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Fresh Pitting And How To Stop It


raynor

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Merry Christmas,

 

I was going to apply oil to my nihonto and upon taking it out of its shirasaya I discovered several fresh spots of needlepoint sized pitting on the blade. 

 

The shirasaya was starting to split this week so I did the warm water on fingertips trick to close it back up, worked like a charm.

 

My mistake here was leaving the blade unsheathed about a quarter of an inch for no more then three days for the shirasaya to solidify back up before closing it up again.

 

I have gently once wiped the spots with a microfiber cloth soaked in WD40, then applied and wiped off with choji oil several times.

 

Is there anything else I can do to stop the process? As can be seen in one of the photos, there is red reflected from the pitts, which means active rust  :(

 

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post-4702-0-43595300-1545690291_thumb.jpg

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Season Greetings,

 

First, please, strongly suggest no wd 40, petroleum distillates is not what you want soaking into the metal or saya, imho. For pits take a soft tip Q-tip dipped in sword/choji oil and apply directly to the pitting. The worry is not so much what you see on the surface as what could be below the surface which you cannot see, so make sure the oil soaks into the pit. 

 

It was the practice of Ono Kokei NLT sword polisher and his students to seal pits with lacquer. I would imagine he/they use some sort of technique/process to thoroughly dry the pit out first before applying the lacquer. Any thoughts or experience from NMB members on this?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Anyone have experience with BreakFree CLP Gun Cleaner on swords?

 

It is used by the US military on guns and is so far the only product I would consider for this, asking here first before getting some for applying with a qtip on the pitting.

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Well it seems qtip and choji for a week with a gentle nudge using a tiny splint of bone is doing well so far.. red reflection on photos appear gone.

 

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And a bonus shot for those in colder climates who forgot what Japanese steel in sunlight looks like  :) I'm Norwegian but have crawled south over the years..

 

4NMMgEn.jpg

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