# Polishing



## maxim (May 21, 2013)

As you know this time when we went to Japan i visited very good Sword polisher well i think the best one in Japan.

And i learnd quite a lot from him, first of all i did not know what real polish was hehe. It seems like his swords was just without any scratches at all. Every derection i looked under every light i tried to turn and twist the blade just to spot single scratch even shalow one There was nothing :sad0:

It was a really a eyer opener how he pulled that off, there was no secrets involved at all just patience and very hard work. He used 5 days just to polish with finger stones and 2 hole days with Nugui 
He only worked on one sword a time so imagine 12 hrs every day just rubing with fingerstones for 5 days :eek2:

When i got home i had a lot of inspiration i have 2 Kato Tamahagene (small swords) what they call them. I thought they was polished very well. But i was wrong hehe 

I did not put at all all potential out of those small blades that is for sure. Then i started to polish one side 1 hr every day now for about 2 month 


I think i am not finished yet i am still practicing :O but here is some pics of result.










And here is just a sample how much similar size in Tamahagene finished go for in Japan :dazed:
http://munemasa.co.jp/SHOP/M1307-201.html


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## wsfarrell (May 21, 2013)

Very inspirational. I usually get frustrated if I can't get a nice polish in 30 minutes. I will try to learn patience.......


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## maxim (May 21, 2013)

Yeah haha i started with like 15 minutes, then next day 20 and so on


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## Seth (May 21, 2013)

In my country when you show pictures like that it is proper etiquette to give the item away. Can I have that? I will wait by the mailbox.
Thank you,
Seth


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## EdipisReks (May 21, 2013)

polishing is very neat and all, and that's a great looking Job, Maxim, but i just can't bring myself to care that much about items that are primarily tools, and tools which get used every day.


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## bathonuk (May 21, 2013)

That's great Maxim. I remember when I started doing mirror polish on my yanagi. I achieve great results but it took many many hours. It is very important to be honest with what you doing and to be 100% sure that non of previous grit scratches left. I was usually doing scratches in one direction and when i was sure that i finished i was doing scratches in opposite direction with same grit. Then i was going to next grit and so on. Doing it ths way you see scratches from previous grits. Can you show full pictures of that sword?


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## maxim (May 21, 2013)

Well it is not a tool and i will not use it every day  
Will never do that to a kitchen knife hehe 


EdipisReks said:


> polishing is very neat and all, and that's a great looking Job, Maxim, but i just can't bring myself to care that much about items that are primarily tools, and tools which get used every day.


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## maxim (May 21, 2013)

It is full picture  there is just a Tang after that, i did not make handle for it yet.



bathonuk said:


> That's great Maxim. I remember when I started doing mirror polish on my yanagi. I achieve great results but it took many many hours. It is very important to be honest with what you doing and to be 100% sure that non of previous grit scratches left. I was usually doing scratches in one direction and when i was sure that i finished i was doing scratches in opposite direction with same grit. Then i was going to next grit and so on. Doing it ths way you see scratches from previous grits. Can you show full pictures of that sword?


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## Micioarch (May 21, 2013)

It's really inspiring. I'll have to try on my shigefusa petty, but i don't know if i'll resist to don't use it for more than two days . I have a question, at that grade of finish will it be easier to restore it after the new patina, or you'll have to start over? How many times do you restore the finish to your knife? Amazing post, thanks for sharing.


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## maxim (May 21, 2013)

For Shigefusa or kitchen knives it takes me much less time  
I finish i with Uchigomori and thats it. To even out the finish you can use just some mud from your stone on some cloth or soft paper. 

Tamahagene have much more structure to the steel thats why so hight finish revel more and more details. On our regular knife steels, steel is much cleaner so you will not need as fine polish to make it look good


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## maxim (Jul 2, 2013)

Polishing on that Tamahagene Kato continue 

Managed to make handle with brass mammoth ivory, Marks super hard rare redwood and bamboo pin.
Soft Cedar Saya not to scratch the blade. 

I still need to make hadori polishing, the hardest part :fanning:


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## EdipisReks (Jul 2, 2013)

man, that does look nice!


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## WillC (Jul 2, 2013)

Very interesting, I love how you can see the folds as eyelets towards the un ground section and more tight layers where its ground gives us little clues to how its made and the time involved to forge it. It takes some polish to show the folds out and the hamon with out any etching, Will the final fine grit bring back the hamon a little?


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## maxim (Jul 2, 2013)

I did try to etch other blade i had but it dose not work that way with Tamahagene, Acid or any other etching dose simply not show all details in Tamahagene  

Hamon will be reviled best after Hadori, basically it will make harder part very hazy and softer part remains like now


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## Squilliam (Jul 2, 2013)

Wow I really love that handle shape and length.


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## dmccurtis (Jul 2, 2013)

Beautiful work. I can't wait to see the end result.


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## mzer (Jul 2, 2013)

Is this the new standard finish we can expect from JNS? :laugh:


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## maxim (Jul 2, 2013)

:scared4:
It took me only 15 days total so fare and its only 80mm 



mzer said:


> Is this the new standard finish we can expect from JNS? :laugh:


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## Crothcipt (Jul 2, 2013)

that is stunning. makes you think its damascus. Great job.


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## maxim (Jul 6, 2013)

quick iphone pics of Hadori 

or start of making Hadori , bringing up the Hamon with softest Uchigomori


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## maxim (Nov 24, 2013)

It is done and on website  

*Kato Tamahagene mini sword*


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## quantumcloud509 (Nov 26, 2013)

wooooooot!


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## 77kath (Nov 26, 2013)

That is beautiful.


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## Nmko (Nov 26, 2013)

Gorgeous Maxim! that redwood looks evil...:O


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## maxim (Nov 26, 2013)

Redwood is from Mark some time ago he sold that Super hard rosewood. I still have one block just for display


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## Andrey V (Feb 3, 2014)

maxim said:


> For Shigefusa or kitchen knives it takes me much less time
> I finish i with Uchigomori and thats it. To even out the finish you can use just some mud from your stone on some cloth or soft paper.
> 
> Tamahagene have much more structure to the steel thats why so hight finish revel more and more details. On our regular knife steels, steel is much cleaner so you will not need as fine polish to make it look good


That looks awesome, Maksim! Today i have used my Ohira Uchigomori to change the finish on my " work horse" Hiromoto AS - is love this simple knife and i use it to try out any stone  
I took some time ( 1,5 hours) with Uchigomori to change one side of the blade from mirror-polished into nice hazy finish ( frick  ! ) - i have already managed it- but i will continue- i did not wanted to etch it- Dave Martell does it outstanding - check his blog here- exactly on Hiromotos - so i will continue step by step - the only matter is, that it take half of the time after it to wash your hands from the black fine slurry


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