# Communities > Modern-era Swords and Collecting Community > Modern Production Katanas >  Thaitsuki "nihonto" hamon polishing away...

## Remy B

I am debating posting this here or into the blacksmith section but since i am far from a blacksmith and i want to talk about something that i didnt make, i decided to post it here.  :Smilie: 

As a unsatifyed proprietor of a Thaitsuki "nihonto" sword, i decided to do some work on it since the finish of the polish was far from pretty (deep scratches at a 60 degree angle on the Ji, lemon hamon) and realised that ive been "had" ...long ago, so i decided that i was going to instruct myself in the art of unprofessional hybrid polish, since the finish wasnt pretty to begin with and im not using this to cut, i didnt care at all if i trashed it or not. I always found the hamon on that blade to be very weak and cheesy looking at best, far from what you see on their website... so i wasnt too surprised to notice that the hamon disapeared after a while of polishing with my japanese whetstone. 

Now the reason of this topic and the actual question i wanted to ask is: could it be possible to reclay that blade and to give it a real hamon without too much problems or would this warp the blade, weaken the steel and require more work than it would be worth?
I think that it is simply tempered thru right now without dif. hardening whatsoever.

Thanks for any thought on that you might provide.

----------


## Andrew W. Priestley

Lots of questions need answering there.

Yes you could reclay the blade and re-harden it and all that, but you would need to know the steel type and be pretty good at water quenching and all that already.  I would expect some warpage as well, and you'd be buying yourslef a whole new polish job as well.  

More trouble than it is worth unless you are looking for an educational experience and are willing to toss the blade if it fails (a very high percentage of blades quenched in the traditional manner, fail in the quench, often with a nasty "tink" sound as they crack. 

I'd tune it up as best you can without heat and take the whole experience for what it is worth.

----------


## Remy B

Interesting Andrew... i never knew that blade quenching in traditional manner failed often. But then again, they do not talk much about the new smiths... only the big names get exposure so, what you say make perfect sense.

Ya i think i will endure the blade as is after im done polishing it as best i can, beside i do not have the forge to do it but i was curious if that would have been a possibility.

thanks

----------


## Chris Buechler

Did you take before Pics?  I would like to see a comparison of before and after pics.

Thanks,
Chris

----------


## Andrew W. Priestley

> Interesting Andrew... i never knew that blade quenching in traditional manner failed often. But then again, they do not talk much about the new smiths... only the big names get exposure so, what you say make perfect sense.
> 
> Ya i think i will endure the blade as is after im done polishing it as best i can, beside i do not have the forge to do it but i was curious if that would have been a possibility.
> 
> thanks


Water quenching is incredibly stressful on the steel (or so I have read and been told).  If the steel is not properly stress relieved prior to quenching, the stresses pre-existing in the blade will be accentuated in the quench.  Even with proper stress relief, the fact that the thinnest portion of the blade is cooled so fast compared to the spine, creates a whole lot of other stresses.  If you read threads about beginning tanto makers, you'll see that they crack an awful lot of blades while they learn , and many continue to crack blades down the road.  The longer the blade, the greater the chance of cracking (just more real estate involved).  I somewhere (might be Yoshihara) heard a figure of about 25% failure rate in Japanese style blade quenching.  Some of those are saveable, some aren't.  Some break in a spot that allows them to be turned into tanto or wakizashi, some don't

----------


## Mikey G

Is your hamon real.  If it is you can try and re-etch a new hamon with some vinegar.  It's pretty easy.  If you have a wire brushed hamon you will need to sand it down in multiple stages then chemically etch your own custom hamon.  I have a cheap musashi sword that I am doing this to right now.

----------


## michael wilson

Considering the Sivarat family who own Thaitsuki claim to have been 
making katana for 200 years  - I am amazed that ive never read a satisfied review or met an owner on line who didnt feel hosed in some way  - 

The KTN1  - KTN4 range is so over priced in the UK its silly  - a bottom of the line KTN1 costs about £415 or about $800 USD , the 
KTN4 is around about $1200 USD  - if you think of how much Bugei or Citadel sword that would get you  - well their prices are way off beam for what they are .

They should drop the nihonto tag under the trades description act
IMO

----------


## mscrampton

And I have to be careful where I tread but I briefly sold Thaitsuki and dropped them after the first delivery.  We found that not only were the hamon fake but some of the blades had not even been tempered.  Not a blade to cut with by any stretch of the imagination IMHO.

