REAL Mokume Knife from Seki City

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leehljp

leehljp

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I spent a long day visiting a couple of cities on the far side of Nagoya today and one was the city that has been famous for Katana swords in Japan for 800 years. These Katana swords have often been referred to by their descriptive name of "Mokume" because the steel was heated, folded, heated, pounded, and the process repeated many many times. This process caused the steel to have a wood grain appearance. 'Mokume' means "wood grain appearance.

Several people here have some Mokume blanks that look similar and have made pens from them.

I have been through Seki numerous times on the expressway but today I stopped - well a Japanese friend took me because he knew I have always wanted to go. I purchased only one knife and it was right at $200.

The blade is 7 1/4 inches long and the total length is 12 inches. Most expensive knife that I have ever bought and it was 20% off at the factory store. I have always wanted one and this is it. Beautiful grain.

1_Mokume_knife.jpg
 
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Hank that is very cool----did you ask about buying pen blanks from Mokume????
Margie has a small belt knife that came from Seki city---I guess they are about the best around these days.
 
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Beautiful blade Lee, and as is tradition "Draw it not in anger and sheath it not with out honor" certainly is a gorgeous piece of work, I tried to make a Damascus blade a few times about 25 years ago, I can imagine the work that went into that blade. the pattern is very nice.
 
Nice water mark, I have a full kitchen set and A hunting knife. I love them, my favorite Kind of knives. I was told that the way the steel is folded that they have microscopic teath, but dont quote me on that.
 
Thanks Hank . That is an exceptional blade . Nice photo depicting the grain . I have one of the pen blanks you mentioned , and finally have the nerve to attempt turning it . I'm now considering what pen style to match it with . Thanks for showing the knife !
 
I'm curious as to what the difference is between Mokume and Damascus steel. I'm a bit of a newbie to the steel end of things so forgive my ignorance.
 
That blade certainly is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. They start with a layer of tough steel and a layer of hard steel. Like Hank said, they "weld" them together, fold it, weld it together, fold it, etc. up to 20 times or more. The hard steel holds an edge, but is brittle, while the tougher steel are more malleable and much stronger. So, the blade is very strong and holds an edge. Brilliant!
 
greggas said:
I'm curious as to what the difference is between Mokume and Damascus steel.
Click to expand...

They are both Pattern Welded Steel

Damascus steel is made of variants of steel folded in upon itself 100s or 1000s of times.

Mokume originally used other metals such as copper or gold in the mix, and made for great color changes with different oxidizers applied to it.

Now Mokume usually includes a harder element such as titanium in modern day manufacture, but occasionally they still use softer alloys like gold for collectable pieces.

The real art nowadays comes from making the pattern recognizable. Starbursts, circles, diamonds, etc. I have a set of Damascus steel knives made with the methods of the byzentine era that I am making and will eventually get around to posting them. They both with have desert ironwood handles.
 
The blade is technically Damascus steel. Mokume is made a little differently. It consists of sheets of different colored metals that are cleaned and pressed together and heated to just below the lowest melting point metal. It is due to the pressure and intimate contact of the sheets that cause the metals to become diffusion bonded together. When heated for the proper amount of time, the metals act like a solid block. It is carved to expose the different layers, like the Grand Canyon has exposed sedimentary layers. It is then rolled flat or otherwise worked to get the desired pattern.

Damascus steel has steels of differing carbon content forged or welded together. It is done hot enough where the steels bond together and is folded and worked to get the desired patterns.

I use both for inlays of my rings. If anyone is interested in using Damascus Steel for a pen, just be aware that the stuff DESTROYS tools. I need to change out my carbide inserts after every time I cut an inlay. Drills will die immediately. You have to take it very low and slow and use lots of coolant.
 
You fellows are giving me lots of great information. I have been so focused on my work here that I rarely take the time to get below the surface of the deep history.

At the store where I bought the blade, there was a round clear container about 18 inches in diameter and about 5 feet high. IN this container was old knives and scissors of all kinds, and the container was about 2/3rds full. They have a "burial" for these old knives, scissors and steel hand tools once a year.

In old days (hundreds of years ago,) these tools were considered to have had souls because of the way they were made, so a 'once a year' burial festival was instituted. When a tool is too worn to be repaired, or just broken, it goes to the tool graveyard. This year it will be on November 8.


One other unusual feature is the way they sharpen these knives. They do not recommend sharpening equally on both sides. Sharpen one side for left handed people (they accept left handed use now) and sharpen the other side for right handed use.

Sharpening is done in this fashion: Lay the blade edge facing away from you on the water stone. Press hard on the blade edge and push forward to the end of the stone. Repeat twice more. Flip the blade, and with the edge away from you but at the top of the stone, push down lightly on the edge and slide the blade back one time to take the burr off.

Move up to the next stone and repeat the process. Then move up to the next stone and repeat again.

These knives are thusly sharpened on ONE side, giving one side a flat side.

When the demo was over, the fellow took a piece of soft paper torn from a manga (comic book) and held it by pinching the corner with two fingers. The page was basically hanging in a diamond position. He took the knife and sliced slowly little strips from 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide from the free hanging paper. Then he did the other side. No snags, rips or tears.

I found out about quite few special events, and I will attend some over the next year - included one workshop to make your own knife.
 
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