waddac2

Thanks for that KM, you have been very helpful, and look forward to talking to again soon. I'm still at work, but setting off soon. I will log off now. Thank you one again. Richard

Do you use circular motions down the blad at about 45 degrees, or do you stroke the stones down in a single careful motion? Richard

Yes I understand what you meen bernie. With regards to it damaging the blade before you notice to the quetion above. It states in the instruction manual that it hones, not sharpens. It has eight diamond type flat fingers in (Fine diamond) that have play in them so you cannot push too hard. I know it is cheating, but does the job. I have a flat ultra fine diamond stone that I have not used yet, for fear of doing the same damage as the prior owner. I would love to be able to do it by hand, but wouldn't know where to start! Regards, Richard

My friend has a commercial buffer in his garage that he said I could use once I got the okay from experts like yourself. Yes I never thought of a dremmal, I will puchase one at week end and try it. If It does't work I can always use it for house hold jobs. I will see if the hardware store do the pastes for the industial buffers incase the dremmal does not work. Regarding the blade, when I purchased it the seller claimed it to be hand forged. I were then told off my contact, that it wasn't. I cannot understand whey I have got a good edge on it, but have managed to do so as it is good stainless steel. I used good cheffs diamond honing unit that is farly new on the market, cannot remember the name as it is at home. It is a honer for proffessional cheff knives. Regards, Richard

Thank you very mch for that Bernie. I will give it a try. It also has a very sharp edge on it as I have honed it, it is a shame the prior owner couldn't have taken the care that I did. Also a Katana dealer I contact via email, with 40 years experiance suggested try to buff the sratches on a wheel buffers that you see in engineering places. I could try puttin the autosol on then buffing it at high speed. Regards, Richard

Hi, Again for some reason, that is also blocked. Our IT department put blocks on many websites. Just wish I could get it onto this, as a chap called gray also offered give his advice. He also discribed my katana, so knew whic I had. Regards, Richard

Im currently at work and my pc wont let me access the link that you gave me. I dont know if you have an alternative mail address I could send it to, or that not allowd to be done. Not sure what any rules are regarding the matter. Regards, Richard

Thank you for that KM, and sorry for the mistake. I only joined up yesterday for some advic regarding the katana. Regards, Richard

Hi Gray, I have attatched a photo of my Fanklin mint katana, that you kindley offered to help me out with advive on removing the scratched from the blade, if you have any ideas of how to do it. Your online, I will keep logged on all day and keep checking. Also if anyone else online has any ideas, the would be great. The scratches are where the prior owner had tried to hone it, and did a shoddy job. I would like to remove them as been informed it may be worth £1000, like I said yesterday, not sure if that is true. Appears only about 50 were made in about 1992. PS. Hope the pic is on as first time I have ever done it!! PPS. Dont think the pic will go on, file may be too big, hope some one can help anyway!! Regards, Richard

Thats correct regarding the franklin mint katana. It had a gold plated tsuba, and blue markins. I purchased it last year from ebay. It was £100 or best offer. The owner also stated that they paid £350 for it a few years ago. I offered £85 which they accepted as needed the money for a wedding. I then saw an exact one on ebay last month with starting bid of £300. I contacted the seller for advice. They kindley replied saying that he paid £600 for it in 1992, he then told me a month prior to putting it on ebay someone offered him over a £1000 for it claiming that only about 50 were ever made. Not sure again if any of the above is true. One of my masahiro katana is clay forged, and is one off. I will add pics of all my katana at some point, as I say Im at work and will be leaving for home soon. It is a real pleasure meeting everyone online this evening. You have made me feel so welcome, and want to thank you for that. Kindest regards, Richard

Hi Gabriel, Nice to meet you. I have about 10 katanas at the moment. All are hand forged. A couple are made by masahiro (not sure if that is spelt right) I would dearly love to buy an original katana, but cannot afford one. I suppose the nearest I could afford would be a WWII katana. Are the WWII hand forged folded steel, or are they just stainless steel? I am currently at work, but will add a couple of photos at some point of the katana in question. This is a great site for me to use, with there being so many experts to ask for advice. Is it also true that prob 90% so called original katanas on ebay are fakes? I am also just starting to get the hang of spotting fakes, by looking at the hammon lines etc.. Cheers, PS. seems I have put katanas again by mistake, so use to wording it that way. Richard

Hi, Im new to this group and joined as I collect katanas, but my knowled is basic. I have a samurai made by franklin mint and ment to be worth about £600 to £100, so ive been told!! There are quite a few scratches on the blade where the prior owner had honed the blade. Not sure if it is hand forged or stainless steel, prob the later one. Can of you kind people give me any ideas on how to remove the scratches to get it back to its original condition? Hope you can help. Regards, Richard (waddac2)