The_ozzy_samurai Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Hey guys, So i have this WW2 sword it came to me in not so good condition,badly attacked by someone previously but its a water quenched and Hot stamped blade with zero damage to cutting edge,so i thought it could be a nice blade if restored to a certain level or even atleast slighly more respectable looking, firstly let me state clearly i know its a big No No!! touching blades im not a polisher or do i claim to be but i decided i would buy the correct stones required for the job and have done alot i mean alot of research and reading up on how to polish,as i said i have purchased a few stones and the materials,even made my own nugui mix of iron oxide and magnetite for the Ji section after Jizuya polish process I didnt take many before images silly me but both sides of blade are done,well its completed as good as im going to get it really,it took a few weeks as i do work 45 hours a week,before the haters beat my ass down please remember i never said im a polisher and sure as hell am not going to open up shop haha!!!! or have the time for really,its hard and slow work i only spent a couple months research not 10-15 years practice as apprentice,please any opinions would much appreaciated good or bad im easy i cant please everyone but im certainly more happy with it now then it been scratched up by some goose with a file or something, you can still see slight oxidization on hamon only in small area's,thats reflections on blade its pretty much scratch free now,its not 100% perfect like a full $3000 polish would be,but hey i done it myself in my garage,cheer's Julian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pennington Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Julian, that's actually quite gorgeous! Maybe you've discovered a new hobby! Even the pros say it takes them 3 weeks or so to polish a blade. Nice job. Hey check your pm's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_ozzy_samurai Posted September 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Julian, that's actually quite gorgeous! Maybe you've discovered a new hobby! Even the pros say it takes them 3 weeks or so to polish a blade. Nice job. Hey check your pm's! Hello Bruce, Thank you mate,i just checked and replied i must have missed that email? i forgot to mention too its beyond razor sharp now too, you even look at it and your bleeding haha well maybe not but you get the hint,its sharp! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROKUJURO Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Julian,judging only after the photos, your blade does not look like a water-quenched one. I hope your post is not encouraging others.... ....... its a water quenched and Hot stamped blade with zero damage to cutting edge....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwordGuyJoe Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Well I suppose I'll start... While I can certainly understand the passion, as well as all of your notes about not being a polisher, but I respectfully disagree with this. It takes the pros longer because they spend the time needed to do the job appropriately. Even though you mention that you're not a polisher and aren't going to setup shop, we're now looking at an amateur polish on a sword. Although this is just a "clean up" type of polish, the work done is more than enough to screw up the foundation polish and I think I see a yokote line, but it's in the wrong spot. Even if showato - looks like it, but can't be sure with the pics - I am concerned with the precedence that is being set here. Where is the line on what you feel like you can "clean up" and what you don't? Is "low quality" gendaito low enough value to clean up? Are you experienced enough to determine quality in an out of polish blade? The fact that you're asking opinions on a blade after you "polished" it makes me think not. I don't mean to be rude, though you may get some scathing responses here, and like I said, I can respect and appreciate the passion and your attempt to do it "right" but unfortunately I think you did the wrong thing here and you may not have ruined a blade, but this sword is likely in worse shape than it was before even though it has less rust. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokashikibob Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Julian, I know I'm swimming against the tide, but you took a WW2 blade nobody in a 100 years was going to spend 2K on to polish and made it a looker. I'm never impressed with a mint WW2 era polish anyway, I'm sure the girls at the arsenal didn't spend many hours on even the better blades we seek and do we consider them togishi? I'm of the opinion these 20th century blades have many polishes left in them and the geometry is for the most part standard on them. A light freshen by caring hands is no big deal. Best Regards, Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_ozzy_samurai Posted September 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 hey guys thanks Bob and thank you others for replies good or bad i like them all haha,,i respect all sides of the argument here,as for incorrect line on kissaki please view before and after images again and please look closely, even i knew to measure it before starting to make sure its same spot,this blade was made in 1930's Hot stamped or sealed from a private forge a 27" inch edge and had a larger kissaki/boshi its a unique looking blade if you look at the shape of blade it has to be there as thats how he made this blade,is what it had when i started so its what it got when finished in the same position 100%, and as for worth less now,well if i didnt say i polished it and just said hey i have this mint signed blade here check it out i would assume no one would have guessed i polished it, it would have recieved no comments at all relating to the polish of the blade, well myself i seriously dont think someone attacking the blade with power tools or a hand file/sand paper made this worth more then my polish job using the correct stones in the correct step's,if anything i feel i gave this blade a 2nd chance at life,it came out better then i was expecting for my first attempt,until you Hadori polish with finger stones a whole blade with Hazuya and then Jizuya to only Hazuya hamon again later without scratching blade its fair to say most people on here have no idea what it takes or is involved in this process, surely you cant really say it looked better before? really? cheer's guys Julian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai-Gunto Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 I was like You prox. 30 years ago, but now I know better. