Rust Removal

[IanTan]

Any advice on how to remove the rust found on the katana? Thanks

 

 

 

[Michaelr]

I have been told, by an old time sword collector, that you can use a piece of horn or an old copper coin. I have tried both on other types of blades ( not my Japanese Swords) and for small spots they both seem to work. At first I thought the copper coin was going to scratch but he said that it had to be an old copper coin as the newer ones are not pure copper. He was right it didn’t scratch. I wouldn’t want to try and do a whole blade but they work on small spots. Just my two cents and maybe some sword wisdom from an old timer. Good luck

  MikeR

[ROKUJURO]

Ian,

the photo does not show anything useful, but generally, rust on Japanese blades should be removed by a traditionally trained polisher. In the meantime, you can try to stop the rust with applying some low-viscosity machine oil, but take care that no oil gets into the SAYA.

[Tin Tin]

I read in a few places that there are rust removal gels. Has anyone tried this before?

[ROKUJURO]

Nathan,

we don't try this on genuine Japanese sword blades - never!

[John C]

1 hour ago, Nathan S said:

rust removal gels.

Agree with Jean. Do not use any chemical rust remover or polishing compound. It will affect how the hamon appears and may dull any polish left on the blade.

John C.

[Mark S.]

All… please read the pinned thread at the start of this section on NMB (A word about amateur polishing).  It explains in great detail about why our misguided attempts to ‘work on’ blades can cause more damage than it stops.  Removing rust the wrong way can cause loss of steel, changes to the symmetry of the blade, and could still lead to future rust.  The amount of extra work a polisher will have to do to correct rust AND amateur ‘restoration attempts’ would be much more than had the rust been left (maybe stabilized) and the blade polished the right way the first time.