Can I fix a katana that has been touched by bare skin and left a stain?

[Peanut Butter Sandwich]

Hi everyone,

 

I have a 500 year old katana that I recently purchased in the past 6 months. Unfortunately I had an over zealous guest at my house who was playing with it when I wasn’t looking and evidently held the blade with their bare hands. It seems to have left a stain (which I was aware could happen). Is there a way to remove the stain? I have cleaned it with 100% alcohol and I have re-oiled as normal, but I can still see it. Any advice would be very much appreciated!

 

Thanks,

Luke

[Matsunoki]

An image of it would help….size, location etc

[PNSSHOGUN]

You could carefully apply Uchiko to the area over a period of time, but this depends on the state of the overall polish and quality of the Uchiko.

[ROKUJURO]

First help is to kill the guest who caused the stain. Just as a prevention measure.

[Bugyotsuji]

37 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said:

First help is to kill the guest who caused the stain. Just as a prevention measure.

Send him/her the bill for a polish, and collect payment first,  before killing them.

[Bugyotsuji]

I had some success removing a stain by the use of repeated oiling, recommended to me by a swordsmith. He didn't mention uchiko, though.

[Lewis B]

High quality uchiko. The vendor at the Japan Art Expo in Utrecht was using some he said he got from a togishi in Japan. When I suggested that was frowned upon he said it was very high quality and cost $130. I saw him use it a couple of times on my blade and detected no ill effects. It was super fine judging by how the powder hung in the air. I doubt its to healthy breathe though. 

I would be wary of using the stuff thats commonly bundled in those cheap maintenance kits.

Its a good lesson though of what can and does happen. I would recommend placing any swords in a secured location when guests are visiting or make it VERY clear the blades are sharp, valuable and not to be touched without supervision. In the USA the owner is opening themselves up for a lawsuit, so you're lucky they only caused a stain.

[Franco D]

I would seek the advice of a polisher and perhaps even their services in this matter and consider it a lesson learned. 

Nihonto should be carefully examined and wiped clean every time they are out before being put away house guests or not. 

 

Uchiko used improperly will scratch. A quartz halogen light will show the scratches.

 

Regards