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Post by RickDastardly on Nov 16, 2017 20:45:10 GMT
I was planning on giving the blade on my new sword a mirror (or at least fine satin) polish, but the linear, brushed finish is quite deep. Deep enough to catch my fingernail if dragged perpendicular to the length, and so coarse that I can use it as a nail file!
My concern is that I would have to remove a substantial amount of steel to get down to a smooth finish.
Has anyone tried to do that, and if so was it successful?
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Post by Faldarin on Nov 16, 2017 21:30:33 GMT
The grain is really coarse on both of my H/T blades. I know that 5160 can be polished to a mirror finish though - I have a genuine Tinker that is highly polished.
Imo, you could probably polish it well - I'd be more skeptical about polishing all of the grain out of the longsword than the bastard. Though if there's someone who has actually done a polishing job on one of these, I would like to know too. I don't think the brushed finish is QUITE as rough on mine.
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Post by tdiamante on Nov 16, 2017 21:50:15 GMT
It's certainly doable, but if you're doing it by hand it'll take a whole lot of elbow grease. If you polish the bastard blade, get a piece of poplar that's 1/4 x 1 x 16-20(adjust for your own shoulder width). Fold sandpaper around it and tape or tack it in place. The bastard blade(at least the one I had) has convex bevels, so you'll want to hold the stick the end and press down a little so the wood bends over the bevels. Long, even strokes and start at 100 grit. Using oil will help you get a nice satin polish. I found 400 grit to be easy to polish to and it leaves a nice crisp finish that's easy to touch up. Once you start getting really fine any spots you missed become really obvious. Hope that helps!
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,713
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Post by stormmaster on Nov 16, 2017 22:44:26 GMT
i'm getting one done atm, it will be a while before its done but ill update then how it turned out
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Post by RickDastardly on Nov 16, 2017 22:58:52 GMT
Thank you both. I hadn't noticed that the profile was slightly convex; it looked flat until I put a straight edge against it just now. That's a pleasant surprise. Thank you for the advice tdiamante, it helps a lot. I'll do something like that. I often use a leather backing on the board, under the SiC paper, for convex knife blades. I'll do it mostly by hand even though I have a cheap belt and disk sander. I'm used to using it for knives but won't risk that on a sword yet. It takes metal off far too quickly if I lose concentration; don't want to mess up the spine or the edge. I have a couple of polishing mops for my power drill that I'll use for the final polish. And plenty of assorted SiC paper and abrasives/polishes.
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Post by RickDastardly on Nov 16, 2017 23:12:38 GMT
i'm getting one done atm, it will be a while before its done but ill update then how it turned out I missed your post while I was typing my previous one. Excellent - are you doing it by hand with SiC paper? I'll look forward to seeing it.
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,713
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Post by stormmaster on Nov 16, 2017 23:15:13 GMT
i'm getting one done atm, it will be a while before its done but ill update then how it turned out I missed your post while I was typing my previous one. Excellent - are you doing it by hand with SiC paper? I'll look forward to seeing it. um no. . . im doing it with money?
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Post by RickDastardly on Nov 16, 2017 23:27:55 GMT
I'm not sure money's abrasive enough... oh, you mean you're paying someone else to do it. Good plan
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Post by Faldarin on Nov 17, 2017 0:57:32 GMT
I personally like the brushed look almost as well, so I likely won't do it unless I get another H/T bastard.... which... LG Martial arts is still selling that Jimbo Curry custom, isn't he? *sigh* No. Gotta put down cash for the Malatesta.
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Nov 17, 2017 1:02:38 GMT
If you decide to do it yourself I’d add to tdiamante’s suggestion; put a slightly compressible material, a mouse pad is good, between the board backing and sandpaper. This will make life easier as it will allow the sandpaper to follow the convex lines of the blade. The first blade I tried was a katana and I too thought if flat until I started. I stopped almost immediately before I did any real damage. It was perhaps a year later before I learned of the mouse pad trick. I then went back, it was a long year just looking at the katana, and everything fell into place.
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Post by RickDastardly on Nov 17, 2017 1:21:23 GMT
Aye, thanks pgandy. I often use a mousemat or thick leather backed board on convex knives, depending on the convex radius and how much grinding I need to do. I'm still working up the guts to polish/sharpen my Hanwei Iga Ninja-to. I have a couple of waterstones but so far haven't plucked up the courage. It's funny... I wouldn't think twice about reprofiling a similar value knife (and have done on the day I got them) but I'm not used to handling swords yet. It will give me plenty to do during the fast-approaching winter. By next summer, everything will be sharp, shiny and ready to get out in the garden and cut with.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Nov 17, 2017 20:35:48 GMT
I personally like the brushed look almost as well, so I likely won't do it unless I get another H/T bastard.... which... LG Martial arts is still selling that Jimbo Curry custom, isn't he? *sigh* No. Gotta put down cash for the Malatesta. Still available... willing to sell it for $375. Layaway (for up to 2 months) is also an option. You or anyone else can contact me at support@lgmartialarts.com
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Post by Madmartigen on Jul 16, 2018 7:51:36 GMT
Digging up an old thread, but here's mine after giving it a proper appleseed edge and polish.
H/T bastard blade mounted as a long 2-handed jian.
Stones, sand papers, polishing paste and lots of time.
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Post by RickDastardly on Jul 16, 2018 8:36:45 GMT
Wow - that's a nice polishing job!
I never got chance to work on mine, life got in the way somewhat, but I'll see to it some time.
I'm even more keen to do so now I've seen yours.
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Post by Madmartigen on Jul 16, 2018 8:44:02 GMT
Thanks!
Actually if you intend to cut with your sword, such a high polish is impractical. But I mostly practice forms with this one, so it kinda looks nice :).
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Jul 16, 2018 13:56:53 GMT
Wow - that's a nice polishing job! I never got chance to work on mine, life got in the way somewhat, but I'll see to it some time. I'm even more keen to do so now I've seen yours. The polishing can be spread out over time and no matter how hard you try you won’t do it in one setting anyway. Work on it perhaps an hour or so this week, and then an hour or so next week if that's all the time you have. The finish that Mad has achieved is beautiful and represents many hours of work, but not recommended for back yard cutting if that’s you intention.
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jul 16, 2018 14:57:54 GMT
I personally like the brushed look almost as well, so I likely won't do it unless I get another H/T bastard.... which... LG Martial arts is still selling that Jimbo Curry custom, isn't he? *sigh* No. Gotta put down cash for the Malatesta. sorry - all bastard and longsword (sharp) bare blades are sold out at CAS Iberia for the next couple months. Once we get new stock in, we'll be making more customized bastard and longswords (however, we are working on a customized EMSHS at the moment, should be ready by next week).
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