The shape is forged rather than pressed from a die. Tosa uchi-hamono is made without fixed dies of any kind: the smith works the steel to shape under the hammer, and the district has concentrated on the tools of forest and field work — sickles, hatchets, billhooks and the like. Because no die constrains the outcome, the curve of the blade and its length can be varied to order, so a tool can be matched to the particular work the buyer does.

That matters more in this trade than it sounds. Forest work varies by terrain, by species, and by how an individual holds a tool, so being able to adjust each piece became the district's actual product rather than a service attached to it. Forges are scattered through Kami rather than gathered into one quarter, and at the museum and the direct sales outlet the forging stages can be watched at close range. Kōchi city is about thirty minutes away by rail, there are a university and a technical high school in the town, and housing is inexpensive by the standards of the region.

A tool made from a die can be produced quickly and identically. A tool made without one is slower, and in exchange every piece can differ — which is a different kind of speed, measured in how fast the maker can respond to a specific requirement rather than how many units leave the workshop. The smiths of Tosa have survived by selling the second kind of speed rather than the first. It is the one that a factory, however efficient it becomes, has never been able to offer to a customer who wants one particular blade.