Shinigami117S Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 I have a Shin Shinto tanto that I've been trying to polish. Im at the finger stones (jizuya and hazuya) stage. when i use the nugui it polishes out everything including the hamon.... am I using the wrong nugui?? whats going on? When the blade is white from the finger stones, the hamon is visible. but even with the littlest pressure of the nugui, the hamon disappears... I cant get the hamon to stay to even do hatori... Any suggestions?? And please... DONT say anything like,,, "your destroying the sword" or "leave it to the pro's"
Bazza Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 Shinigami117S said: I have a Shin Shinto tanto that I've been trying to polish. Im at the finger stones (jizuya and hazuya) stage. when i use the nugui it polishes out everything including the hamon.... am I using the wrong nugui?? whats going on? When the blade is white from the finger stones, the hamon is visible. but even with the littlest pressure of the nugui, the hamon disappears... I cant get the hamon to stay to even do hatori... Any suggestions?? And please... DONT say anything like,,, "your destroying the sword" or "leave it to the pro's" Well, Hiroki san, if you don't know the answer what in the hell are you doing monkeying with the sword in the first place????? When I saw my first sword professionally polished I instantly knew there was no point at all "playing" with myself... Barry Thomas.
Eric H Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 Bazza said: And please... DONT say anything like,,, "your destroying the sword" or "leave it to the pro's" http://jssus.org/ Articles Nevertheless I recommend to "potentially prospective polishers" to read the articles on this subject by Andrew Quirt, and Grey Doffin Eric
sanjuro Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 Obviously you have thought of the two most pertinent answers to your question Hiroki San, and have vetoed both of them. I echo Bazza's comments and add that perhaps there are two things missing in your polishing technique either of which will give you the result you have achieved. Those two things are probably skill and knowledge both of which you should have sought prior to desecrating a historical object.
Bruno Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 Shinigami117S said: Any suggestions?? Get rid of your stones before doing something worst with them! :D
tagonagy Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 I'd say look to another forum for advice. This sounds unfriendly, but I can't think of a better way to word it. This is a forum for collectors, not sword smiths or sword polishers. The most useful piece of practical advice you get here would be "Find a Togishi and convince him to take you on as an apprentice" Unless you're willing to dedicate at least five years to this, you'd be better off going to http://www.swordforum.com/forums The have an artisan's section and I know that some professional polishers, like Chris Osborne, post there.
cmjohnson Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 Nugui is applied and wiped off. You do not polish it into the steel as you do with finger stones. You may be using the wrong type of nugui as well. There are many different formulations. I make my own. The way I do it is I put steel wool in water and let it rust. I agitate it every day until the rusting is essentially complete. Then, I let the mixture settle for a day and then pour off the water in the top of the container, which contains the finest particles. I am careful not to disturb the sludge on the bottom as it consists of coarser particles. What I pour off, gets poured off into a wide, shallow bowl. This evaporates and leaves behind an iron oxide so fine it floats in air. THIS is what I'm after. This gets carefully brushed up and put into a small jar. I continue to do this, over and over and over again, until I've managed to turn a wad of steel wool into a vial of the finest iron oxide powder imaginable. It takes months to make a batch but it will last for years. This is what gets mixed into mineral oil and applied to the blade. I do not add the oxide to the oil until I'm ready to use it. CJ
Ted Tenold Posted December 26, 2009 Report Posted December 26, 2009 Hiroki, The fact that you are having these troubles, and your interpretation of the terms displays that you don't have the slightest understanding of the process or the materials involved, so I can only surmise that you also have little if any understanding of the sword you're working on, and what materials to choose in the first place. Learning these things is not that simple and not something anyone here (myself included), nor anyone, anywhere else will be able to teach you on line. Suffice to say that this forum is not a place that entertains "Do-It-Yourself" questions in many of the crafts associated with Nihonto, polishing included. The advice that can be universally given is that if you don't know what you're doing, then don't do it at all. For the advice on that has been given so far on polishing, there are a great many fundamental things wrong with it that also show a reletive lack of understanding and application. Before this goes too far and delicate toes become trodden, I'm locking the thread as there's little more that can be said other than leave polishing to polishers.
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