In traditional Japanese crafts, it often takes months to make a samurai sword, but most of that time is spent on meticulous grinding and some ritual things, eliminating a lot of nitpicking, and it doesn't take that much time.

After coarse grinding, quenching is next.

Chen Xian used clay powder, toner powder, and sifted plant ash as raw materials to prepare the cement needed for the clay burning blade.

The rough formula of this kind of mulch is not difficult to find, but if you only follow the rough formula to roughly mix, then it is difficult for you to get the effect you want, and the formula he is currently using is found by himself through trial and error.

Carefully apply the cement to the forged blade.

The application of cement on the knife body follows the principle of thicker the closer to the back of the knife, and thinner the closer to the blade, Chen Xian uses a wooden scraper to control the thickness of the cement.

After the cement on the cutter body is dried and solidified, it can be quenched.

In order to judge the temperature of quenching, Chen Xian chose to quench at night.

In the days when there were no thermometers, the temperature could only be judged by the color of the red-hot iron.

The best quenching temperature for katana is 800 degrees, and steel tends to take on a rising color.

At the beginning, Chen Xuanli observed the thermometer for a long time, and then he understood what the color of Asahi was born.

The calcination lasted for more than ten minutes, Chen Xian took out the red-hot knife from the charcoal fire and looked at it a few times, and the last time, he pulled out the knife body from the charcoal fire, took a look, and without hesitation, he stretched the knife into the long groove-shaped quenching pool next to it.

Half a minute later, Chen Xian took the knife out of the sink, and the originally straight knife body had turned into a beautiful arc.

This is because, when the edge is burned with soil, under the protection of the overburden layer, the back of the knife and the blade are heated and cooled unevenly, and under the action of internal stress, the cutter body is bent and deformed during the quenching process, and finally forms this arc.

Chen Xian looked at the knife body carefully, the direction of deformation was not distorted, the arc of the knife body was very beautiful, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The entire process of enching the clay was carried out by Chen Xian in a closed room, without involving the apprentices.

Soil quenching is the second firewall set by Chen Xian for his craft, he doesn't know the soil attachment, he doesn't know the proportion of the composition of the cement, he doesn't know the temperature and timing of quenching, and he can't copy the forging technology of the katana.

The next step is grinding, the grinding of the katana is very complex and time-consuming, and it requires various whetstones of different thicknesses to be polished again and again, and the katana can only be fully displayed through the patience of the master.

Not to mention that Chen Xian didn't have such a complete whetstone, and even if he did, he didn't plan to spend months sharpening a knife.

Fortunately, Chen Xian had already sharpened the knife body before quenching, which greatly reduced the difficulty of grinding after quenching, and the knife body after quenching was too hard to be polished with inferior files of this era, and could only be ground a little bit with a whetstone, which was very time-consuming.

Chen Xian spent three days using a whetstone to put the knife on the final grinding, trimming the deformation caused by quenching, and sharpening the blade.

The angle of the blade of the katana has a strict shape, which must ensure both the sharpness of the knife and the durability of the knife, and in this regard, Chen Xian strictly adheres to the traditional craftsmanship.

Although it is clever, the grinding effect is not very bad, although it is not as fine as the traditional katana, but compared to the modern mechanical grinding effect.

The swords that Chen Xian saw in the blacksmith shop in the town were only coarsely sharpened on the blade, and there were still a large number of forging marks on the blade, which was very rough. Compared with such a sword, the grinding of Chen Xian's knife is already exquisite.

The next step is to install the blade, handle, rope wrapping and other processes, and finally install the scabbard.

These things can be prepared in advance, Chen Xian has already prepared, such as the knife Tan, which is custom-made from the only coppersmith in Zhuangzi, the craftsmanship is really average, the handle of the knife is made in Zhang Bai, Zhang Song's father, Zhang Carpenter, and the rope is wrapped with ordinary fine hemp rope.

The scabbard was also made by asking Zhang Carpenter to come to the door.

Although Chen Xian had canceled many of the delicate processes in the process of making a katana, it still took more than half a month to create one.

Chen Xian took the knife and asked to see Yang Yuanwai.

When Yang Yuanwai pulled out the knife from the inconspicuous wooden scabbard, the expression of laziness and impatience on his face suddenly changed greatly.

Through this period of understanding, Chen Xian knew that Yang Yuanwai was also a person who practiced martial arts, and his martial arts were very high, and it was said that he was one of the best in Dongzhuangzi.

People who practice martial arts naturally know the treasure knife, and Yang Yuanwai can see the extraordinaryness of this knife at a glance.

If nothing else, just talking about the dense folded and forging lines on the blade has already shown the extraordinaryness of this knife.

Yang Yuanwai asked people to bring more than a dozen copper coins, put them on a square stool, and then slashed with a knife, and the ten copper coins were divided into two and scattered all over the ground, and even the square stool was almost split in half.

Yang Yuanwai didn't care about the copper coins that were spilled on the ground, he immediately picked up the knife and looked at the blade carefully, and the blade was intact.

He couldn't help but suddenly couldn't help but say, "Good knife!" ”

Yang Yuanwai sighed and stroked the blade of the treasure knife in his hand, and only looked up at Chen Xian after a while, and asked: "This knife has a very unique appearance, I have never seen it, I don't know what kind of knife it is." ”

Chen Xian replied without blushing: "This is a Tang knife, and it is a craft that has been inherited by my Chen family for hundreds of years. ”

When Yang Yuanwai heard this, he was slightly distracted, and muttered: "Tang Dao! …… No wonder, no wonder ......"

Holding the knife and rubbing it for a while, Yang Yuanwai put the knife into the sheath, looked at Chen Xian with a smile and said: "It seems that after Erlang is really a famous master, this Tang knife can already be regarded as a first-class treasure knife in the world, I don't know how long it will take for Erlang to forge one?" ”

People in this era like to call people by ranking, Chen Xian calls himself the second in the ranking, so others can call him Chen Er or Erlang, Erlang is a more affectionate title.

Chen Xian said: "If you forge it yourself, it will take you more than half a month to produce one, and if you can bring those apprentices out, you can produce at least ten knives a month." ”

Yang Yuanwai heard the words and asked: "Isn't Erlang afraid of the spread of craftsmanship?" ”

Chen Xian smiled confidently: "No one can steal my craft. ”

Yang Yuanwai nodded as a matter of course, it is only right for the master to teach the apprentice to keep a hand, and it is strange to teach each other.

Yang Yuanwai gently pulled out the knife again, looked at the cold and shining blade, and said: "Erlang just let it go, such a treasure knife, ten times, how much, how much I want." ”

Regarding the price given by Yang Yuanwai, Chen Xian just smiled and nodded, and did not say anything.