Chisel for signing Japanese swords

H

Hesparus

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Oct 31, 2004
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I've seen videos of Japanese smiths using little chisels to sign their names in kanji on their blades, but I don't know what the actual tool looks like. Anyone?

Thanks,
Chris
 
A gravers chisel is what you can use .They come in various sizes and shapes .
 
Thanks for the responses! I may have done a poor job of describing what I'm looking for, and I also may have a poor understanding of the tool. What I believe I have seen is not exactly a chisel in that it doest not remove material. Instead, it is sort of a little stamp that is used to create a larger pattern (kanji, in this case). It's hit with a hammer instead of being pushed by hand, as in the tool Stacy describes. Looking at the mei of a bunch of Japanese swords, the metal appears to be raised around the mei, which would indicate displacement rather than cutting. In contrast, a graver would leave a flush surface. Here's an example of what I'm talking about: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Naohiro3.html
katakiri6.jpg

The mei seems to have been formed by a lot of small hits, rather than cutting a smooth groove the way a graver does. Or am I misreading this?
Thanks,
Chris
 
A chisel doesn't necessarily need to remove metal. Take a chisel a bring the angle up and when it's driven the angle is at such that it indents the metal without removing it. Follow a pattern and you have what is in the picture. A lot of little marks. A chisel is used at an angle of anywhere from around 20* to 30* when removing material. hold it above 45* and you're in the area of just marking the material. I'm no engraver, but I've used a chisel before, and I've used a sharp point to mark something before. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will chime in, I'll be surprised if the process isn't far from my description.
 
I think you are mostly misreading it.

Some cuts are done as a down cut with a flat graver/burin. These are usually the accent cuts on a kanji. The main lines are cut with a moving stroke.

A jig-jag pattern is done by wiggling a flat edge burrin as you strike it. In engraving it is called Tremble'.
A similar stroke is a drag-and-hit stroke. Using an onglette or lozenge burrin, you make a shallow standard cut forward, then pull the burrin back and strike rapidly to make a dotted line.

The mei on your photo was done to be decorative, with fancy cuts and strokes. The cuts shown are most likely done with an onglette shaped burrin. It pushes the steel aside and also cuts a thin shaving out. You will notice an entry point (thin line starting at the surface) and the deeper triangular end spot at the end.
 
Does anyone know of any videos that show this (doesn't have to be a tutorial, just so I can see what it looks like)? Or what this process is called in Japanese so I can google it?
Thanks!
 
I guess it would be a chokokuto ( also choukokutou) ... metal sculpture tool, or graver.


The use is just the same as using a burin for knife/gun engraving.

The first photo here is some burins and hammers:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?...CC94D189D67DC57E2C20B5D295C0DF2AF&FORM=IQFRBA

Here is one being used on copper:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdFzQXGtkVo

How I make them:
Take a 6-8" long piece of 1/4" O-1 or W-2 round or square stock. Flatten one end and chamfer the edges. This is the striking end. You want it soft in use. On the cutting end, shape the rod into a pear shape, a square, a curved sided diamond shape, or thin oval. Now, grind the end at about 45°. The pear shape rod creates the cutting tip shape called an onglette cutter, and the oval rod creates an oval cutter, and the square and diamond a lozenge cutter. HT the tip end by heating to bright red and quenching in oil. Test to see that it hardened, and then draw the temper with a torch until the straw color almost reaches the tip. Immediately cool in water.The final tip angle will be determined by experimentation, but the higher the tip angle, the sturdier the tip. Too low and it will chip off.

Of course, you can use your HT oven and do an O-1 HT and quench, followed by a temper at 450°F. If you do that, draw the hammer end back soft with a torch.

The final tip angle will be determined by testing. The higher the angle, the stronger the tip. The lower the angle, the finer the cut, but the more fragile the tip. The angles range from about 30° to 50°.

Graver sharpening is an art in itself, and should be read up on. It is far to complex to go into here.

You can make a variety of other burin/gravers from round or square stock. A good set is about six to eight shapes, in two or three angles each shape. roughly 12 to 24 burins.
Somewhere I have a plate engravers set from the late 1800's that must have several hundred shapes and different size liners. Most were hand made.
 
Thanks, that was good to watch. I see he turns them on the corner like a flat graver, and then uses them as a chisel to make deeper punch-cuts.
 
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