As Always,

Mike

----------


## Remy B

NO mikey, the hamon is lemon juice mark... insulting, really.

----------


## Hong Yeung

Funny, I was browsing on their website a while ago, came across some video's.

One was a cutting video, the guy was dressed very... poorly in hakama and dogi, and cut a piece of bamboo, funniest thing ever, form was so bad.

Then the next video was even weirder. The Bending test.

it shows oen guy bending one of their swords presumably, and yes it bends, but i SWEAR at the end of the vidoe it loosk like it STAYED bent. 
I wasn't sure at this point what they were tryign to proove....

That their swords bent and didn't snap so it stays bent, or that It's meant to bend but flex back.. which appears it didn't.

----------


## mscrampton

Thought I would share this one.  I just received this e-mail from Thaitsuki.

Dear Sir/Madam,
 We are the thaitsuki nihonto who has been the manufacturer japanese sword in thailand more than 10 years.The mainly reason to supply the japanese sword with the quality and 
reasonable price to the clients via distributors.
 However we have a plan to supply our product to the mainly famouse distributors arround the world and you are the one who has the good reputation and famous in this field.We are so pround 
and appreciate to represent our product and the good business under your organization.
 Anyway You can visit our katana on http://www.thaitsukisword.com/SwordMenu.html .On this website will listed the detials and the all famouse trader and distributor who sell our products 
 Finally we hope this information will be useful for you and pls accept us apology.if this message was disturb you.if you have further question.Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best Regs
Thaitsuki(thailand) 
customer@thaitsukisword.com

Mike

----------


## Remy B

Uh Mike... no matter how they sweet talk to you, they still fake hamons and lie about them.

As for the polish of mine, i droped it in midway since well, there is no hada to bring out and there is no hamon to bring out, why would i bother polishing that up? Right now it sort of have a shiney satin finish that look hideous! :O

----------


## mscrampton

This is not the first time that the factory has contacted me directly and not through their distributor in Florida.  I dropped them a long time ago for good reason.  I can't beleive that they will last much longer.

Regards,

Mike

----------


## Remy B

Well i dont see why they wouldnt last, judging from their website, theres next to no way to know that they are lying.
Kind of impossible to take legal action when the trader is at the opposite side of the planet...

Hopefuly this place here, SFI, might inform some ppl about unscrupulous "Traders"

----------


## les yeich

so i'm guessing "fireblow" is some equivalent to soldering or welding? :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## Remy B

Here's some "Before" pictures... im still working on the "After" apparently ... gosh its a pain to be stubborn sometime...

Whole blade
I hate uneven machis...
Boshi
I SWEAR this is a brand new blade, out from the box.

I will post some pictures of the "finished" new polish and hamon when im satisfyed with it... should this ever happen in this decade, i will post some pictures so that you can have a good day. its always a good day when you get to laugh alot.  :Big Grin:

----------


## michael wilson

Remy mate  - 

Thats the worst thaitsuki sword ive seen for poor quality  - absolutely atrocious  - its not even the bottom of the line model either - its the KTN 3 isnt it ?

Ive had £100 chinatana with a nicer level of finish and had far better workmanship in the blade  - to think these sell for £500 GB
well its a shame mate that you got so poor a sword .


my sympathies mate 

Mick

----------


## Remy B

its the KTN4 = the bestest of the best from them... apparently.

I got it from customkatana.co.uk, after _insisting_ via email that they send me the most flawless, highest quality possible, since i have heard they, over there, had high quality control. Sorry for the neg. publicity but i am making no claim for money back since i HAD to temper with the blade to see that it is not really differently tempered as the website state... voiding my chance for any possibility to ever see my money back, i know.

As Mike mentioned, i doubt that the blade is hardened proprely too, since i accidentaly hit the "ha" very lightly against a block of hardened steel i use as a mini anvil (and a weight for my polishing board, hence why it was close to the blade) while i was watering down the edge to clean the stone risidue and the blade automaticaly marked and made a dent. The force applied to the blow must have been equal or less to the force it would require you to lift a post-it pad.

I just got traumatised by this whole experience, i guess, since now i want to puke everytime i hear the word "thai".

