When examining a traditionally forged Japanese sword, the steel structure (hada) often looks like wood grain. This structure is a result of folding and forge welding tamahagane. To simulate such hada without using expensive tamahagane, I took 24in of 1in diameter steel cable and forge welded it into a single piece of steel. That steel was then folded 7 times with some surface manipulation and then forged into a small wakizashi. The picture shows the tang after the scale was removed, polished and then lightly etched to show the grain. The steel structure seems similar to mokume hada. Now, I just need to find the time to shape, heat treat, polish and mount the sword. Expect progress pictures as work permits - probably in a few months.