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Post by zentesukenVII on Sept 17, 2011 20:06:08 GMT
I really like the frosty look of hamons on nihonto. My musashi bamboo has a hamon but its pretty subtle and the polish it has makes the temper line look like...well just a jagged line. I was thinking about ways they do this without acid. Maybe take some dried brasso and make a mixture of that and mineral spirits and use my finger or something? I honestly have no clue where to start. Please any advice would be helpful.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2011 3:03:53 GMT
Try watchin' dirty movies, that'll get yer' hamon to pop out.
OK, seriously, I know very little about this but I think you're stuck with etching with some sort of acid.
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Post by zentesukenVII on Sept 18, 2011 4:01:54 GMT
Really? I don't get it, the japanese didn't use acid to bring out nihonto hamons, they just polished it differently. Or did they use acid and I'm very uneducated lol.
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Post by chrisperoni on Sept 18, 2011 4:05:58 GMT
They polished with a series of finer grit stones but those get expensive and take a lot of time. Acid etching is faster and WAY cheaper, that's kinda what is meant by a 'hybrid polish' - part sanding/polishing and part etching - part old part new
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Post by Jakeonthekob on Sept 18, 2011 6:06:06 GMT
Yes, acid etching is the modern way to get the hamon to pop, especially with modern steels. The actual composition of tamahagane differs from modern steels, therefore they are able to take fingerstone polishing better and nugui better. FYI, nugui is the darkening agent mostly comprised of some sort of iron oxide, that makes the ji looks black and the hamon towards the ha look more whitish, though there's a whole other level of depth going on for polishing katana. Basically, a traditional japanese polish looks like this: www.nihontoantiques.com/fss409.htmHope this helps!
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Post by zentesukenVII on Sept 18, 2011 6:15:10 GMT
Jakeonthekob that exact picture is my desktop background and my favorite sword. Ever. I look at it every day and say "Man that looks good, how do they do that?" I must pursue this acid etching/hybrid polish!!!
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kaiyo
Member
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Post by kaiyo on Sept 18, 2011 18:19:55 GMT
be aware that improper acid etching will damage your sword
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SeanF
Member
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Post by SeanF on Sept 18, 2011 20:08:28 GMT
Acid can damage swords? Sounds somewhat suspicious to me. :lol:
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Post by zentesukenVII on Sept 18, 2011 22:57:08 GMT
Yeah I'm aware. I guess I'd rather leave it to a professional if I ever feel the need.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Sept 18, 2011 23:04:00 GMT
i know that frankthebunny offer it as a service.
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Post by Sir Tre on Sept 19, 2011 0:39:06 GMT
good old never dull brass cleaning stuff works slightly... the Queen's Katana that is a musashi bamboo has a more noticeable hamon now. also make sure to use 90% rubbing alcohol (walgreens) to clean off immediately since there is acidic quality to the polish. then a light coat of gun oil should do the trick... it wont pop out out it is more noticeable.
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Post by Jakeonthekob on Sept 19, 2011 4:00:52 GMT
No actually, acid etching (using vinegar mind you) does not damage the sword in a substantial way. It IS acidic but not nearly close to the pH values of say, sulfuric acid or the like. Acid etching, if done properly, with neutralization etc can leave a blade looking good. It will whiten the ji and leave the ha shinier, leaving that contrast of the hamon. As long as you neutralize it and properly maintain the blade, it is fine. HOWEVER NEVER DO THIS TO A NIHONTO! It will drop the price of that blade by margins and you shall be scorned the rest of your life by nihonto owners/polishers! XD A traditional polish, as you probably know, utilizes a variety of special stones to sharpen/polish the blade. The stones that leave a contrast on the blade between the hamon and the rest of the blade are called uchigumori stones and generally cost about $300 to thousands. There are also fingerstones (made out of different uchigumori stones) called hazuya and jizuya which are used for polishing different areas/aspects of the blade. For example, hazuya is used to generally clean up the scratch pattern to a very fine finish and clean up the hamon and jizuya is used to bring out the hada (folding pattern) of the steel. After that is nugui, like I explained in my previous post, which leaves the ji dark and the hamon white. In sashikomi (traditional polish) that is the final cleaning of the blade and follows the contours of the hamon very closely. Hadori is a more modern style of polishing, where they use hazuya fingerstones to whiten the ha area and give a blade a more contrasted look. After this is migaki-bo work, where they use burnishing needles to polish the shinogi-ji or ridge of the sword and the kissaki work, etc. This is a link to a good website which explains the basics of the polishing procedure/differences. www.nihontoantiques.com/polishing,%20step%20by%20step.htm Sorry for the essay!
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Post by zentesukenVII on Sept 19, 2011 5:56:45 GMT
No you gave me the most informative response yet, thanks very much. I have learned!!
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Post by zentesukenVII on Sept 19, 2011 6:09:27 GMT
Hmm I see this on old blades a lot, what is it for? The little lines that sit on the ji at the munemachi.
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