----------


## Benjamin P.

> I just got traumatised by this whole experience, i guess, since now i want to puke everytime i hear the word "thai".


If it helps at all, _pad thai_ is a very delicious and healthy noodle dish.   :Smilie:   I just had some the other night.

Thanks for this thread.  I will now definitely stay away from Thaitsuki or its spin-off Bushiblades.

By the way, I took the liberty of referencing one of your pictures above to this stickied thread: http://forums.swordforum.com/showthr...874#post993874

If you would permanently upload the picture of un-even machi, I think a lot of people would appreciate it.  Thanks!   :Smilie:

----------


## michael wilson

Ive spoken to a few thait owners who have been un-happy with what they paid top dollar for  - mainly shoddy habaki and faulty ito wraps , the main complaint about the blades where that they feel too thin and whippy  - 

This blade here though is beyond the pale  - If I bought a masahiro blade in that condition I would be irate  - never mind a $1K + sword .

I think I know which vendor is reffered to here and having dealt with them myself I am sure the owner will not let this matter go unresolved  - he's just not that type of person and he prides himself on making the customer happy with their purchase .

( PM sent Remy ) 

THanks

Mick

----------


## AaronThomas

Hey Remy... I have the ktn4 as well... truly disappointed with it... im glad to see yours has the same scratches as mine did right out of the box... i got mine from swords of the east... lol trying to get rid of it but cant seem to give the dang thing away.... I have to say i do kinda fancy the silver fittings.... hmmmmmm.

----------


## Remy B

Aaron, i say we duel with our thaitsuki 'nihonto' and the loser get to keep both swords!  :Stick Out Tongue: 

hey at least yours has a straight "yokote" !

----------


## AaronThomas

HAHAHAHA no really, its ok... you can just have it!

----------


## John Mankey

> Aaron, i say we duel with our thaitsuki 'nihonto' and the loser get to keep both swords! 
> 
> hey at least yours has a straight "yokote" !



Lolololoo

----------


## Reinhard Guggenberger

Well, instead of ordering a folded daisho from a master-smith I should have gone to thaitsukisword
BECAUSE:
"Traditional tsuka *cheated* with black *gross* genuine rayskin."
"More *safty confident* with 2 *mekuji*."

 :EEK!:   :EEK!:   :EEK!:

----------


## AaronThomas

Hmmmmm

----------


## AaronThomas

> Well, instead of ordering a folded daisho from a master-smith I should have gone to thaitsukisword
> BECAUSE:
> "Traditional tsuka *cheated* with black *gross* genuine rayskin."
> "More *safty confident* with 2 *mekuji*."


Dead give away, right?  Well, chalk this one up to liven and learnen the hard way......... and wasten good money on crap!

----------


## Aaron Justice

Not defending Thaitsuki, but it appears to have a hardened edge from one of the pictures.

Don't know if it's a good edge, properly hardened, or under or over hardened, but it looks like they just etch a large area and not try to follow the actual hamon.

The polish is... plainly put, atrocious. Looks like they went over the whole thing with 80 grit emery paper.

----------


## Remy B

Trust me Aaron, the hamon completely disapeared after polishing it, sadly i didnt take any picture before re etching a new one.

----------


## Aaron Justice

The hamon isn't always visible after polishing. it depends on the steel. Even in higher grits hamons like on KC blades do not show up without etching.

----------


## michael wilson

These have been knocking around for quite a while now  - theve been selling them in the UK since about 2002 I believe .

for years all we had over here was Paul Chen, Cold Steel and Thaitsuki  - its still not that great either.

whats the fittings like ? they are available over here to buy seperately but they are also expensive 
 - fuchi & Koshira in 92.5 % silver costs about $200
USD, 

Aarons right about the blade finish  - its shocking , makes a PK look like a mukansa level togi shi polish.

Mick

----------


## AaronThomas

> These have been knocking around for quite a while now  - theve been selling them in the UK since about 2002 I believe .
> 
> for years all we had over here was Paul Chen, Cold Steel and Thaitsuki  - its still not that great either.
> 
> whats the fittings like ? they are available over here to buy seperately but they are also expensive 
>  - fuchi & Koshira in 92.5 % silver costs about $200
> USD, 
> 
> Aarons right about the blade finish  - its shocking , makes a PK look like a mukansa level togi shi polish.
> ...


