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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 12:09:55 GMT
I just started leather stropping on my tenchi katana. This is my stropping equipment This is how sword looked before stropping On this part I applied leather stropping There are lots of scratches left, so I stopped continuing it and came here for your help. Will it look like this after I completely done? The finest sanding paper I can get is 9micron, but I have autosol polishing paste. As you see I have used white jewelers rouge. These scratches look horrible. I'm worried so please help guys.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 13:08:47 GMT
It might just be me, but it seems like A) Your stropping too much of the Ji B) There is not enough rouge on your leather. Did you (for lack of a better term) season your leather with your rough first? C) Your pushing too hard. D) You have not stropped it enough. E) A combination of the above.
From the length of the scratches A for sure.
But ya, your going to get scratches. Those scratches seem a little excessive to be from white rouge. But not unfixable. Your 9 Micron paper that you have should be enough to get those scratches out and give the blade a nice finish. Not sure how deep they are from the pictures as you may need to start a little rougher paper at first and then work down to your 9 micron paper. The setup that I use is a Paint Stick, a small piece of old mouse pad (nice rigid flexible rubber one) to be glued onto the paint stick (epoxy works great here). Rubber side away from the paint stick. Then cut some of your Water Resistant sanding paper to fit the piece of mouse pad and use rubber cement to glue the paper to the section of mouse pad. Rubber cement is used because it is water resistant and you will be able to take the paper off of the mouse pad when it needs to be changed without any problems. Other glues may be more permanent and you don't want that in this case. Next you will need some distilled water with some baking soda dissolved in it contained in a spray bottle or some light oil. When applied to the paper or the blade for that matter it will act as lube and a cleaning agent for the paper. Now rub the blade lengthwise until the scratches from the stropping are gone. Change paper as needed. I have several of these rigs setup and ready to go. One in use and a couple others with the rubber cement drying on them to be used. Change to a higher grit when the scratches from the previous sanding or the original scratches are no longer visible. Be very careful of the Ha and the Shinogi-Ji. If these areas are sanded it may take away from the crispness of the Shinogi-Ji or will dull the Ha. And Be Careful with your hands. The paint stick allows you to be at a safeish distance from the blade but exercise extrema caution! I am assuming your sword is very sharp at this point. If you need to hold the nagasa (Blade) please wrap it liberally with a cloth.
I hope I was explanatory enough with my depiction of the sanding rig that I use. If not and you need some pictures I can get some and post them for you.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 14:47:11 GMT
Maybe the leather has soil on/in it? You sure that leather is the correct kind? I also see diagonal scratches, that aint the right technique.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 15:22:17 GMT
You may have sporadic build-up of the rouge on the leather. I rub quite a bit of rouge into the leather and I also apply a fair amount of pressure when stropping. Sometimes the rouge will clump a bit and cause some scratching , so I rub the strop vigorously with a dry cloth to remove and buildup and then re-apply the rough. It doesn't look like much rouge on that strop. Personally, I use the smooth side of belt leather and I have had nothing but excellent results, however, some scratching may occur but it it usually too fine to take away from the polishing effect of the stropping. Here's a picture of my stropping jig. You can see the amount of rouge which is built up. the One more thing, is that I found the better quality of steel, the better results. My Kaze ( 9260 silicon-alloy spring steel) comes to a brilliant mirror finish and razor edge, but the results aren't nearly as good on some of my other blades.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 16:13:38 GMT
One more question. Should all the drawings diagonal and in the same direction or should I change direction every time?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 17:33:46 GMT
It looks like your angle is off, strop more of the ha. It's trial and error... watch Jeeperrandy's video a few times, you'll get it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 18:16:03 GMT
I'm afraid of making secondary bevel, but maybe the rouge is not aggressive enough to do so I would better protect Ji? And I have an idea. What if I protect the Shinogi-Ji with a tape?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2009 11:36:53 GMT
Your leather may have imperfections in it or something within the leather that is causing scratches. The leather itself shouldn't scratch your sword, neither should any compound you are using.
I would use a untreated belt. You'll be able to control the blade better over a thinner strip of leather than that sheet your using.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2009 12:04:51 GMT
the ji should be laid flat, and kept in flat contact with the strop. That way no secondary bevel will occur.
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