japanese forging techniques

[IronKnuckles]

I've become really interested in the process by which Japanese swords (nihonto) are forged, but haven't been able to find anything really solid. Any ideas where else I might be able to look?

 

[knife saber]

Here's a trove of info about Japanese blades, including glossaries of lamination techniques: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm

If you're interested in the way that traditional Japanese tamahagane is created, look up "tatara" in Google or elsewhere.

Here's a link to a little SwordForums info page where Randal Graham goes over the basics on forging a Japanese style blade: http://swordforum.com/swordshop/basic-katana.html
(He's my favorite smith, his homepage is www.rhgraham.com, and he has a more comprehensive set of tutorials on his forum)