Im kinda new to the sport but have to say I personally think the fitting are nice... Here are the pics I took for the one I have on ebay.  Do any of you think I could swap out the fittings on the Thaitsuki and put them on a DF sword? Just a thought!!!

----------


## Remy B

I personnaly am not too impressed by the quality of the fitting on my Thaitsuki... crappily cast, shimed with crap wood, grinded and then coated with some sort of paint ... 

Some exemples.

----------


## AaronThomas

[QUOTE=Remy B;994986]I personnaly am not too impressed by the quality of the fitting on my Thaitsuki... crappily cast, shimed with crap wood, grinded and then coated with some sort of paint ... 



WOW! LOL  Have not taken my apart yet... nor do i think i shall... Im surprised... I scratched the bottom of the tsuba and dont see the brass color that is on yours....Wow... In a perfect world (one in which I had the time to be pissed) Would love to go after the seller for False advertising!!!!  Stupid question but arent most habaki tight fighting to the blade?

----------


## Remy B

A little update for fun.

----------


## AaronThomas

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH LMAO!!!!  3 times listing this thing on ebay!  CANT GIVE IT AWAY!  Probably have better luck taken it apart and selling the silver by itself!  Remy... at least it looks cleaner.

----------


## Remy B

The new hamon is going to get atrocious! :O 

Heheh anyways good luck selling this Aaron, i know i am not even bothering and made up my mind that ive been had long ago.

----------


## AaronThomas

Your a better man than I Remy! lol

----------


## Remy B

Heheh check this out... i thought these pointillism techniques would never serve in real life, guess that i was wrong! 

Dont beleive the hype, i am making this suguha, but the marker waves/dots you see should (in theory) give some faux activities and achis.... well thats the goal, it might flop, i dont know yet.  :Smilie:

----------


## Andrew W. Priestley

Ouch!  That's nasty.

Polish the thing to a mirror polish and have done with it, that surface is so screwed up you would have to go back to foundation polish to make it right.

----------


## Remy B

Ok, i just got a email responce from the meikle group, whom sold this to me and they insist this blade is dif. hardened, claiming that it need a "professional polish" to bring out the Hamon ...hum hum yes indeed... kind of like the one it had when i first got it!?!  :Mad:

----------


## michael wilson

I take it they have seen the pics of the blade as you got it ? if they have and insist thats normal they,ve gone way down in my estimation .

So are they saying the blades are indeed diff hardened but if you want to see the hamon you need a proffesional polish doing ? 

Thats not what their ads say or their pics  - ive seen plenty of thaitsuki blade pics and they look nothing at all like what you recieved 


Mick

----------


## Remy B

Yes i sent pictures of the blade right out of the box in my email and i politely got told to ask "them" (thaitsuki) if i have more "queries" ... not even caring if they are selling false advertised blades >_>

Telling me it need a professional polishing in order to see the hamon when it came with something not even worth calling a polish job made my blood boil in 0.4 seconds.

----------


## Timo Qvintus

> Yes i sent pictures of the blade right out of the box in my email and i politely got told to ask "them" (thaitsuki) if i have more "queries" ... not even caring if they are selling false advertised blades >_>
> 
> Telling me it need a professional polishing in order to see the hamon when it came with something not even worth calling a polish job made my blood boil in 0.4 seconds.


Drown the bugger in lemon juice or hot vinegar, and see what comes out..  :Big Grin:

----------


## Remy B

i did that already Timo and nothing came out, simply because there is nothing to show on this blade, i am not as dumb as this sword reseller might think... i know how to do a decent polish job, well at least its better than the one it had when i received it when it still had the original "hamon" that magicaly poofed.

"it need professional polish to make the hamon show" jesus, insure that you have a half-decent polishing job going on the blades you sell before making such arrogant claims... gawd damnit!  :Mad:

----------


## Timo Qvintus

Sad thing is, if you wrote them that you sunk the sucker into acid they wouldn't know why you did it, and still insist it's DH.  :Embarrassment:

----------


## mscrampton

Hi Remy!!  Truely you got burned on this but is is all typical from what I saw early on and why I quit them.  You might try a PCB etchant (I get it from Radio Shack).  Normallu I dilute it but in this case use it full strength.  God,  don't spill or drip it on anything because it stains awful including your hands.  Let it rest in the solution for several minutes wipe clean then wipe again with ammonia.  then polish with the finest steel wool you can find with metal polish. The reason I'm suggesting this is it will bring out even a poorly hardened blade.  If there has been any tempering at all  you will clearly see it.  Hey at worst.  You have a new watermellon cutter and something to trim the schrubs.

