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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jun 7, 2024 23:14:13 GMT
I don't have any pics of my own yet, but I've just recently committed to refurbishing a secondhand Hanwei Oni katana that had the blade pretty well marred up by one of its past owners (the edge was dulled and the shinogi-ji softened by a poor attempt to buff away the original rough shinogi).
It'll be a lot of work with whetstones to true things back up, but I don't mind that since the Oni's profile is so broad anyways (so-called "kotetsu" geometry), and taking a bit of weight off the blade should help with the balance regardless.
Since it was relatively cheap I've decided that in addition to restoring the blade I'll probably also be redoing the tsuka to be shorter and with some more dimension, though I haven't decided on the specifics yet. I'll probably keep all the fuchi kashira, but might think about a different colour scheme for the ito.
I'll share some photos once it arrives.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jun 15, 2024 21:35:55 GMT
The oni arrived a few days ago, and it's every bit the chungus that people have said it is. A fairly typical Hanwei XL geometry blade, albeit in somewhat soft condition. A previous owner buffed the blade out and rounded the shinogi-ji over, as well as dulled the edge. The hamon is also somewhat thin in spots, though nothing at risk of trailing off the edge. I'll most likely be redoing the tsuka to about 11 inches in length and with a good bit more waisting, as the Hanwei tsuka lives up to its axe handle reputation. The nakago will also have to be chopped down as well. The only part I feel bad about is that the ito is actually quite well wrapped, and seems tighter than what I have personally felt on other Hanwei blades. Though I have some ideas as far as the end result, I'll probably stick with the black-on-black aesthetic for the redone tsuka, though I may have the menuki in a gyaku position (something else I personally prefer). I have also done some careful filing on the tsuba to be able to mount it backwards from how it originally was, as while historic, I vastly prefer the more detailed side to face the blade. This makes the katana more comfortable imo, as the smoother, plain side rubs less against the top of my hand. As well, I'll eventually sharpen the blade and re-sharpen the geometry at some point in the future, most likely once I recover from some upcoming wrist surgery.     |
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Post by larason2 on Jun 16, 2024 20:36:05 GMT
Looks pretty standard. The buffing lost detail, but its not the worst I've seen. At least you can still see the hamon. I like the tsuka this long, but I don't blame you for cutting it down! Looking forward to seeing how the polish comes out.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jun 17, 2024 0:00:52 GMT
Looks pretty standard. The buffing lost detail, but its not the worst I've seen. At least you can still see the hamon. I like the tsuka this long, but I don't blame you for cutting it down! Looking forward to seeing how the polish comes out. It's hard to capture in photos, but the buffing rounded over the shinoji-ji a fair bit. Other than the mune nothing is really "crisp", so every part will need to be redefined on coarse whetstones. Just for fun I decided to work on a small section of the blade with some small hazuya stones, mostly to see how the l6 reacts to them. Still a long ways to go, but the steel and hamon seem to react well to a fingers tone finish. And the handle length is one thing, but it is just far too broad and thick in profile. I like to be able to fit my hand around the entire tsuka lol  |
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Post by larason2 on Jun 17, 2024 0:11:13 GMT
Yeah, not too bad. They didn't burnish it too badly. Shouldn't be too hard to polish up!
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jun 30, 2024 19:50:36 GMT
In case anyone is curious, here is what the hanwei Oni katana's nakago looks like. The mekugi-anna had some burrs that I removed by chamfering the holes with a drill bit.  EDIT: I also decided to weight the Oni. With the saya it weight about 4.1 lbs, but the blade and all its fittings/tsuka weight in at 3.2 lbs. By the time the tsuka/nakago is shortened and the blade is reprofiled I'm aiming to get it closer to 2.7 lbs. Attachments:
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 29, 2024 0:04:04 GMT
Not much new to report, but I have started grinding on this blade. I bought a cheap belt sander online that I've started to use to slowly back the shinogi-ji bevel up, as it was way too wide originally and left the blade feeling very tipheavy. Because the shinogi was nearly as wide as the ha this resulted in the blade having too much forward mass, so I'm slowly taking some of that out whilst still keeping the edge's niku itself present. This is also the best way to sharpen the geometry again, as when I bought this secondhand Oni everything had gotten rounded over pretty well. Once I'm happy with the rough location and cleanliness of the shonogi-ji I'll probably switch over to whetstones to take out all the belt sander scratches.  |
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Post by edo on Sept 3, 2024 3:42:13 GMT
Why not just get a different sword instead of grinding away with a "cheap belt sander"?
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Post by larason2 on Sept 4, 2024 2:26:41 GMT
It actually looks pretty good. Your work is pretty even. I like katanas a bit tip heavy, but I respect this. I also agree if a sword isn't perfect I'd rather work on it to make it right than just get a new sword. You also kind of "make it yours" this way. This mod respects the original geometry, and even in China they'd use a grinder to achieve the same thing.
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