# Old Knife Restoration



## 4wa1l (Dec 12, 2020)

Just wanted to make a thread showing the progress on a friend's little old yanagiba. I think it's about 210mm. Should've measured : / It was picked up by his grandparents years ago on a trip to Japan. He found it in a state. The tip was broken, chipped and squared off, rust spots and pitting all over as well as a bit of a bend. Not the best pics but here's how he found it.










We're aiming for a full restoration including a new handle. He's a pretty good woodworker so I'll focus on the metal and leave that part to him.

So far I've tried to reprofile the tip and fix a bit of the recurve. Still a way to go but already looking better. List of things to do...

Straighten the blade
Finish tip profile and fix recurve near the heel
Remove rust
Replace handles
Sharpen and polish
If anyone has some tips I'd be very grateful. I'll keep updating it as we go.


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## cotedupy (Dec 14, 2020)

Cool project! And the condition doesn't look too bad  I did a yanagiba a month or so ago that was in way worse condition and came out quite nice. So this should look great by the end of it.

Definitely start with taking the handle off to see what you've got in terms of rust on the tang. Depending on how bad the rust is you could do a bath in white vinegar (just 10 mins or so) and then scrub. Or just try scrubbing with a bicarb paste and see how that goes. Then could do the vinegar later if needs be.

For the straightening do try to be very gentle... others will have more expert advice than me, but try it out slowly!

The tip I'd personally just sharpen out on the shinogi, and then re-do the ura. It looks like it wouldn't take long. Though again others will be more expert than I am, I don't have a massive amount of experience with single bevel restorations.

You look to be in quite a good starting place tho, so hopefully won't take too long, unless you're angling for an insanely fine mirror/kasumi finish or somesuch.


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## 4wa1l (Dec 14, 2020)

I saw that one. Looked great!

I forgot about bicarb. Will try that first. Thanks!

Straightening is definitely what I'm most worried about. I've seen a few videos and will try and cobble together one if those wooden slot jigs. Will take it slow for sure.

The tip is where I've done the most work so far. Brought down the spine and met it with the edge. Got rid of the big chips which felt good. Just needs to be cleaned up and maybe made a bit more pointed by bringing the edge up a bit more.


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## cotedupy (May 14, 2021)

Did you have any pics of the final result mate? Also - I have a small one that I need to alter the shape of, so would be keen to hear if you had any particular tips on stuff that worked for you? Especially if they don't involve hours of stone work!

Got my three (completed) restoration ones out today for a pic, before doing some polishing /kasumi work tomorrow. Even though the blades were basically all-over rust when I got, they're quite pretty now I think


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## 4wa1l (May 14, 2021)

I actually haven't touched it since then. I think my mate removed the handle and tried to remove more rust. Not 100% sure what he tried to do though.

I've been meaning to pick it up off him and see what I can do with it 

Yours look great! Especially that little one in the middle.


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## Benuser (May 15, 2021)

Wondering about that slight recurve. Very common with Westerns due to both oversteeling and a protruding fingerguard. What may have caused it here? I'm not familiar with single-bevels, so I don't know whether it thickens at the heel and needs extra attention when sharpening.


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## 4wa1l (May 15, 2021)

I'm not too sure but there is a good chance it had been sharpened with a pull through sharpener or possibly steel.


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## cotedupy (May 15, 2021)

4wa1l said:


> I actually haven't touched it since then. I think my mate removed the handle and tried to remove more rust. Not 100% sure what he tried to do though.
> 
> I've been meaning to pick it up off him and see what I can do with it
> 
> Yours look great! Especially that little one in the middle.



The little one's certainly the one in the best condition of them. And the handle's really nice 

(But even though it'll never have a proper shinogi or uraoshi - the top is my favourite.)


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