Regards,

Mike

----------


## michael wilson

even just by sanding through from 220 grit to 1000
grit you should have been able to discern a faint transition from hard to soft steel  - god knows how , but this blade somehow got under the radar 
of two QC checks at least  - 

even at the mounting stage someone should have seen the terrible finishing flaws and rejected it there and then  - this seller has a very good rep 
in the UK with many happy return customers  - so I am baffled by this debacle'  - totally baffled :Confused:

----------


## Remy B

I guess i jinxed my luck when specifying that i wanted the best of the best. The complete opposite occured...

----------


## Remy B

Here's what it looks like now, big suguha hamon with a crappy polish job, still better than how it looked when i received it tho, i am not 100% satisfyed but ive spent enough time with that trash already! 
Laugh away all you want, i make no claim of professionalism. ;p

One of the many things i learnt from this experience is.. burnishing a blade is very very slow and tiring  :Smilie:  and yes i know the yokoto line is misplaced.. i made it and was like "DOH!" when i realised it wasnt at the right place... oh well ;p
     

Next i am making a copper tsuba to replace the horrible one that came with it and then i am calling it quit!  :Stick Out Tongue:

----------


## Ruud B

All I see is a dirty blade, looks like the left over oxides.

----------


## Remy B

Well, duh!

----------


## Mikey G

Ok Remy.  I have been reading this book called The Craft of the Japanese Sword. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it.  It goes over all the processes in making a katana.  After reading it I've come across some two explanations why your sword has no visible hamon.  Now I am just going by what the book said, so if your a snobby metallurgist please be kind.  
The first explanation has to do with the carbon content of the blade.  It says that if it's below .35% the steel can not be cooled rapidly enough to allow martensite, i.e. a hamon, to form.  On the Thaitsuki website they do not say what kind of steel they use.  They just say it's high carbon.  But what do the consider high carbon?  Who knows what they are using.
  The second explanation has to do with the temperature of the blade before it was quenched.  If the temp was to low there is no way martensite could have formed.  There could be other reasons but that's all the book talked about. You may want to ask some on  At any rate they probably did clay the blade but for what ever reason there is no hamon.

----------


## Remy B

Hehe, im no metallurgis snob, but i can recognise a faked hamon when i see one!
maybe the blade got clayed and maybe it is differently hardened... just maybe. But the problem i have with this is when you sell me a sword for ~900 bucks sword that shows a hamon, it better not poof away when i polish it. That is a very very bad sign, especially when nothing on the blade could have made up for it, i will spare you the attrocious details since this thread is about the blade only, but the blade as a whole was utter deception all over.

I understand what you say Mikey but in all honesty, the facts are there.  :Smilie:

----------


## Niël van Rooyen

There are a number of ways to get a Hamon back.

The best is of course to polish it with the correct grade of finger stone. (Time consuming and lank expensive.)

Another (the worst) way is by using vinegar or Nitric Acid. This involves a lot of experimentation if you want a clear demarcation zone but for the novice it's a minefield and can totally f... up the blade. 

The most likely to yield brilliant results in a short time is by etching CAREFULLY with 2 to 3% FerriChloride and filtered Iron Oxide (home made is best)dissolved in distilled water. (This works on cold steel, folded steel and silicone steel.)
First homogenously sand the blade to at least 2500 grid unless it's already smooth enough.
Now etch by using a number of short etches to make sure that you get the correct shade you want rather than one long process. 
(4 to 5, 2 minute etches will usually work for Swedish Powdered Steel but shorter for Tamahagane.)
Use petroleum jelly to protect the back part of the blade you want to keep safe. (Difficult to do if the Hamon is completely gone.)
This is followed by dabbing Magnetite powder dissolved in inert oil and filtered through at least two coffee filter papers on to the blade. DO NOT RUB THE BLADE WITH THE MAGNETITE YOU'LL SCRATCH IT. Lightly but copiously apply consistently and leave for an hour or so. 
Clean off extremely well.
Finally use Serium Oxide (used to polish glass) mixed in inert oil to polish the blade if you want it REALLY smooth. (About 35000 grid.)

