October 14, 2012

Outdoor Knife Making/アウトドアナイフづくり

Today (October 14), I attended the "Traditional Forging Technique Experience Course", the Fifth "Outdoor Knife Making", organized by Niigata Ken Sanjo Chiiki Shinko Kyoku (Niigata Prefecture Sanjo Regional Development Bureau), jointly with the Niigata Kenou Meisters Club (Central Niigata Meisters Club).
今日(10月14日)は、新潟県三条地域振興局主催、にいがた県央マイスターズクラブ共催の「伝統的鍛冶技術体験コース」第5回「アウトドアナイフづくり」に参加しました。

The instructors (Meisters) were quite impressive.
Kobayashi Yoshio
Iizuka Tokifusa (Shigefusa knife maker)
Mizuno Isao
講師(マイスター)はとてもすごいです。
小林由夫
飯塚時房(重房の包丁を作っている方)
水野勲

The venue was the Sanjo Kaji Dojo.
会場は三条鍛冶道場です。
These are the "jigane" (bottom) and the "hagane" (top) I was given.
これが私がもらった「地金」(下)と「鋼」(上)です。
I was very reluctant to take photos.  The following are some of the few photos I took.  The man on the right is Iizuka Tokifusa.
写真はあまり撮りたくなかったのですが、撮った数少ない写真を幾つか載せます。右にいる方が飯塚時房さんです。
Iizuka Tokifusa, hardening a knife.
飯塚時房さん、包丁を焼き入れているところ。
Iizuka Tokifusa, with the only female participant:
飯塚時房さん、唯一の女性の参加者と一緒:
(I was among the lucky 12 people selected out of the 20 who made an application for the course.)
(私はコースに応募した20人の中から選ばれた幸運な12人の一人です。)

I learned just a lot of new things from the course, and I don't want to talk much about them.  You've got to attend the course to learn them!
このコースでは色々な新しいことを学びましたが、あまり話したくはありません。コースに参加しなければ、学べません!

My knife:
私のナイフ:   
I'm not fully satisfied with the results, but it's closer to what I had first conceived.
Total length:  23 cm
Blade length:  11 cm
Weight:  80 g
結果には完全には満足していませんが、最初に思い描いていたのに近いです。
全長:23 cm
刃渡り:11 cm
重さ:80 g 
I think I'll buy a handle soon.
柄を早く買おうと思います。

As you can see, my knife can cut very well!.
ご覧の通り、私のナイフはよく切れます! 

8 comments:

Arthur3030 said...

Wow. What a great opportunity. Hope you show us the handle :)

Sissi said...

I wish I was there... I would love to participate! The knife looks fantastic!

Fräulein Trude said...

Nice! Very interesting workshop. If you would live here you could order everything for your knife handle online including the instructions how to use different kinds of wood and bone. This link leads to a short "how to make a handle from scratch" in .PDF. The text is in german but the pictures are quite enough
http://shop.nordisches-handwerk.de/media/files/anleitung.pdf

Hiroyuki said...

Arthur3030: I will show you when I find a really good one.

Sissi: The Meisters were very kind to the only female participant. I'm sure you will be treated in the same way!

Kiki: Thanks for the link. Wow, knife enthusiasts are everywhere, probably especially so in Germany!

muskratbyte said...

You did a wonderful job - and what a fascinating class! I would love to attend a class like this!

Fräulein Trude said...

Indeed, there are lots of knife enthuasiasts around. Sadly the website, I mentioned by link, doesn't provide information in english. They sell everything: from different shapes of roughly forged blades, finished blades to material for handles or handles to finish, sheath, material to make or sew your own sheath and so on. I read you have to shorten the part of the knife which goes into the handle. They explained this too. As for mushroom hunting knifes: This is a german classic - maybe not so hard to make by your own
http://www.solingen-shop.de/images/windmuehlepilzmesser2c.jpg
I especially like the beak shape of the small blade. This is a rather simple one, the better ones are jack-knifes.

Hiroyuki said...

muskratbyte: Thanks! I'm sure you will have a wonderful time there!

Kiki: Thanks for the link. Yes, I first thought of a similar type of knife, like the one made by Opinel, France.
Maybe I should have told the Meisters that I would like to make a mushroom knife. I'm sure they are capable of making a piece of metal into any desired shape.

Actually, Iizuka-san suggested that I make a handle by myself. The long "nakago" was made by Iizuka-san. He said something about the long nakago. I don't remember the exact words, but I think he said that long nakago makes the knife well-balanced.
I think I'd better follow Iizuka-san's suggestion. I'll start looking for a piece of wood perfect for my outdoor knife.

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