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My attempt at sword polishing


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I wrote this for a Japanese collector society's newsletter and I thought I'd share it with you. Probably some of you have thought about learning to polish swords.

 

SWORD POLISHING FOR DUMMIES

By Katanako

 

If you have too much time on your hands, a Samurai sword blade that could use some polishing, and you think you know everything, then you’re like me and you really need to read this article. I write with authority because I nearly ruined a good blade (and my marriage) for your educational benefit.

One day last year while cleaning my Samurai swords (I use auto wax), I got this inspired notion that I should learn to polish Samurai sword blades like the old masters. Yes, that would be my new calling!

Rather than practicing on my priceless Japanese Army NCO swords, I decided to look for an old junker blade on ebay. Back in June of 2005, I came across an old wakazashi (short sword) with a 17.5†blade. It was exactly what I wanted! If I ruined it, so what!

The seller wrote: “I am offering this fantastic Buke-Zukuri style mounting wakazashi Japanese sword. A local sword dealer and collector has stated that he thinks the sword dated from the 1500s, possibly the Shinto period (1531-1867). The sword blade is in good shape with a low back and flat ridge line. There is not much left of the temper edge (very hard to see) but from what I can see, its style is similar to the ‘Oblique choji.’ The cutting edge is in good shape with minimal wear (few minor nicks) and is still very sharp. It has a long curved-edge point, again in good shape. The tang is nice with one rivet hole and an uneven u-shaped bottom. It fits cleanly into the hilt. The hilt is missing its wrappings, menuki, and the top pommel piece (kashira) but is otherwise in good shape. This sword has a very nice engraved tsuba. It is made of iron, I believe. It has been engraved on the front side around the main hole. A Japanese professor from the University of Illinois has translated it and the engraving reads ‘I want you to remember I gave sword to you.’ The scabbard is in fair shape with some wear…â€

I didn’t care about all the info and hype, I just wanted a junk blade to practice on. I sniped it and paid $470.00 and I had outbid 6 others. When it finally arrived and I opened the box, I was AGHAST!!! The blade was a real DOG!!! No, wait! It was worse. It was an UGLY DOG!!! No, it was worser… an UGLY WET, MANGY DOG !!! I thought there was no way I could ever make a Paris Hilton out of this Tammy Faye Baker blade.

To tell you the truth, I’ve never polished a blade before. But so what? You have to start somewhere! My philosophy is to start at the top and work your way down. Besides, I love challenges.

“Those poor Japanese sword polishers back in the feudal times did not have access to modern electric hand tools!†I sympathized. “They had to work their fingers to the bone with polishing stones. But I live the modern era. Thank God for Black & Decker!â€

I went to Home Depot and bought myself a B&D grinder, hand files, electric polisher and buffer, polishing cream, and naval jelly to remove rust.

My wife came out to the garage, saw me setting up, and said, “You’re an idiot! You are going to ruin that blade!!! Sheesh…I married a moron!!!

I decided to start with the rusty tsuba (sword guard) and used my B&D drill with a plastic brush, and removed all the heavy brown rust. Then I polished it with my B &D polisher. Next came Brasso. It went from rusty brown to polished silver! Wow!!!

Now to remove the rust on my blade. I placed a dab of naval jelly on a rusty spot near the tang where it was still shiny under the habaki (blade collar). After letting it sit for a while, I squired some water to remove the rust. Whoa!!! It left a gray stain!!! It did remove the rust though. My advice to you: Don’t use naval jelly to remove rust on your sword, Papa Nambus, or clean coins. I used naval jelly before, when I was a kid…cleaned my friend’s dirty Indian Head penny collection. He and his parents were NOT happy.

As luck would have it, the very next day, a sword dealer came to visit me since he was visiting clients in the area. I took him out to the garage to proudly show him my polishing project. After looking the blade over carefully, he said: “You know, you’re an idiot! You are going to ruin that blade! Sheesh! Does your wife know that she married a moron??!!!â€

My dealer friend told me that there was a fine blade underneath all the scratches, grime, and rust. He encouraged me to hand the blade over to him, and that he would send it to Japan to get it repolished, rehilted, with a fine lacquered sheath. Funny, but he never mentioned what it would cost me, or how hefty his commission would be.

About ten months later, I got the sword back. WOW!!! The sword dealer was right. This was Paris Hilton quality!!! I had the sword inspected and papered. The dealer added: “It is a good quality blade with loads of activity. It was attributed to a swordsmith, whom I haven’t encountered before – Fujiwara Shizumasa, who worked in Iga Province around the Genroku period (1690s). I think Shizumasa can also be read as Shigemasa.â€

The polished tsuba didn’t look right on the sword, so I got regular gun blue and blued it. Wow!!! Am I good or what?!!! And I had never blued anything in my life!!!

So, how much did all this cost me? An arm and a leg? No…more like an arm and a d*ck!!! I spent about $150 for my B&D equipment and all the other stuff. But here is the breakdown on the sword polishing:

 

Grade One polish by Naruse Shigekazu $1,714.00

Bukezukuri Koshirae (rehilting, sheath) 1,542.00

NTHK Kanteisho Origami (pedigreed papers) 300.00

Japan Registration Tax 150.00

Shipping & handling (foreign & domestic) 200.00

Insurance 82.50

Bank charges 45.00

________

 

GRAND TOTAL $4,033.50

 

Yes, sword polishing is expensive because it requires so much hand labor and my dealer’s commission. There are hardcore traditional polishers who will not touch a low quality blade. It would be like asking Picasso to come to your house to paint your living room or make sno-cone signs for your church carnival.

There are some Japanese-trained polishers in the USA, but they are backed up for years because a lot of American collectors don’t like the idea of sending their swords out of the country. These polishers are very very good and charge $$$ by the inch.

If you send your blade to Japan, make sure it isn’t a military gunto because Japanese customs will not allow it into the country. It is considered a military weapon. Traditional hand forged ancestral blades are OK. It will take almost up to a year to get your sword back because polishers have lots of swords to polish and they don’t use Black &Decker.

Sword polishing can not only take a toll on your pocketbook, but also on your marriage. How do you hide something like this from your old lady??? It ain’t easy and watch out for the heavy FLAK coming your way!

“WTF!!! You spent $4,000 to polish up a $470 ebay sword???!!! And didn’t you spend $250 on your daughter’s $2.00 feeder rat to get a tumor removed??!!! And $1,800 for surgery on your 8 year old ferret??!!! And when I bought some cosmetics, you said I was throwing my money away!!! I will never hear the end of this.

 

HENRY USA

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Henry,

 

Quite a horror story. The moral of the story is do not try and polish your swords yourself. Ever.

It is not something encouraged, and can only lead to disaster.

Glad this one is preserved for future generations.

 

Brian

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