(April 22, 1999) On rare occasion to I feel I've encountered a very ideal source of Japanese sword blades. You may find mention of the late Bob Engnath through the HSG. Bob made Japanese style blades, which one could purchase and send to Fred Lohman Company for polishing and full mounting to obtain a sword such that you paid a fraction of getting the same sword through a trading company.

This sword was the basis of this website developing. The sword eventually arrived last year, but unfortunately too late - it arrived a few weeks after Bob had passed away. Bob Engnath worked in conjunction with ABS Master Bladesmith Howard Clark with respect to the heat treating of his blades for achieving performances that surpass Japanese WWII military gunto (often incorrectly referred to on eBay as "Samurai" swords).

As much of Bob's business was through Bugei Trading Company, Howard Clark was approached by Bugei Trading Company to carry on the mantle, rather than repeat what Bob did with grinding (stock removal), Howard became Bugei's supplier of 1086 steel custom-tailored swords.

In short, Howard Clark is a controversial bladesmith who makes high performance swords that have not only exceeded my expectations but executes them with a style and grace that is remarkably Japanese. Michael Bell - who himself is trained by Nakajimi Muneyoshi in the traditions of nihon-to making - says this about Howard's blades: "There are many American makers of katanas, but very few of them can actually make them with grace."

Howard Clark makes a variety of blades depending on whether they are geared towards martial arts or for artistic collecting. On the artistic side, he offers performance forge-welded ("folded") blades such that the forge-welded damascus or grain patterns (e.g. wood burl, random, etc.) can be seen.

His standard katana which is a balance between aesthetics and function is based on an incredible metallurgy of steel known as 1086 which few swordsmiths have access to, which basically contains 0.86% carbon. Subjecting his work to advanced heat treating systems such as molten salt baths, Howard Clark is able to control the molecular structure of steel at crucial points within the blade for maximum performance.

The biggest eye-opener was his L-6 blades. L-6 is a particular metallurgy of steel which finds some uses in applications such as bandsaws. Howard's strength here is producing a highly effective performance blade - more so than the rest of his offerings. There is a cost: there will be some deficiencies aesthetics (those which collectors seek after, but martial artists could easily forego, such as temper line activities known as nie and nioi.) Also, another trade-off is that it is hard to control the pattern of the temper line precisely - this is again an aesthetics question and not a performance one.

On one occasion, I had the opportunity of personally testing three blades and found consistency of performance. Traditional Japanese swords were not made to flex; they were made to resist bending as much as possible, but if bent, they would remain bent.

The L-6 katanas resisted taking a set or any kind of warpage even when flexed up to 60 degrees. Now understand that correct Japanese-style swords should have harder edges and softer bodies and thus this feat alone reflects the performance characteristics of these blades.

I was also able to chop a concrete block as well as a concrete road. I made a small hole in the road, as well as in various places on the block. Eventualy the block broke, but there was negligible "fatal" damage to the sword blade other than mere scratches. We also test-cutted on two-inch hardwood trees and literally abused the test katana, but were not able to damage it by any means.

It is safe to say that under regular and proper use, the L-6 blades from Howard are made in such a way that they will compensate for accidents or lack of skill and are extremely tolerant of abuse. What's the secret of the L-6 blade in particular?

It all has to do with heat treating as mentioned throughout this site. Heat treating can make or break a blade. Some swordmakers tout their use of A-2 tool steel (or O-1 steel) and claim it's a steel that cuts other steels and therefore must be good. Metallurgically speaking, this is erroneous reasoning. Inferior heat treating to superior steel results in an inferior sword blade.

Because of his use of advanced heat treating systems, Howard Clark achieves a molecular strucutre within his L-6 blades called bainite which is steel in its molecularly springiest form (do not confuse this with the term "spring steel" which is nothing more than steel use for springs). In general, traditional Japanese swords have martensite in the edge (being the molecularly hardest form of steel) and pearlite in the body (a soft form of steel). The L-6 blades perform extremely well with a martensite edge and a bainite body for shock absorption and impact tolerance.

Basically, Howard provides both unfinished 220 grit blades on his website as well as fully-furnished swords. You can purchase these blades and have them forwarded to Fred Lohman Company for full furnishing mounting and a working-grade polish. A full packaged deal can start around $2,000 to $3,500+ depending on what you want. He is capable of custom tailoring a variety of factors ranging from aesthetics, style of temper line, etc. to what Point of Balance you want on your sword.

In terms of the price-performance factor, Howard Clark is highly recommended by the HSG. Another bladesmith, Randal Graham of Dragon Fist Forge makes swords of very similar performance but has a different artistic style.

Contact information:

Howard Clark, Morgan Valley Forge: http://www.mvforge.com