blackwatercreekllc

I have seen a couple pieces floating around that was thinking about purchasing but they have been "restored". I have used this stuff called Van's instant gun bluing before on steel/iron that has been "restored" to return a nice patina.Was curious if anyone has used it before on fittings and what your thoughts are. It is a little misleading as it does not really "blue"- it "browns". I have a quite a few things that turned out with a very nice age appropriate patina after using.

So, after closer inspection it does seem like a normal polish on the waki. It just took a cleaning and some very good lighting. It's also just been very abused & neglected. Will need to do a really close inspection of the nakago under better lighting.

This has probably been discussed and if so i apologize but i did due dilligence and could not find an answer on-line or in the boards. So, i am familiar with different styles of polish and of course some of the travesties that have occurred over the years. Was there ever a polishing style that burnished the entire blade surface or is it strictly due to someone having buffed the blade? I have recently purchased a wakizashi that i am 99.999% sure is the real deal - it's had a rough life and may very well have started it's life as a katana but hey, it's my first. I also just got a cut-off nakago. Both appear to have had the entire surface of the blade burnished and i have not found a reference to that ever having been done aside from in grandpa's basement. Any help would be appreciated, thanks! P.S. - the nakago was straight from Japan (via ebay), which is what really peaked my curiosity...

Henry - thanks on the hotei ref. I would not have picked up on that. I thought it odd that Buddha was rocking the bean bag chair.

Signature updated thanks. Thanks for responses - the shiny is from camera flash not cleaning. So anyone use vulpex at all? It is quite good and safe. A very potent yet non acidic soap mainly for museum use. Never tried it on something like this though. But as was said earlier - quality is pretty poor. The tsuka I disassembled with them on it had patched together samegawa and the wood itself looked like it had been cut and extended. If I didn't know better I would have thought it was from china.

here is a pic of the menuki. This is just after a light cleaning. I was thinking of using a light vulpex solution. Looks to me like a laughing buddha with some angel things....

Yeah, they are definitly cast. I am sure they are not shakudo. I will post pics when i get home tonight.

Sorry if this has been asked before - i looked around and did not see anything. I recently got a really bad tsuka on ebay and i believe it to be authentic - late edo probably. It was in really bad shape and i bought it specifically to take apart. I cleaned the surface filth off of the menuki using choji and cloth - they are pretty poor quality - cast brass from the looks of it with maybe a hint of carving work. So i have reached a dilemma. They are still so dirty that it is almost impossible to tell what they are. Do i clean further and remove patina or do i leave alone and have some nice antique yet unrecognizable fittings. Any feedback appreciated. I know alot about blade cleaning do/do not's but koshirae fittings not so much. Thanks.