blem katana arrived yesterday - now with rehandle project

[crimsonfalcon07]

Well folks, I got in a katana I ordered as a blem from Auntie. Some of you may recognize this one, as it was returned due to cracks in the handle and incomplete grinding in the tip. So, I knew exactly what I was in for. I've reprofiled the tip and sharpened it, so it's now fighting sharp from guard to tip. As for the handle, I've still got plans for it.

It's been remarked that the fit and finish on these isn't that great, and they're not the prettiest. That's certainly true. The brazing on the fittings is visible, and kind of ugly, although the engraving on the guard is quite attractive:

However, there are all kinds of grind marks and blemishes on the underside. That's not exactly the kind of workmanship I usually expect from Rajkumar.

Here's the carved handle:

It's grippy, for sure, but without gloves it's uncomfortable as heck, and will tear the skin off your palms in short order. I will be sanding it down and reshaping it, and will post pics when I'm done.

Still, this is a gorgeous sword which is clearly a great user. It's heavy, like many HI products, but it chops very well. I have yet to see how it does with cutting. Balance is similar to a Cold Steel sword, for those that have tried that. It's not as fast as a traditional katana, but it's a great sword nonetheless, and when I modify the handle, that should improve handling properties.

 

[cop911]

Nice snag there. Even with the blems it's pretty impressive. Kust looking at the grips makes my hands hurt too, but a good sanding will ease that up. I think something in a wakazashi size would be nice my, last neighbors flipped out when I practiced with my old Cold Steel Katana (gave it to my brother).

 

[Misanthropia]

Ah yes, now that looks familiar

I'm glad it has gone to a better home and is getting the treatment I couldn't offer it, it really feels awesome in spite of its flaws. Strangely, it has completely cured my sword bug, I suppose the real pleasure comes from actually getting to play with them (something I'm unable to do). Keep us updated!

 

[abdelhazred]

I think something in a wakazashi size would be nice my, last neighbors flipped out when I practiced with my old Cold Steel Katana (gave it to my brother).

My poor neighbors got a little twitchy when I set up a little range for throwing knives. But this same family was practicing archery in theirs.

It's amazing how much people fear a tool that's been around for over two million years.

Anyways, that's a nice looking sword. I would agree that the hilt is a little "rustic" looking, but it's still quite charming. You say the balance is similar to a Cold Steel sword? Where is the point of balance, the center of the weight?

 

[kronckew]

...
It's amazing how much people fear a tool that's been around for over two million years.
...

there was a famous incident in an eastern state where some of the people got a bit revolting while the sultan was off visiting. he returned with a couple of companies of gurkhas to discuss the matter. they lined up facing the horde of rioters, drew their khuks, and suddenly, the opposition decided they had better things to do, and went home.

 

[Yangdu]

Nice pix and work, thank you for sharing

 

[Yangdu]

Young Sher the (tiger) will make few more Katana for online customers.
Thank you all for your patience

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Sanded it down and found the rather large crack in the handle. I'm thinking I may figure out how to remove the wood entirely and put on some cocobolo. That would look pretty stunning on this blade for sure, especially given the reddish tinge.

 

[Misanthropia]

Sanded it down and found the rather large crack in the handle. I'm thinking I may figure out how to remove the wood entirely and put on some cocobolo. That would look pretty stunning on this blade for sure, especially given the reddish tinge.

I wish I could buy it back after all of this work is being done to it!

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

See, this is why I asked you to contact me I'm always happy to give an HI bro a hand, and it literally took only a few minutes to regrind the tip. But we'll see how it actually turns out. I think I need to dunk the handle in boiling water or something to get the handle scales off, if I remember right. Got the cocobolo ready to go, and will try out my wood burning skills as well.

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Today I boiled the handle and drilled out the bolster pins. Then I got some slabs of cocobolo cut to size, and am in the process of epoxying them on, along with 1/4" mosaic pins. After it cures, I'll have more updates for you.

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Finished to 400 grit so far, mosaic pins and cocobolo.

 

[davidf99]

crimsonfalcon07:

That handle is a nice piece of work and already looks great. I know cocobolo. It's a beautiful wood that deserves the highest level of finishing. I suggest that you finish it all the way: Sandpaper to 2000 grit, or 2500 grit if you can find it. Then rub it with rottenstone or similar powder, which breaks down smaller and smaller as you use it, and is probably equivalent to 6000-10,000 grit. The wood will glow and the grain will seem alive as you turn it in your hand.

For those of us who are truly fanatics, a trick is to shake a small jar of rottenstone and unscrew the lid. You will see a kind of mist rise up from the jar. Hold a cotton cloth over the mist -- quickly, before it disperses -- then polish the wood with the cloth. (I once checked this under a microscope, and the mist is significantly finer than the rottenstone powder.)

