A Journey with Rusty my Katana
Dec 8, 2023 23:24:17 GMT
Post by stevengraham on Dec 8, 2023 23:24:17 GMT
My Journey with Rusty the Katana
The Strangest things happen when you least expect it. A few months ago my cousin presented me with a bent up jagged piece of metal and told me it is a Japanese sword. I said really, lots of skepticism there. She said, here you can have it…LOL.. Family love to give me stuff. Junkier the better. The Katana, I discover it to be later, was found in a closet, in an abandoned house in the desert in New Mexico. I set the rusty thing aside and said thanks. A few days later I saw it on my bench in the computer room and decided to take a closer look. I pulled it out of a busted up wooden scabbard, I don’t know Japanese terms so get over it. I hefted it and looked at how badly bent the blade was and the edge of the blade looked like some was chopping barbwire with it. Put simply, it was a mess. I saw inscriptions on the hilt and decided to do some research. Holding the blade in my hand made me think there maybe more to this piece of junk. A quick internet search showed that it was a pre WWII blade made by Fujiwara Kanefusa 23 Generation. Ah I thought, it is a real Japanese Katana. So more research and advice. The blade was in a condition that most said it is not worth the cost to restore. I could certainly see their point, money wise. It was felt that I should leave it as is and just display. I smiled at the blade and said another day you rusty thing..
Another week or two went by an I was getting bored. I am retired and was between projects. I looked at the rusty blade on the work bench and thought well lets see how to restore a Katana..LOL…if possible. First was how to straighten the blade. I about had a heart attack doing this trick, which I learned on YouTube. I took my time, a little bend at a time, just a little closer to the goal. I was terrified that I would break the blade. Also I think bending a still sharp piece of metal with your hands not the best thing to do. However, I got the blade pretty damn straight. Well step one is done, now to the rust. Read a lot of do’s and don’ts on this one. I ended up using a sponge, water and “Bartenders Helper”. A little gentle cleaning and I could see the blade much better, deep scratches, Blade edge really chipped up but still something about the blade made me keep going. I have some skill and a little YouTube and I began the journey of rebuilding the blade edge. This part of the processes was probably the worse. Some of the chips in the blade were almost 2 mm deep. I kept the angle of attack, the katana blade edge is not normal..LOL..continued to remove material. I finally had to stop. I was panicked that I would ruin the symmetry of the blade and the hamon. It left two very small nicks in the blade edge but I considered it good. I knew Rusty would not be perfect ( I named the Katana) but I also felt it would be a good match for Rusty to not to be perfect. I suspect when Rusty was made he was not a ceremonial or an officer gift or whatever, but just a katana and with just a katana purpose.
The blade edge has been reshaped and now for the polishing. I use some really heavy git stones to get the blade edge right so I had some deep scratches to remove. I finally got to the 2000 grit paper and started to get a shine but the hamon would fade on me. I don’t think Rusty was meant to shine. On the internet I saw some incredable blades and Rusty would never be the pretties girl at the dance. I know Rusty is a boy but ya get my meaning. Also I liked the dull gray color of Rusty’s natural Patena.
I have finished my work on Rusty. He is not perfectly straight, He has some scratches (I did not want to remove any more metal) But I think he looks awesome. Maybe someone in the future will have Rusty professional done but not me. I like Rusty just the way he is. Here is a quick video link of Rusty.
The Strangest things happen when you least expect it. A few months ago my cousin presented me with a bent up jagged piece of metal and told me it is a Japanese sword. I said really, lots of skepticism there. She said, here you can have it…LOL.. Family love to give me stuff. Junkier the better. The Katana, I discover it to be later, was found in a closet, in an abandoned house in the desert in New Mexico. I set the rusty thing aside and said thanks. A few days later I saw it on my bench in the computer room and decided to take a closer look. I pulled it out of a busted up wooden scabbard, I don’t know Japanese terms so get over it. I hefted it and looked at how badly bent the blade was and the edge of the blade looked like some was chopping barbwire with it. Put simply, it was a mess. I saw inscriptions on the hilt and decided to do some research. Holding the blade in my hand made me think there maybe more to this piece of junk. A quick internet search showed that it was a pre WWII blade made by Fujiwara Kanefusa 23 Generation. Ah I thought, it is a real Japanese Katana. So more research and advice. The blade was in a condition that most said it is not worth the cost to restore. I could certainly see their point, money wise. It was felt that I should leave it as is and just display. I smiled at the blade and said another day you rusty thing..
Another week or two went by an I was getting bored. I am retired and was between projects. I looked at the rusty blade on the work bench and thought well lets see how to restore a Katana..LOL…if possible. First was how to straighten the blade. I about had a heart attack doing this trick, which I learned on YouTube. I took my time, a little bend at a time, just a little closer to the goal. I was terrified that I would break the blade. Also I think bending a still sharp piece of metal with your hands not the best thing to do. However, I got the blade pretty damn straight. Well step one is done, now to the rust. Read a lot of do’s and don’ts on this one. I ended up using a sponge, water and “Bartenders Helper”. A little gentle cleaning and I could see the blade much better, deep scratches, Blade edge really chipped up but still something about the blade made me keep going. I have some skill and a little YouTube and I began the journey of rebuilding the blade edge. This part of the processes was probably the worse. Some of the chips in the blade were almost 2 mm deep. I kept the angle of attack, the katana blade edge is not normal..LOL..continued to remove material. I finally had to stop. I was panicked that I would ruin the symmetry of the blade and the hamon. It left two very small nicks in the blade edge but I considered it good. I knew Rusty would not be perfect ( I named the Katana) but I also felt it would be a good match for Rusty to not to be perfect. I suspect when Rusty was made he was not a ceremonial or an officer gift or whatever, but just a katana and with just a katana purpose.
The blade edge has been reshaped and now for the polishing. I use some really heavy git stones to get the blade edge right so I had some deep scratches to remove. I finally got to the 2000 grit paper and started to get a shine but the hamon would fade on me. I don’t think Rusty was meant to shine. On the internet I saw some incredable blades and Rusty would never be the pretties girl at the dance. I know Rusty is a boy but ya get my meaning. Also I liked the dull gray color of Rusty’s natural Patena.
I have finished my work on Rusty. He is not perfectly straight, He has some scratches (I did not want to remove any more metal) But I think he looks awesome. Maybe someone in the future will have Rusty professional done but not me. I like Rusty just the way he is. Here is a quick video link of Rusty.