Japanese Sword Question

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Sep 9, 1999
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Greetings,

I was recently on a business trip to Tokyo, and visited the Tokyo Japanese Sword Museum.

It’s a small but fascinating collection of blades, most of them displayed without their “furniture,” just the steel.

There’s very little English, so I was not able to get this question answered:

On all of the blades, from ancient to modern, I did not see a ‘bevel edge.’ Since I’m probably not using the correct terms, I’ll elaborate. On all of my knives, there’s a final bevel that forms that actual sharp edge. None of these swords had that. They just had a continuous bevel from high in the blade strait down to the edge, and they looked mighty sharp as well. I’m assuming that this is the way they were made. But if so, how were they maintained. I’d think that they had to be sharpened on occasion, no?

Any one who has insight can help me stop wondering about this.

Regards,

Steve
 
I think what you saw as a Full Convex Grind. I'm no expert on it, but it's been something I've read on the forums a lot recently. The discussion goes something like,"beveled edges are relatively new, as they are easier to mass produce, but require more work/time to sharpen, and don't actually cut quite as well. convex blades require a little more time from the beginning, but are better at cutting and may require less overall sharpening effort, as you just have to use a strop (not a hanging one, but on a block or whatnot) to touch up the edges (may still require some time if not just a "touchup"). Convex grinds have been what smiths have used on swords and knives for a looong time."

Could do a search for it if you want more. I hope the above at least clears things up a little bit, or points you in the right direction, or at least not in the wrong one...
 
None of these swords had that.

That is correct. The traditional Japanese sword does not have a final edge bevel in the sense that we are use to. Sharpening them involves polishing the whole sword and it constitutes a highly paid art in itself.

n2s
 
Steve,
I'd like to recommend the book, The Craft of the Japanese Sword by Leon and Hiroko Kapp and Yoshindo Yoshihara. The book give a great overview of the sword, the polishing, the habacki, and the scabbard. Yoshindo Yoshihara is one of the best, a living national treasure. Google Howard Clark who makes one of the best swords in this country, along with Michael Bell. Howard's web site contains a lot of information. Adrian Ko runs Sword Forum Magazine on the web. Adrian's site has many different forums. Don Fogg's site has a lot of information and a good forum. The Japanese sword is a blend of many arts to assemble the final piece. The sword, polishing, habacki, tsuba, menuki, the scabbard, and handle wrapping are all highly developed crafts. The sword and the tsuba are forged, most of the other crafts are done in these guys living rooms. Cleaning and sharpening are a large part of the craft, so their wives don't get too upset with their man working in thier living room.
I'm sorry that I didn't directly answer your question. I'd hate to pull one point out of the context of this complex highly developed art...Take Care...Ed
 
I would not call it a true convex grind but more of a shallow flat grind carried all the way the the edge.

It almost seems to cut you before you actually contact it.

Polishing, or sharpening, from our perspective takes weeks and genrally costs a minimum of $ 30 per inch of blade. This is done with small finger stones and not only leaves the edge extremely sharp but brings out the blade grain.

I am fortunate enough to have a 600 hundred year old "user" katana that unfortunately has reached the limits of polishing, further polishing will remove the "clouds" formed by the differential heat treating.

I'm always amazed by these blades.
 
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