Scratches on katana

Dergyll

Dergyll

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Feb 24, 2021
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Hello friends,
Recently a coworker asked if I can help restore an old cheap katana he had. It's short and made of cheaper steel, and has numerous scratches on it (nothing too deep thankfully). I can sharpen the edge with a stone to get it nice and shiny, but was wondering if anyone can recommend DIY techniques to get the rest of the blade (AKA anything but the edge) nice and shiny as well to match.

I'll do the usual, some vinegar and Flitz to get the rust off, tighten the guard, oil it up, etc.

Appreciate any pointers, thanks.
 
600 grit wet-sand sand paper and water. Follow that up with some wax or oil to hold rust at bay. The sandpaper should be used with some type of block or felt so you don’t end up with hotspots from finger pressure.
 
Thank you sickpuppy1,

600 feels pretty low, would you recommend going low from 600, then 1000 then 2000 etc?

Thanks for your time
 
I don’t think I’d go above 1000. That will give you a nice satin finish. 600 will work out the bigger scratches. You may also find that to be good enough. Remember, I’m suggesting wet sand and that leaves a finer scratch pattern than dry sanding
 
My memory of display "katanas" is that they were mirror-polished. If that's what your co-worker wants, it's going to require a buffing wheel.
 
Sickpuppy1 that method worked beautifully. Having some better equipment would help, doing that giant by hand took me about 2 hours :rolleyes:

I also used the same method on some of the brass guard and they're now all shiny...thanks again for the tip and confidence boost.
 
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