"As I said, katanas aren't the most common of sword, but I believe I should have some items available. Let's see," he trailed off a bit as he stepped aside into his forge proper. It took him a few minutes before he returned, carrying a box of supplies with his magic before putting it on his counter top and rooting around in it, "Hmm... Oiling cloth, oil, wiping cloth and tissues for excess oil..." as he spoke, the various items were neatly stacked side by side on the counter top in front of the box, "that covers cleaning the blade, though if you've been doing that yourself, you likely guessed. As for maintenance of the blade and edge itself, you'll likely want something like this," he finished, producing a box with various cuboid stones, "water stones. Soak them in water for about 20 minutes prior to use gently run both sides of the edge along the stone a hundred times, using the finer grain stones as you progress," he pointed from left to right along the stones, making sure it was clear, "it's generally a good idea to think of it more like polishing than grinding else you may damage the blade with too much pressure,"

"Would depend on what you were looking for, exactly," Ironfire started, "unlike you, I'm not sure of any specific techniques, but I know enough about them to forge them, repair them, maintain them and clean them. I know their shape, curvature, carbon quantity, number of folds in the metal, anything like that," he rattled off the various details as they came to him, "so again, if you're looking for anything in particular, feel free to narrow it down,"

"Steel tends to be the main material used, just due to how plentiful it is and it's density makes it ideal for balancing the weapon," he explained, "there's a few other metals that would work, but steel is definitely the most reliable and durable,"

"The simplest way of thinking of it is that the metal is folded repeatedly to even out the carbon content and to increase it's own toughness," Ironfire answered, "it's not a bad method to get the most out of the material, but it can get highly impractical with anything much larger than a blade,"

Ironfire paused at that question, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, "Best, huh?" he hummed, "couldn't really say there's a best," he answered slowly, steadily, "best would likely be more in the eyes of the one receiving it," he continued, "however, I can say what I'm most proud of forging, which I believe would satisfy your question," he had a small, almost wistful smile, "it was many years ago now, I was just a small colt then, learning the craft. It was just a small thing, an iron broach, but it was a gift for my mother, and the first thing I made by myself without any supervision or aid," he let out a long breath, "she still keeps it on top of her jewellery box,"

"My father was a blacksmith, but my mother was a jeweller. Obviously, I took up blacksmithing like my father, but my mother's jeweller skills come in useful for fine design and detail," he explained, "but not only are they both retired now, they also don't live in Canterlot any more. This forge was originally my fathers until they moved," he paused after his explanation before looking towards Foxtrot, "what about your parents?"

"My folks? Heh, both guards through and through. Pop introduced me to the contracting occupation, mom introduced me to the katana." He sighs, "Ah stars rest their souls." Before he continues he notices the new arrival and steps to the side. "Ironfire, I'm gonna browse the armors for a bit." The unicorn nods to the new arrival before trotting to examine the wares.