There were a lot of problems that faced by the smiths in the ancient times. The smiths discovered that a sword with a razor-sharp blade very often broke off when used against armor. However, an unbreakable blade made of soft steel would bend. Another issue was to make the light sword for use in combat. The smiths found that the most satisfactory weight for a sword is around 2 or 3 pounds. There are many methods of making swords. Some of the methods have to go through many times of repeating process of heat

ing and folding of the steel. After that, the smith engraved his signature and the blade was transferred to the polisher. Meanwhile, different artist will work on different parts of the swords like hilt ornaments, handle bindings, guards, and the sheaths.

The manufacturing process of samurai sword can be summarized into the fallowing phases: