Sword cleaning kit question

[kusunokimasahige]

Dear all,

 

I am looking for a good and proper Nihon-to cleaning set. I find all kinds of sets on the internet, with choji oil/koji oil, mekugi hammer, powder ball, tissues etcetera...

 

from this:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/All-in-One-Complete ... dZViewItem

 

which i probably wouldnt buy,

 

to this:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Katana-Sword-Cleani ... dZViewItem

 

but well.......... i would really like your opinion before buying any sword cleaning kit.

 

Also, i find the bottles of oil hilariously small! isnt there any retailer selling proper oil in larger quantities?

 

so my question is: what is the best cleaning kit available? for a normal price.......

 

i will probably never ever endeavour to buy so called wetstones..... i rather go to a proper polisher with a real blade... no matter how much i know about forging/cleaning old European weaponry.

 

Hope you can help me out here.

 

best wishes,

 

Kusunoki

[Nobody]

From the top page below, click Miscellaneous on the left menu.

 

http://www.sanmei.com/shop_e/enter.html

[David Flynn]

I agree with Nobody. Sanmei ( Tokugawa arts ) are very good. They also sell large bottles of oil. Myself, I use cammelia oil, which is also traditional and dosen't smell.

[Stephen]

which shipping would be best USA or Nippon, here is a link from Fred Lohman's site. I think his kits are of good value and have heard nothing but bad about the kits with the red balls, anyway here it is>

 

http://www.Japanese-swords.com/pages/maint.htm

[kusunokimasahige]

Thank you so much for your replies!! I will decide soon....... but unfortunately the second one doesnt have paypal.......

 

 

KM

[Henry Wilson]

All you really need is a mekugi-nuki, a bottle of oil and a box of unscented good quality tissue papers. I think that the oil is intended to be used very sparingly so that is why it comes in small bottles. I have used one bottle of oil in about three years on three swords. One of the swords is an out of polish tired wakizashi that will not take another polish and I am trying to cheer it up with a monthly regime of uchiko powber treatment (as recommend by Jim Kurrasch) so I use a lot more oil than I otherwise would on the wakizashi as after each session of uchiko it needs a bit of oil.

 

Depending on climate swords should only be oiled once every 3 to 6 months. If there is too much oil it will soil the inside of the saya and also risk attracting grit to the blade.

[kusunokimasahige]

Thanx for your tip!

 

I always used WD-40 or werapons grade oil (gun-oil) for my re-enactment Roman armour, which kept rust at bay, but wouldnt dare do that with a nihon-to..........

 

Living in Holland we do have a rather moist environment........

 

KM

[kusunokimasahige]

i received a nice cleaning kit (JL-600) which has a nice porcelain oil bottle etcetera.. now i have a silly question... my uchiko powder smells scented...

 

is that normal?

 

KM

[Henry Wilson]

It could be talcum powder. I have never come across scented uchiko.

[kusunokimasahige]

doesnt really smell of talcum powder, it smells a bit like the oil in the bottle...............

 

might it just have taken over the scent of the box?

 

i once had a box of clothing which smelled of diesel oil and when i checked it had been sent by ship..........

 

KM

[Henry Wilson]

It is quite possible that the oil smell has invaded the box. Choji has avery strong odour.

[kusunokimasahige]

Thanx!! that must be it then!!

 

KM