waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 Richard, you should not post it in the Nihonto section, since your sword is not a Nihonto.... it will probably be relocated soon by the Mods. Please post your pics at for instance http://www.imageshack.com best wishes, KM Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 Thank you for that KM, and sorry for the mistake. I only joined up yesterday for some advic regarding the katana. Regards, Richard Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 No prob Richard, i asked you for the pics since i might see what can be done... KM Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 http://www.photobucket.com its free...... KM Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
BC Smith Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 Hi Richard, I also have a Franklin Mint piece it's an efu Tachi supposedly a copy of the one that was presented by the emperor to Minamoto no Yoritomo, I believe the blade is chrome plated so any scratches will most probably be there to stay, if someone offered me £1000 for it I would have no hesitation, I bought it for £75 some years ago and only keep it because it looks pretty and the only piece that I allow the "sages" to run their thumbs across the blade then declare how sharp it is, also it's the only "efu tachi" I will ever get my mitts on. The one you have is I believe named "the Sword of the Samurai" by franklin mint, the stands that they come with are the best part of them, initially why I bought mine. Thinking about it you could try Autosol which you can get from any car accessory shop and is a chromium polish. A point to remember is that the likes of franklin mint creations are not Nihonto although many sellers would want you to believe they are just to sell them. Bernie Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 Indeed there also have been chromed ones.. I have seen one which was made of normal steel, unchromed once.. btw... i would love to have one slightly less expensive Nihonto (or a cutter) for the sages to run their thumbs on hahahaha that will teach them one time, and they will never try again! btw, not many people know that to test sharpness they should use their thumbNAIL!!! with as little pressure as possible...... KM Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
BC Smith Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 Richard if you have access to a commercial polisher or a polishing mop that you can use on a bench grinder at home then you could use the paste that is available for them as they do go to a very fine paste, be very careful you don't want it flying through the air nihonto or not. this is the type of polishing that will destroy a nihonto that happens all too often,(shiny swords on e-bay spring to mind). A route I would take would be to clamp the blade then use a dremel with a felt polishing attachment. On another note these swords were never made or meant to have a sharp edge as they were never meant to be a "real" sword only a fancy display piece. Bernie Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 the problem with honing by machine is you will never get the feel like honing something manually.. most of the times the machine will ruin a lot before you yourself notice it.. i only use machines to buff after I have honed swords by hand, and then only sporadically.... and never on a Nihonto, i leave that to proper togishi.... KM Quote
BC Smith Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 Richard to be honest you can put a very sharp edge on a plastic knife which would however dull very quickly. Bernie Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 start with buying a good set of stones from coarse to medium to fine.. use plenty of water..... check out a togishi video if you come across one...... and practice on pieces of steel first..... KM Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 8, 2007 Report Posted August 8, 2007 it depends of course... i work two ways lengthwise and up/down, and leave the circular stuff to the end phase... KM Quote
waddac2 Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Posted August 8, 2007 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 Quote
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