You should end up with a very distinctive Hamon provided the blade was properly tempered.

----------


## Timo Qvintus

> Ok Remy.  I have been reading this book called The Craft of the Japanese Sword. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it.  It goes over all the processes in making a katana.  After reading it I've come across some two explanations why your sword has no visible hamon.  Now I am just going by what the book said, so if your a snobby metallurgist please be kind.  
> The first explanation has to do with the carbon content of the blade.  It says that if it's below .35% the steel can not be cooled rapidly enough to allow martensite, i.e. a hamon, to form.  On the Thaitsuki website they do not say what kind of steel they use.  They just say it's high carbon.  But what do the consider high carbon?  Who knows what they are using.
>   The second explanation has to do with the temperature of the blade before it was quenched.  If the temp was to low there is no way martensite could have formed.  There could be other reasons but that's all the book talked about. You may want to ask some on  At any rate they probably did clay the blade but for what ever reason there is no hamon.


...and both are cases of botched heat-treat, considered a fatal flaw, so that hardly makes it any better.  :Stick Out Tongue: 

Niel, if you've read the thread so far you missed the part where Remy already tried to go with acids, and it produced nothing. Either the blade is TH'd or a botched attempt at DH.

----------


## Gregory P.

Thanks to all who have put so much time into this thread. I live in Thailand and recentley spent a whole day driving to visit the thaitsuki forge....wish i would have read all of this before,would have saved me both time and money.guess my next move will be to fly to p. penh and visit the citadel.

----------


## Hong Yeung

Um, then care to share what you've seen at the forge?

----------


## G.T. Wungnema

I have stayed silent as this thread developed. I used to own a Thaitsuki, in fact it was my first real sword purchase. The sword I had looked nothing like what is depicted in this thread. I wish I still had pictures to post to illustrate what it was but it was a decent sword, rather thin blade, with fittings that seemed a bit crudely made. When I first got it I was amazed with it, but my tastes matured and I grew weary of it so it was sold. From what I have seen here it seems that their quality has taken a nose dive. That is really too bad as I thought the hamon on the sword I owned was really neat and a big selling point. It was a real hamon, and to see where thay have gone with it is truly disapointing. I believe that I even recomended them at one point which is really disturbing to me just seeing how awful the "swords" have become. :Frown:

----------


## Gregory P.

First off I am in no way anywhere close to being able to comment in a technical manner. I am an absolute newbie when it comes to swords, i have been a collector of knives,mostly tactical folders. I own stuff from William-Henrey,Warren Thomas and Brad Duncan......The only katana i have is a cold steele dragonfly, that i have alot of fun with as a new backyard cutter. I like stuff that is well made and nice to look at. I will say that the owner of thaitsuki was a very polite young man who seemed embarassed in regards to the false history of his company. There were no finished products in his office and all that i saw was about two dozen unfinished blades that he told me were not yet quenched. He said that all of the ktn5 s were sold the minute they were completed.The price he quoted me for the ktn5 was about 750$ and an additional 500$ For the short sword.The blades did seem thin and whipy however as i said none were fitted with handles so i could not get a good feel. He told me that if i wanted one it would be 30 days to get and that he did not require any deposit.I returned home and was fortunate to find this forum. As i said earlier my next trip will be to cambodia to vist the citadel and spend some serous time with them.......Does anyone have any opinions towards them? Thanks

----------


## Remy B

"...were not yet quenched..."  "...He said that all of the ktn5 s were sold the minute they were completed..."

I guess mine got sold 6 minutes too early... *cough cough*

----------


## Gregory P.

I guess I try and see the best in people, and at the time i was so excited to actually see somthing in thailand that i could grasp so immeadiatley without involving customs and a horrid wait that i wanted to believe that this forge was the real deal.....then i find this thread and it saved me from spending a good some of money for nothing........so now i am reading as much as i can in regards to what will make me a bit wiser.....i have in the past been screwed in alot of buisness deals , hell i have been in thailand for 16 years.....so i guess what i am trying to say is a big thank you for being so adamant in these posts.....

----------


## Ruud B

Care to share the location of the forge in Thailand?

