Sword (SS761-1). This Katana Sword is a hand forged 1095 high carbon steel blade and is tempered using the Yaki-ire method. There have been a few questions on what the Yaki-ire method is, so we thought we would give you a bit more information on it.

Yaki-ire Tempering:

1)After the forging and the final shaping the blade is covered with clay, a thick layer on the body and a thinner layer on the edge where the Yakiba will be. After the clay has dried, the sword is placed in a charcoal fire until the temperature reaches approximately 700 degrees centigrade (1290 degrees Fahrenheit) on the back and 800 degrees centigrade (1470 degrees Fahrenheit) on the edge. Due to the heating, the blade gains somewhat in dimensions, and the tip curves a little upwards. At this point, it is then plunged into a container with water of a temperature of about 20 degrees centigrade (70 degrees Fahrenheit).
2) In the water, the edge, which has a thinner clay coating, cools off faster than the main body of the sword - the thicker clay, together with the greater thickness of the blade itself, keeps the heat longer than in the edge portion. The material at the edge contracts, and two seconds after the swords has been put into the water the blade curves slightly towards the edge; this is called Saka-zori or Gyaku-zori ("reversed Sori").
3) Five seconds after the blade was immersed in water, the rapid cooling of the edge caused a transformation of the steel structure from austenite (a nonmagnetic solid solution) to martensite (a very hard and brittle solid solution of iron and carbon), resulting in an expansion of the edge. The body of the sword, cooling off slower and losing its expansion which was caused by the heat, crystallizes into pearlite (a mixture of iron and cementite [iron carbide]). In other words: the edge expands while the back shrinks, thus gaining a Sori towards the back, the typical shape of a Nihonto.

We hope this helps out all your questions about Yaki-ire tempering and that we gave you a bit of insight of what goes on behind making this awesome Musashi Toradragon Katana Sword! We have a great sale going on now, so be sure to add this Katana Sword to your collection today! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at info@samuraisupply.com.

Ryumon Okinawa Practical Sword

We could not very well publish an article and a post about Ryumon Swords and not showcase one of their beautiful swords! The one in particular we think you should know more about is the Ryumon Okinawa Practical Katana Sword.

This gorgeous sword is hand forged and folded AISI 1060 high carbon steel blade tempered in the traditional clay method, which produces a hard and extremely sharp cutting edge and a very resilient spine. Of course, this sword is polished by master sword smiths to reveal its beautiful hamon and hada as well and the iron tsuba is very detailed.

This Ryumon Okinawa Practical Katana Sword also comes with a premium sword maintenance kit which is worth $30 and a reference guide. If that was not enough add ons, it also comes with a silk sword bag and an unsharpened training blade with a rounded tip so that you have an extra blade to practice with! This gives you an extra blade - yes, an extra blade!

This is just an amazing sword for the price as we have this Ryumon Sword at an awesome sale price right now! Click on our Ryumon Swords and pick out the one that best suits you now and add it to your collection today! If you have any questions about this Ryumon Sword or any other Samurai Swords, please contact us.

Ryumon Samurai Swords

I couldn't go without doing a blog on these great swords by Ryumon! To start off, let's see what Ryumon means. The word Ryumon translates to erudite or reputable. See, I could stop there and you would know just what kind of manufacturer Ryumon is and how their swords are. Let's tell you a bit more about these sword though! (The Ryumon Phoenix Katana RY3201 is pictured to the left)

The Ryumon line has brought us several different beautiful pieces that compare with a lot of other very well known manufacturers out there. The Ryumon line has tried to stick to a solid quality of craftsmanship as best as they can and among the competitors, Ryumon is considered to be in the intermediate level by sword collectors. I feel that intermediate is very respectable and you get a really good quality sword for what you pay for.

These Ryumon Swords are made by master sword smiths that use old traditional methods of sword making along with some modern knowledge of today. This enables them to put forth a quality hand forged and folded, full tang Samurai Sword that is made of tough, medium or high quality carbon sharpened steel. Each of the Ryumon Swords is fully functional and battle ready and can be used in both full contact sparring matches as well as training.

The best part is that almost all the Ryumon Swords come with a Ryumon signature box, a sword bag and a maintenance kit. I LOVE getting all the extras in my purchase and with Ryumon you are getting a lot of bang for you buck, which is what I look for. Quality sword, affordable prices, and great extras included!

You can add your Ryumon Sword to your collection today and know that they all have a 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee. We want you to know that SamuraiSupply.com stands 100% behind their products. We hope you enjoyed this wee bit of information and if you are looking for more detail on the Ryumon Swords, check out our sword articles. If you have any thoughts or comments on this or any other blog or article, please contact us as we love to hear from you!