Japanese sword care and restoration?

[eisman]

This is not my area of expertise (not that anything is) but I have a chance to buy a couple of 18th century Japanese blades from an estate and they were brought over in the early 1900's. They are not in the best condition, the wrappings are frayed, the sheaths deteriorating, and the exposed metal shows oxidation. The blades are pretty good, no obvious rust or dings, but they need sharpening. Is there anyone who can advise on doing this work, or who can actually perform it correctly. I am not looking to completely rework them if acquired, but do have a preference for things to be in the best possible original, working, order. To that end any work would have to be with the intention of restoring to original as much as possible.

 

[NihontoEd]

First and foremost, you need to determine if they are genuine Japanese swords. Swords come with all kinds of stories, some are accurate others not so much.

If they are genuine then they should only be polished/restored by a trained professional. There are very few fully trained polishers in the US.

In the meantime:
DO NOT attempt to polish them yourself.
DO NOT allow anyone to attempt polish or perform any restoration.
DO NOT clean the tang
DO NOT touch the blade with your hands or fingers, the oils will further damage the blade.

There have been many blades ruined by someone who "thinks" they can do it themselves.
If the blades were valuable, amateur restoration will result in them being worthless!

Take photos and post here. Photos must be in focus and include both sides of the tang as well as the entire blade (removed from fittings).

 

[Sigp210]

What Ed said.
Btw, no such thing as "sharpening" a Japanese sword. The sharpness is a function of the polishing process, so in polishing the edge gets its sharpness.
Bear in mind that a professional polish can easily be $150 per INCH, and takes many many years to learn to do. So avoid the numerous amateur polishers out there that will ruin it.