Japanese secret polishing techniques

DannyinJapan

DannyinJapan

Joined
Oct 9, 2003
Messages
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I was visiting a sword and weapons dealer here in Noda yesterday.
I was looking for a tanto to give to my father in law.
anyhow, I picked out a Norimitsu wakizashi that was low (1000$) because it had some rust.
the guy said he could polish it out and he did.
The thing that caught my attention was HOW he did it.

There were no Japanese secret stones being used !

He whipped out a piece of 2000 grit wet sandpaper and cleaned up the mess.
Next, he used a cottonball, smeared with green polishing compund.
(the very same stuff we use on buffing wheels)
He rubbed the green cotton wad up and down the blade and brought it up to a finish just like any other Katana...

I thought I was going to learn some of that old school japanese polishing.
What I learned was how they really do it off-camera!
 
AWESOME. Hadn't thought of that. Coton balls. Its always the guys that find the simplest/cheapest solution that are the masters.
 
that is amazing danny. but i wouldn't have the brass to post this on swordforum for fear of serious brow beating.

i think i will try that on my chen katana. could this method be used to bring out a hamon? what grit is green polishing compound?
 
Gotta try that.

Ahem, so, DIJ, did they have much of a Pearl Harbor remembrance there? Or was it totally non-newsworthy? They like to sanitize history over there, I've heard.

Wondering. You're our correspondent in Japan.



Ad Astra
 
I do the same thing to polish my knives; I polish the blade to 2000 grit then use Simichrome loaded on a leather patch. The leather patch does a good job of "holding" the compound, and when the compound wears away the leather does an even better job of polishing.

This isn't a very contraversial topic for American sword makers; this method is often called "hybrid polishing."

By the way, the polishing is always followed with an etch, then further polishing. The results are similar to the extent that the hamon and detail of the steel is revealed, the processes and end result are actually quite different.

Matt
 
I've heard the same thing about the cleansing of the news over there. Very curious about it. What is the story DIJ?
 
Well, this is pretty Off-topic, and ought to go to the cantina, but I'll tell you this:
Yesterday I saw a man on the train, a 40-something Japanese man, with a replica bomber jacket. On the back was painted a B-17 and a nose art lady and something about "Hollywood Canteen".

For all I know, it could have been the Enola Gay.

Honestly, they refuse to identify themselves with what they did between 1880 and 1945. They like to think that all of those people died in the war.
I dont know what to tell you, they only identify themlesves as victims.
They lost the war, so they think of themselves as victims.

They claim they have apologized and the world wont let it go.
They havent apologized, not really, not yet, because they havent even accepted responsibility for it yet.
 
Danny:

This is how it's usually done on a blade that isn't worth the cost of a traditional polish.

It's not the proper way, and it's not entirely ethical, but it happens.

Some blades aren't viewed as being worth sending off to the top pros.

That said there are only a few Polishers in the US and Japan that I would trust to do a real traditional polish.

This just removed the rust, and I'm sure that if you compare this polish to a full traditional polish, you'll readily see the difference.
 
Why is one abrasive medium more acceptable than another if they both yield the same result? Scratches are scratches, aren't they?
 
It's the application of those scratches that makes the difference.

IE, it's not the tool, it's the craftsman.
 

There was a young lady from Natches
Whose clothes were always in patches
When asked 'Why that be?'
She said 'Well, ya see,
When I itches,
I scratches!'​

Definition GEEZER Everything reminds him about something that happened 30 years ago that he wants to tell you about.:yawn:
 
Well, here's how I feel about the polishing thing:
I am a Martial artist, not a sword collector.
So, it is a weapon to me, not an investment.
If I can see the hamon and the nie, thats great, but the ability to use it in combat is more important.

so, if they guy wants to polish it with a new method, it doesnt bother me.
I cant afford the high-end polish and I sure as hell cant afford the swords that require a high-end polish!
 
Of course Danny, the "Art Polish" is a rather new invention.

If you intend to use a blade for tameshigeri, a working polish is all that's needed.
 
Argh, I lost my post. I'll try again, shorter version this time.
Dave Hahn, I agree with you about the swordforums. good guys, but I get the feeling that art of the sword has become something that it wasn't nowadays. Battlefield arts are for killing people, it's bloody, anything else implied in the old battlefield or assasination arts is just fantasy. Although, I applaud and completely 100% support the newer wave that favors martial arts as a form of character and spiritual development. I hold in the highest esteem arts that can do both. We do have to evolve. I believe the buddhists have been a good influence on martial arts, overall. I get the impression that DIJ has learned these points of view.
 
without any kind of belief system, budo would not be quite as interesting.
I think Zen made them better killers, but the other faiths involved certainly made the teachings richer.
Some of the religious teachings are ancient Indian magic, including the mudra, which is very very old. (3,000 years?)
It is said that the shuriken arts were brought to Japan by priests from China. Its a big , mixed up soup we have here...
 
Update: I took an old sock and used it to wipe up the "slurry" from my sharpening stones this last week. (one is 1200 grit one is 6000)
I then used the sock to rub down a JKM.
Oh My Lord!
It put a mirror polish on that blade in about 3 seconds!
You guys gotta try this!
 
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