Where to buy Migaki-Bo or find substitues in the states

[duxbellorum]

One of the major multipurpose tools used when polishing japanese swords is called a Migaki-Bo. It is a pencil sized tool made of super-hardened steel (enough to dig into 63hrc aogami-super). Typically one end has a rounded point while the other has a flattened paddle, like a wide screw driver.

Looking around, it is really hard to get a Migaki-Bo. A few japanese import companies carry them for prices ranging from $100-350, but that seems awfully high for such a simple tool.


If anybody actively uses a Migaki-Bo for burnishing tsubaki and/or blade edges, where did you get yours? Does it justify the fairly high price?


Otherwise, What are some alternative, cheaper rods that are simultaneously super-hard and super-smooth, which can be used to burnish blade steel. Where could one get, for example, drill bit blanks that could be polished/shaped into something similar. I am particularly interested in this topic, because such an object would double as an excellent blade honing tool (compared to diamond/ceramic rods of which I am not a fan). In fact, such a tool would be useful for a huge range of tasks like re-burring cabinet scrapers, engraving soft steel, burnishing fine metal parts (e.g. gun and folding knife parts), etc...

 

[J W Bensinger]

Fastenal sells O-1 drill rod in several sizes. (I forge it into straight razors mostly, but I have made some burnishers from it). I only temper the burnishers back to maybe 325 degrees, just to relieve stress.

 

[duxbellorum]

M2 drill rod sounds like the perfect material and at 3 feet of 1/4" for $35, it is much cheaper than the japanese tools. O1 looks much easier to work with and at $5 per 3 foot of 1/4", is downright affordable.

 

[J W Bensinger]

O-1 gets hard, too. And youcan heat treat it without a $700 kiln.

 

[duxbellorum]

I bought 3' of 5/16 O1 and 3' of 1/4 M2 steel from fastenal.

I am not sure how I will go about hardening the M2, so i started by making a prototype in with the O1.

The drill rod comes un-hardened, as one would expect, so I did most of the shaping with my file. The process went something like this:

1) cut length with hack saw (I went with 10.75")
2) put rod in chuck of drill.
3) apply file to rotating rod until you achieve the desired point.
4) finish by applying increasing grits of sandpaper/buffing/sropping compound to polish
5) heat to red-hot and quench in oil

Here is my first attempt, still incomplete because I need to spend a lot of time with a forge to get the back flattened and shaped. It's hard enough to scratch my name into blue steel.