In this video, we are in Miki City, Japan at Mr. Uozumi's Blacksmithing shop. His company's brand is called Tsunesaburo (常三郎). It was an interesting visit as I wanted to see how to properly repair the back side or Ura (裏) on two Kanna (鉋) blades that I had. These two blades are very different in metallurgy and this video will show more about this. In addition to repair my blades, we take a look through his workshop where he shows us how he mixes tradtional techniques with modern methods. His company has the ability to make high-quality blades at a faster rate than other blacksmiths. It is very interesting to see this.
The one blade is an inexpensive blade from a local hardware store and the other was a used blade that I found. The second blade is something of a mystery as I was told it may be an Usui Kengo. In the past blacksmiths used to sell their products to distribution companies or tool shops as OEM products. In this way, these companies or tools shops would place their own logos or brand names on the products. It is strange to think that the artisan/blacksmith would not want to place their signature on it, however, it is common to see this in Japan. In this case, we suspected that it was an older Usui Kengo blade having matched some of the characteristics that one of the blacksmiths at Tsunesaburo was able to identify.
I have been all over Japan at this point and have studied and seen many Kanna and Nomi of other craftsman. You can tell the care and skill of a carpenter often by the way they treat their tools. Everyone starts pretty roughly which can result in your earlier tools being not well shaped during the sharpening process. In this case you will find the Ura on a lot of tools not well done. Flattening the back, or Uradashi, is a difficult thing to master. I struggle with this on all my tools. This being said, I wanted to learn how to repair the Ura.
The blacksmiths at Tsunesaburo were very kind to help me repair the Ura on two blades. However, I have discovered that proper tools and a high skill set are paramount in doing this process. The blacksmiths there did tell me that I could do it, but I don't think it will come out as well as they did. They made it look easy.
Tsunesaburo makes numerous blade styles in numerous metal types. At the end of the video you will see some of the blades that are most popular.
We hope you like this video. Thank you for watching.