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg F Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Hello Julian. Was it only finger stones you used or larger stones before hand? I think its best to stick with the pro's when it comes to Japanese swords as even finger stones take off metal that cant be replaced. You said you didnt expect it to come out so well and i think its just too much of a gamble. You said if you didnt say you did the polish it wouldnt be mentioned, well I could be wrong but i think if you had good close up pix or showed the sword to one of the more experienced guys in hand or even a togi they would mention the polish condition. I wanted to see what using finger stones was like so used them to remove rust from a katana with folded blade and hamon but was made in China that i use in training and even stared forging knives with hamon and thats about my limits. Cheers. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_ozzy_samurai Posted September 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Hello Julian. Was it only finger stones you used or larger stones before hand? I think its best to stick with the pro's when it comes to Japanese swords as even finger stones take off metal that cant be replaced. You said you didnt expect it to come out so well and i think its just too much of a gamble. You said if you didnt say you did the polish it wouldnt be mentioned, well I could be wrong but i think if you had good close up pix or showed the sword to one of the more experienced guys in hand or even a togi they would mention the polish condition. I wanted to see what using finger stones was like so used them to remove rust from a katana with folded blade and hamon but was made in China that i use in training and even stared forging knives with hamon and thats about my limits. Cheers. Greg Hello Greg, Well i didnt really say "it turn out so well",i said better then i expected as it was my first blade,i used a larger stone for the removal of tool/file scratch's and to bring out the hamon to a degree,but the bulk of my work was slow finger stone hadori work,i know hadori is maybe the harder or more technical of the 2 polishing techniques but i felt it would be better for me as less likely to change or damage shape of blade,the amount of steel removed by finger stones is very very minimal, I cannot say what a cheap chinese blade is like tho? but trust me with a water quenched hardened quality Japanese handmade blade it does very little but give your wrist and thumb pain and very slowly polish's blade,to remove steel to a damaging point with finger stones on a good blade would take a year or more solid polishing,thats why it took me a while you can polish the same 1-2 inch section for hours with little improvement, a lower grade or oil quenched blade would most likely not be as strong and faster or easier to work with,i will get some better more clear images in the morning.but i appreaciate the feedback,cheer's mate Julian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwordGuyJoe Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 The kissaki should start here based on the curvature of the shinogi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 take a pic of the blade looking down the hamon at a light......lets see how bad you buggered it up 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAS Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 The kissaki should start here based on the curvature of the shinogi Subject to interpretation by the polisher.....in this case, he maintained the original (or previous) position. All in all, I don't see any major issues from the photos; in hand it is easier to make judgement. As the NMB is dedicated to preservation of Nihonto, there are few who will approve of amateur polishing, even if the result is an improvement. It probably happens more than is admitted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Way more Steve...with post being just a fraction going on worldwide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 People have no idea what damage they do. All looks ok, until you know what to look for and see the uneven surface, and how much metal has to be removed to correct this and get back to the "flat water" Saying you are not a professional polisher does nothing to ok what is then done thereafter. No, no and no. We are never going to promote this. Did you even have 10 or more different types of hazuya and jizuya to see what matches that particular sword? I'm not saying you ruined the sword. But there is no way on earth we are going to tell people that this is ok to do.And at 27" long, this was probably a custom sword that would look WAY different in proper polish. If you weren't going to spend the money, someone years from now might have...and now will have to. Please people...don't expect a forum like this to say you did ok, because I am seeing acid washed junk every day out there for sale with wavy lines and a surfact that undulates. Maybe not this one, but next time it will be. So again...no. Don't do it. And if you do..don't post here and ask for an opinion. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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