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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 5:10:18 GMT
So recently I decided to try antiquing one of my swords. The initial reason for my doing so was because it was pretty scratched up, and was a bit apprehensive of using sandpaper Whenever I have tried to use sandpaper I have ended up with inconsistant, ugly scratches. Now I find myself wanting the original fine satin finish back. So... how exactly do I go about doing this?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 5:22:40 GMT
Start with 120 grit sand paper and a flat bar. Do horizontal strokes to get out big scratches and then vertically along the blade to get rid of the 120 grit scratches you just made. Increase to 220, 320, 400, 600, 800...repeating the horizontal and vertical strokes. If you have a fuller...well polishing fullers are a semprini...and it´s not something I can give directions on how to do well as I don´t polish out fullers very well myself . Stop anywhere you feel you have the finish you like. Personally for my hanwei tinker I use as a work horse sword, I stop at 220.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Nov 10, 2009 5:33:57 GMT
start with a sand paper grit that is just heavy enough to erase the scratches you have in it already. usually this means 400 grit (I like to use automotive wet/dry) and lube with light machine oil (like household 3 in 1 oil). put sandpaper on a sanding block and clamp sword to table or workbench edge. sand down the length of the sword guard to tip ot tip to guard (I like guard to tip) making your strokes in ONE DIRECTION ONLY and VERY STRAIGHT. do this for ever. what I mean is do it until there are no scratches in the polish except your straight long ones. look VERY CLOSELY! if you miss even a tiny one you will see it bad in the end. sand like this on half of one side of the blade at a time but always working the full length of the blade in every stroke.
be careful not to cut yourself!
once you have made your blade a perfect 400 grit polish it will look nice and if you want you can leave it there but if you want better then do the same thing with 600 grit and then 800 grit. with each griot you use it is important to make sure you erase ALL the scratches of the previous grit. if you want to change the angles you work to make it easier to see the scratches ok but it will make your polish a little less nice. so you need to work each grit FOR EVER! this is GOING TO TAKE A LONG TIME! get used to the idea.
to get that great satiny sheen you need to follow this process up to either 800 or 1000 grit then get the finest automotive scotch-bright pad and do the same thing as the sand paper. this will take you from a near-mirror polish to a very nice shiney satin. the big difference in this step is you use the pad to suite your taste. since it is a coarser grit than the finish you have on the sword and you are roughing it up. the shinier you want your satin the less you use the pad the deeper and darker you want your satin the more you use the pad do it evenly on the whole length of the blade until you are happy with it.
good luck.
EDIT: if your blade is badly scarred and scratched you may need to start lower like 350-300-ish but I don't see any reason to start as low as 150 unless your sword is massively pitted and/or orange with rust or suffering from some other sort of extreme damage. 150 and below just removes too much metal and is going to just make more work for you in my opinion. the method I wrote should give up that Albion style finish that everyone loves so much.
150 Cold Napalm, really? why not just rub the sucker in gravel? lol just kidding buddy
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 5:43:01 GMT
Oh yeah wet dry sandpaper are nice. I tend to use water over oil as water is more aggressive. Hey tom, what kind of sissy scratches do you get that you can remove them with 400 grit?!? I have trouble getting some of my scratches out with 120 grit .
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Nov 10, 2009 6:07:15 GMT
you must be doing something wrong brother.
I had a few katana blades I picked up almost free because they were shipped in a puddle of water and etched and pitted and ORANGE from machi to kissaki and I barely needed to use 150 on them most of the work I did was with 220 and 350 to get the pits and scars out. maybe you have a real light touch, I put some muscles into my polishing.
one of the katana blades I'm talking about can be seen in my universal sharpening video. it's as pretty as any sword you'd want now.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 6:21:23 GMT
Thanks for the responses guys, it was really helpful. I may have been a bit vague, but I actually antiqued the blade, and I am trying to restore the original finish (the antiquing itself was my idea of "covering up " the scratches). I am guessing the method described will still work, but how should I go about doing the fuller? Should I wrap a dowel in sandpaper, and go about the same process that way?
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Nov 10, 2009 6:25:46 GMT
echuit, I knew what you meant and the process I described should work fine. depending on what sword it is you might end up with a better finish than brand new. if you do this process well you will end up with an Albion-like finish. which, in case you don't know, is very good.
as for the fuller, use a dowel instead of the sanding block and try to stay off the very top of that ridge on either edge of the fuller you want that to stay sharp as possible and that can be a real challenge.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 1:12:22 GMT
So I started with the method described, using 400 grit paper. From the looks of it, this is as nice a finish as I wanted, and I don't think I will be refining it further. I have one question though- I have done the area on either side of the fuller, on one side of the blade (if that makes sense?). I am wondering how to sand the part above where the fuller ends though? I could sand the entire lenght of the blade, keeping it perfectly flat, but it seems to me that this may make the fuller look less defined. So should I just treat this area seperately from the rest of the blade, starting at the fuller's end? Sorry if the question is confusing BTW, and thanks again for the help.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 1:43:33 GMT
Well I like to use one long strokes so the finish is even and you don´t have start and stop marks. Tom: well some of my swords did spend some time in the gravel...dang newbie have a habit of dropping my swords when they cut, mess up and hit the stand . But then again I may not have the patience to start with 400...with 120 grit, you can get out just about any scratches in 3-6 passes. I can get a decent enough finish with the 220 in 3-6 more passes. I mean it´s not albion nice, but it´s my workhorse finish which will probably get dropped in gravel again so I´ll have to redo it again finish hehe.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Nov 11, 2009 2:13:55 GMT
yeah imagine that you are cutting a yard of grass and the fuller is a place you cannot take the mower. oh and your mower flies. just keep all your strokes as long as possible and all in exactly the same direction.
does that answer your question? hopefully I understood your question properly.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 2:40:10 GMT
I guess I am asking if it is correct to put the blade literally flat on the paper block, as opposed to having the grinds flat up against it. You mentioned something about staying off the "fuller ridges." However, if I only draw the blade, flat against the grind, some of the blade (in the middle, from end of the fuller to the tip) remains untouched.
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