----------


## Gregory P.

Sure, they are located off Rama 2 rd....there is a map on there web site www.thaitsukisword.com the owner can be contacted at customer@thaitsukisword.com  his name is jack, as i said before he was a very polite person....i noticed from your address you list thailand , samutsakorn is very close to bangkok,about an hour south. regards.

----------


## Remy B

Since i am in the process of puting another hamon on this, i thought i might take clear shots of the blade without a hamon before proceeding, you might see some stuff on the surface but its remants of the old faked hamon i added the last time...


I am currently using finger stones on it but its a very slow process so i am no way near done... however, the hamon usualy show off at this stage on DH blades, i think i made my point.

----------


## AaronThomas

Remy... your making me miss my ktn4!!!!   I love that this thread is still trucken!!!!

----------


## Remy B

I swear to gods, i will make something decent out of my thaitsuki or trash it while trying!!!!  :Stick Out Tongue:

----------


## michael wilson

unfortunately Remy - like god handing out brains , you cannot put in what the factory left out  - although I really admire your gritty determination to make something out of it ,I only wish the vendor 
had behaved as well  as you have , 

heres hoping all your hard work pays off .

more power to you mate .

Mick

----------


## Mario N

Complain on www.bbb.com and help thousands of people, sorry about it dude.

----------


## J A Williams

Hi Remy,

Save yourself the hassle and get a billet forged to rough shape i.e. 45mm x 10 mm x 1500mm(dont tell the smith what it is truly for yet as he might charge an arm and both legs).
Work the blade using whatever method you like(hand files are labourious but satisfying and much eaiser to fix up a mistake as not much is removed-total of 16 hours max with a large cross cut should do the rough job
then a finer grade of file).Belt grinders are great if you have a steady hand.belt sanders are great but slower-also have  240 grit belts commonly availible.

Sand or stone blade to a medium polish.Now heres the trick for non traditional polishing.GET THE BLADE BEAD OR GLASS BEAD BLASTED.oil the blade as soon as you get it out of the blast booth to protect surface.
This smooths out all the tiny scratches-also rounds over the ridge line(always a trade off somewhere).
Apply your clay mix and return to smith for hardening-as he knows what the steel was he should know the best heat treatment.

A special note-if the smith is using oil to quench he may want you to pay for the oil as the clay contaminates the oil.


Final stage of the polish is to high speed buff with a wax bassed polish like tin oxide or red rouge.use a canvas wheel in a 4"-5" angle grinder and a heap of drop cloths as the polish agent gets everywhere.
rotate the wheel towards the edge from the centre and be carefull not to catch the edges-DEATH MAY RESULT IF YOU SLIP-AT THE LEAST YOU WILL RUIN THE BLADE AND MAY GET A SEVERE INJURY.


Clean the blade with a wax disolving solvent(good old petrol is STILL the cheapest) and oil with clove oil from the natural products or essential oils store.


Make you fittings and saya to suit.

End result is a sword of better quality than thaitsuki and a hell of alot of money left over(depending on the smiths fee).
The sword is not a real Nihonto so who cares about the method used to finish it-Thaitsuki don't.

Other method is to spend half your lifetime learning to do it right or you could do both methods-one for the sword now and one for the more traditional quality sword in a few(?) years and all the fun on the way.

Regards John

----------


## Scott Turchin

I sent my Thaitsuki's to Tom, he's going to do a destruction test on the Katana to show how DANGEROUS they are if the heat treat fails. If it's like mine it will fail, as we found the heat treating to be VERY weak in the middle.

Tom had good to say about the Wakizashi, interesting that after complaining it took them a month to get one to me and so that will be my combat mode Wak, but I've since bought a new Daisho and they are NOT Thaitsuki.

Stay away from them. I bet on them and lost.

----------


## Jeffrey Ching

Thanks all for the good laugh  :Smilie:  I think i'll suggest a new name to them: Thaitsuki 'Wall hanger'

----------


## Scott Turchin

Worst and crappiest rip off I ever had the experience from learning from.

----------


## william.m

LOL, I just checked out their website and after a few seconds I noticed that the shitodome is on the wrong way on the kurikata! hahahaha It is inside out! wow!  :Hyuk!:

----------


## Jeff Ellis

This thread is 3 years old.... Why was it resurrected with off topic posts?

----------

