Michael and Gabriel Bell of Dragonfly Forge will be attending the annual Oregon Knife Collectors Association (OKCA) Show in Eugene, OR at the Lane County Fairgrounds. Our table will be in the usual spot, so drop by and say hello.
Open to members and table holders only: Friday April 13, 2012, 10 am – 7 pm.
Member signup or renewal AFTER 2:00 pm
Open to all: Saturday 8-5 — Sunday 9-3 (1 hour earlier to members)
An alumnus of our swordsmithing School Tomboyama Nihonto Tanren Dojo, Joe Pierre, has put together a three part documentary about our work, our swordsmithing school and classes, entitled Sword and Smith Forged, and shared it on YouTube. Joe attended our swordsmithing school in 2007, taking our Basic Forging Course under the instruction of Michael Bell, and returned again in 2008 for another session. The video footage he used was shot at our dojo on the southern Oregon coast, with some shot in our old smithy and some in our newer larger and better equipped shop. The film also includes photos of our work, and is narrated by Joe.
Thank you Joe for your diligent efforts producing this great documentary.
Gabriel Bell of Dragonfly Forge will be performing knife and tool sharpening at East Portland’s Drake’s 7 Dee Gardening Center next Saturday, February 18th, 2012.
Brings your blades to be sharpened while you shop the garden center. Receive a coupon for $5 off of a purchase of $20 or more at Drakes 7 Dees with a purchase of on-the-spot sharpening!
Drake’s will also be hosting various gardening classes throughout the day including one’s Rose Pruning, Edible Salad Bowl, and Fruit Tree Pruning & Care. Drake’s is also offering vouchers for free pH & NPK testing.
A “gentleman’s tantō” of 6 and 1/8 inch nagasa, cable construction, hira-zukuri, with silver habaki.
Overall length of 10 and 3/4 inches.
In a simple koshirae, in a style similar to most kwaiken, only slightly larger, with black and red lacquer-work. Fuchigashira of buffalo horn. Silver mekugi-ana fittings with buffalo horn mekugi. Silver ring for sageo on saya in flower design. Comes with black silk sageo and handmade sword bag.
By Michael Bell.
Handmade Portraits: The Sword Maker from Etsy on Vimeo.
Dragonfly Forge’s swordsmithing school, Tomboyama Nihonto Tanren Dojo, is proud to announce it’s schedule of classes for 2012, taught by Michael Bell, swordsmith in the Japanese tradition with over 40 years of experience in the sword arts.
Student’s may reserve a place in the class of their choice online through our school website, tomboyama.com with deposit payment via PayPal. The deposit is refundable up to 60 days before the scheduled session. Space in our classes is limited, and reservations are made on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis.
We are eagerly awaiting another enjoyable year of sword-making classes.
Dragonfly Forge will soon be attending the Oregon Knife Collectors Association (OKCA) annual knife show in Eugene, Oregon.
The show, held at the convention center at the Lane County Fairgrounds, will be held April 8-10, 2011. Friday admission is open to club members only, but Saturday and Sunday the show is open to any who enjoy “things that go cut.”
A large variety of lectures and live demonstrations will be held throughout the weekend, including a presentation by Michael Bell, master swordsmith of Dragonfly Forge, scheduled on Sunday of the show at noon. Entitled “Origins: The Evolution of Blade Technology”, the talk will focus on the metallurgical development of blades worldwide, from around 1000 BC to present day.
For more information on the annual show, please visit the OKCA website.
Ford Hallam, the very talented and award-winning shiroganeshi (literally “silversmith”, but the term refers to soft-metal artists of kodogu and tsuba) is featured in this two part video, an enlightening window into his methods and technique.
The tsuba is the reproduction of a missing piece from the mid-1800′s and is an true masterpiece.
Enjoy the video and have a Merry Christmas!
Michael, Anna, and Gabriel Bell of Dragonfly Forge are happy to announce the swordsmithing school’s schedule of classes for 2011.
We have added two new courses for the 2011 school year: the Intermediate Forging Course and the Tsuka Course.
For more detail on our class please visit our school’s website tomboyama.com
This blade forged from a single piece of forge-welded cable has a 23 inch (59.7 cm) nagasa. Blade is tori-zori with chu-kissaki. Well-controled gunome hamon with usturi.
Mr. Nakajima referred to similar swords as “castle swords”, because the somewhat shorter length could be more easily wielded in confined indoor combat. A blade of this size would also have been similar to those carried by merchants and others not of the samurai class, who were legally allowed to carry one sword shorter than a katana during the Edo period.