Owning Nihonto, Care And Handling Tips

[pitts]

Hello,  I've been reading about tips on how to maintain your Nihonto sword lately, Am new here, I just have to share it on the forum. 

 

The is most important principle of nihontō ownership is "do no harm." The sword you are holding may be 75, 350, even 700 years old. It lasted through multiple stewards who respected & maintained it, and possibly considered it part of their honor or spirituality. Handle the blade carefully, according to accepted practices, so that future owners can enjoy it.  There are two most important points in handling your Nihonto sword

 

The two most important points are as follows:

 

1.  Do not touch the blade with bare skin, talk over it, or breathe directly on it. Skin oils and spittle will rapidly promote rust, ruining an expensive polish and shortening the lifespan of the blade. You can safely touch the nakago (tang) as this part is meant to accumulate an aged patina.

 

2.  Do not attempt any form of repair or restoration yourself; do not sharpen, polish, or chemically treat the blade. Japanese polishers spend ten years in apprenticeship to learn proper techniques. At most, you can use anhydrous (99%) isopropyl alcohol or acetone to strip any dried oil (don't let it touch the nakago though!), washi paper / soft kleenex / blue shop towels to wipe the blade, and a sewing/machine oil or traditional chōji oil (light mineral oil) to protect it.

 

There're Do's and Don'ts, I just have to share this two major points for now.

[Alex A]

Thanks for the heads up  

 

Ps, swords can be much older than 700 years  

[Stephen]

Good try to make yourself known,  set yourself up to scam our members

 

i have a photo for you

[Stephen]

Thought i smelled fish!!!!

[Brian]

Yep....Reddit has some good info sometimes
https://www.reddit.com/r/SWORDS/wiki/owningnihonto

[charlie1]

I was hoping for another Nigerian prince scammer.... Well I guess polish prince scammer instead.

[seanyx11]

Wow.  I guess this happens often enough for you guys to catch it that quick   Good eye fellas.

[Alex A]

Nothing gets missed here,  even know whos taken the pictures