After rottenstone, finish with several very thin coats of tung oil, and then a thin coat of wax over that. The trick with tung oil is to let it cure for a long time, days or even weeks between coats, to achieve maximum hardness, and rub the dickens out of it with a soft cotton cloth after each coat. If I'm in a hurry I use a high gloss lathe polish instead of tung oil, and cure each coat of the polish overnight.

If you actually have a life, you could do only part of the above. The point is, since you're using cocobolo the handle should be as beautiful as the blade, or more so. I wouldn't worry about the handle becoming slippery, especially since you scalloped it for the full length.

By the way, you can also polish a blade this way, anywhere from satin (villager) finish to high gloss. No tung oil or lathe polish, of course, but a thin coat of Renaissance Wax will bring out the metal luster and protect from moisture in the air or on your fingers.

-- Dave

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Thanks for the tips on the rottenstone. I'll look into that.

I've now taken this to 800 grit on the belt sander, then hand sanded to 1500 grit. I'm starting the 2000 grit hand-sanding now. It's really starting to get a nice luster. This particular piece I chose because it's got a nice reddish tinge which is coming out nicely, and it matches the scabbard nicely.

Here you can see a closeup of the grain. Sure is a nice piece of wood! I hand pick my cocobolo, so I don't get any of that boring straight grain stuff. Needs to have a bit of character to it!

And here's the sword in hand:

I do wish it was fullered so it would be balanced a little better. But it's really starting to turn into a nice blade. One thing I noticed is that the blade feels a bit lumpy when I run my hands up and down it. I kinda wonder what in the process caused that, but that's part of why I chose to scallop the handle; it gives it the same tactile feel from kissaki to kashira.

One mistake I made was in not aligning the squares in the mosaic pins. I'll have to do that next time.

I do wish it had a hamon. That would be a nice touch for sure. But I'm certainly much happier with this handle than with the skin-stripping handle it came with, and the blade holds an edge VERY well. It ate a 2x4 like it was nothing. It's nice to have a katana that I'm not afraid to use pretty hard.

 

[gomipile]

I do wish it had a hamon.

It might, actually. It might just not be visible because of the blade's polish. Some people etch slightly with a diluted ferric chloride solution to reveal the hamon.

You could also try rubbing the blade with a very fine grit abrasive to "un burnish" it to see if a hamon is there. This would be similar to the Japanese sword polishing technique with hazuya: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/togi,process.html Search in that page for the sentence:"Then the surface becomes clean. And all the tempering effects come to be seen."

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Good thought. It's actually slightly concave-ground, so it's been rather difficult for me to polish. Gonna take a LOT of hand-sanding. This project is probably going to last me months, to be honest. I'm not sure how I'm going to clean up the grind marks and blemishes on the kashira and tsuka yet, not without thinning them to a dangerous point.

That's a great link, btw. Thanks.

 

[davidf99]

The lumpiness on the blade is probably due to hammer marks, maybe too shallow to see but enough to feel. I have an ASTK with a very shallow indentation on one side of the blade, clearly from an overzealous hammer blow. I can see it when I hold the blade up to the light and I can feel it with my fingers.

It doesn't bother me at all; gives the blade character and shows that it was made by a human being, not a machine. On a smaller khukuri or a different model with fancy fullers it might look bad, but the ASTK has no fullers to mess up and it's a bruiser of a knife -- 18" long and 37 oz. The hammer mark suits it.

None of my other khukuris have visible hammer marks, but from what I've read they're not unusual.

 

[Misanthropia]

When I was initially researching the Everest Katana, I came across a forum post somewhere where someone claimed to have polished the blade enough to see the hamon, which does make sense since it's differentially hardened. Since it's already at a mirror finish, I'm not quite sure how you're supposed to polish it more to enhance the hamon. The etching idea makes much more sense.

 

[gomipile]

When I was initially researching the Everest Katana, I came across a forum post somewhere where someone claimed to have polished the blade enough to see the hamon, which does make sense since it's differentially hardened. Since it's already at a mirror finish, I'm not quite sure how you're supposed to polish it more to enhance the hamon. The etching idea makes much more sense.

It isn't a matter of polishing "more." It is a matter of polishing in a way which reveals the character of the steel., rather than producing a mirror finish. This is one of the reasons professional sword polishers charge $50, $100, or more per inch.

If you want to learn more about Japanese style sword polishing, read the link I posted above, http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/togi,process.html, and/or watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCYib7Jbq0g

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I don't have the skill for that, nor do I want to spend hundreds of dollars to reveal a hamon that may or may not be there. It's polished enough for me to know that there are plenty of grind marks. The link you posted suggests that acid etching is really bad. I may just patina it and be done with it.