mei question.

David,
You certainly may be right.

However as a historical object wouldn't you agree that it would be more appropriate to have an expert in the field of sword polishers evaluate it in hand ? A professional evaluation vs. a bunch of guys judging from photos ?

I think the polishers comments above clearly reflect the possibility of it being too far gone to restore. As he stated he could only make that decision after an in hand evaluation.

I see no way that blade can be saved
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I understand that you are merely voicing your opinion, and I respect the right to have your own opinion.
Unfortunately, your opinion may have a negative impact on the owners decision and the fate of the sword in question. He may know and respect you as a knife maker and therefore misconstrue your expertise in one field as overlapping to another totally unrelated.

Please do not be offended by my last comment, as personally I do not know one thing either way regarding your knowledge/expertise in the area of Nihonto. Merely pointing out a possibility.


Op, If you contact me privately, I will discuss the details of this process with you. If you are not interested in having the sword looked at, perhaps you would consider trading a good brush chopper for it. I will have it evaluated and hopefully restored at my own expense.
 
The op is a grown man and can make his own decision, and I have no problem having a professional polisher look at the blade. I just think there is very little useable steel under all that rust. I've worked on blades in similar condition, and by the time I reached solid, uaeable steel the blade was extremely thin.If you want to restore the edge, chances are good the blade will have to be completely re-profiled. Again, all of this is my opinion only, but I do have an in-depth background in knifemaking.

If you do restore the sword and it comes out looking even remotely in the original shape, I will be the very first to congratulate you on a miracle.

Op, good luck whatever choice you make.
 
Ive been following this thread as I find it interesting not only where ya found it which is quiet amazing but also on the off chance that you got it atleast halfway restored.

Was kind of curious if a good electrolysis bath would work to help atleast stop the rust. Would probably help to clean it up a tad to see more of what you actually have to work with.
 
i am very interested in what your buddy has to say about it after he see's it in person. going to have to wait till after the first of the year for everything to calm down. if it is to far gone for any type of repair then so be it. this would still be a cool yardknife or watermelon slicer. someone else suggested to mix 10 to 1 ratio feed molasis with water, then soak the blade in it for a week or two. this will lift the rust from the blade. i will keep ya posted on what end's up happening with this blade. thank ya'll for the info. also still have not found out how old this thing is, any idea?
 
Try looking up the electrolysis thing if you want it to be quicker then the molasis. Its pretty easy if you have a battery charger at home. There is stuff online for it, I cant remember the specifics but Ive done it before and it worked great. Mild steel cathod, hooked up battery charger to the cathode and the other to the blade, submerged in a bucket full of I think its baking soda laden water. Let sit for a while. Use a tooth brush to scrub it off every once in a while.
 
I would advise using it for striking brush, with the corrosion exhibited. It may be a romantic or "neat" thing to do but when the blade snaps you will probably have understood why not to use it as a tool. Pizza mebbe :)

Cheers

GC
 
If you choose at some point to have it evaluated, let me know. I will be glad to help you.

I thought of a couple of things that you may or may not be aware of. If you were to have it restored it wouldn't be to use it, ie chopping brush. It would be to display and study. Besides it wasn't made to chop brush, it was made for killing people :-) They made blades especially for chopping bushes called "Nata".

Polish will bring out all of the activities seen in the steel and make it beautiful. But it is not cheap and you wouldn't want to throw that money away and ruin the new polish using it on bushes or people. Maybe zombies. Also know you will need to have a shirasaya and habaki made for it. The sword has been around several hundred years, if restorable and cared for properly it could be around a few hundred more.
 
That edge is pretty shot, can't hurt to have someone take a look at it though. I'm just starting to get into swords, but I've restored some pretty nasty looking tools and a few knives. Sometimes the rust looks a lot worse than it really is.
 
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