How a Longquan Sword Is Made: From Steel to Blade
A traditional Longquan sword is often said to pass through 28 main processes before it is finished, and some masters describe more than 70 individual steps. The exact list varies from workshop to workshop, but every hand-forged blade goes through the same broad stages. Here is what happens to a bar of steel on its way to becoming a sword.
1. Choosing the steel
Everything starts with the material. Historically, Longquan smiths combined hard, high-carbon iron with softer, tougher iron so that a blade could hold an edge without snapping. Modern workshops choose from steels with well-known properties: 1045 and 1065 carbon steel, T10 tool steel, spring steels such as 65Mn and 5160, and folded pattern steel (often sold as Damascus). Each one trades off hardness, toughness and looks in a different way. Our sword steel guide explains the differences.
2. Forging and folding
The steel is heated in the forge until it glows orange-yellow and is then hammered out on the anvil. For pattern-steel blades, the smith stacks layers of different steels, forge-welds them together, then folds the billet over and welds it again, many times. Each fold doubles the number of layers and helps drive out impurities. When the blade is finished and etched, those layers show as a flowing grain on the surface.
3. Shaping the blade
Hammer blow by hammer blow, the smith draws the billet out into the rough shape of a sword. The tip, the spine, the edge bevels and the tang (the part that goes into the handle) are all formed at this stage, and for a katana or a Tang dao the basic curve or straight line is set. A good smith shapes as much as possible with the hammer, because less grinding later means a stronger blade.
4. Filing and rough grinding
Next the blade is filed and ground to refine its geometry: the ridge line, the bevels and the profile. This is slow, careful work, because a blade that is uneven now will never polish true.
5. Clay tempering and quenching
This is the most dramatic moment in the whole process. On clay-tempered blades, the smith paints a thin layer of clay along the edge and a thicker layer over the spine. The blade is heated evenly and then plunged into water or oil. The thinly coated edge cools fast and becomes very hard; the thickly coated spine cools more slowly and stays tougher and more flexible. The boundary between the two shows as the hamon, the wavy line you see on many katana and some Chinese blades.
Quenching is risky. A blade can warp or crack in the water, and even experienced smiths lose some. That is one reason a truly hand-quenched blade is valued so highly.
6. Tempering
A freshly quenched blade is hard but brittle. To make it usable, the smith reheats it to a much lower temperature. Tempering relieves stress in the steel and trades a little hardness for a lot of toughness. Many of our blades are tempered to around 58 HRC on the edge.
7. Polishing
Polishing is where a sword's beauty appears. The blade is worked through a series of progressively finer stones, then finishing papers and powders. Polishing brings out the edge, the hamon and the grain of the steel. Longquan polishers talk about yang guang (养光), "nurturing the shine", the final stage that gives a blade its cold, bright look. A full multi-stage polish can take several days.
8. Fittings and assembly
Finally the blade meets its fittings. For a katana that means the habaki (blade collar), tsuba (guard), seppa (spacers) and a handle wrapped in cord or leather over ray skin, held on with a bamboo peg. For a Chinese jian or dao it means a guard, pommel and a scabbard of wood, leather or lacquer, often with carved or inlaid metal fittings. Each part is fitted by hand so that the blade sits tight and balanced. The sword is then checked, oiled and packed.
Why it matters when you buy
Knowing the process helps you read a product listing. Steel type, heat treatment (for example "clay tempered" or "differentially hardened"), tang construction and fittings all affect how a sword looks, feels and lasts. That is why every LQForge listing includes a full specification table. Ready to look? Browse our handmade katana, Tang dao or Chinese jian, and see our Sword Care Guide to keep your blade at its best.
