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Hand-forged katana: Step 7, polishing and sharpening
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2020
- This is my own take on this subject. But it's important for me to say that I didn't invent any of these techniques. I give credit to Walter Sorrells for anything useful I know about this subject. Any mistakes or misapplications of the techniques are mine.
In these videos I forge Japanese blades by hand. I heat treat them, polish them, and make all the parts necessary for mounting them. These videos are targeted to people who are interested in metal art, blacksmithing, forging, knife-making, and sword-making or are simply interested in maker videos. I try to present content in a calm, relaxing fashion that anyone can enjoy watching, whether you participate in this hobby or not.
My most recent blades are made from modern high carbon steel, such as W1 drill rod and custom W2 steel bars. In the future I plan on smelting my own tamahagane and making swords and daggers from that ancient steel.
katana, wakizashi, tanto, habaki, fuchi, kashira, menuki, tsuba, tsuka, quench, temper, hamon, asmr, tamahagane, W2 steel
Your channel has some of the best resource on the topic. Well done, sir. Thank you for your work 😊
Thank you!
@@oldpuebloforge legitimately very informative and interesting. Also, you don’t have to flex that polish on us so hard lmao.
I was originally just looking for a video on the making of hamon on katanas, but now I've got to watch this whole hand-forged katan series, its great! Good work!
Thank you! More to come soon!
Watched the entire build series on this blade. Very impressive. I would love to be able to buy one of your blades.
Thank you. I'm happy you enjoyed it.
Stellar video! Watching you work is extremely helpful, thank you so much for this!
I'm very happy you found the video useful.
Lol hey! I use 3 in 1 oil aa well as paper! Really good work brutha and good explanations
I wish I could find a teacher around my area like you. Great work
Thank you!
Thank you for the videos on the forging process. It helped me a lot visualizing the process, while writing a text on this topic for the museum i'm working currently at. Literature I have is good, but seeing the process also helps a lot!
Great work!
I'm so glad you found this helpful.
Astonishing work- I can see that you're not lacking patience 😀To avoid so many efforts to get a good picture, gently etch the blade. Not dense ferric chloride, but- 5% lemon juice and vinegar. Soak in it some very soft rag, then- "polish" the blade, switching after some time from lemon to vinegar, back to lemon, and so on. It takes hours, but- it won't loose it's mirror finish, it will be gently darkened and like velvet 👍
I have a question, but first: wow. This is an amazing video and your work is amazing. I am very grateful for all that you share in these videos. To my question: how do you maintain, or measure, the angle you are sharpening the edge at? Any tips on this for someone just learning to sharpen a katana?
Thank you so much for your kind words. I don't measure that angle. It is instinct.
Congrats for your work and results!
Thank you! More videos to come!
I really love your work😍
Is blacksmithing your occupation or just a hobby?
Thank you so much for the kind words. Blacksmithing is just a hobby for me. My profession is dentistry.
@@oldpuebloforge what? Why? How??????
Okay, I admit it....
I envy your both skill (blacksmith and dentistry).
Thanks for your kind words. Probably the reason I'm able to do blacksmithing as a hobby is that I do dentistry as a profession. Dentistry is a great profession that funds all my other pursuits.
I got two carbon steel swords I might trust you with them . Nice work man 🔥👏🏾
My guy. You are the Dumbledore of hamons.
I was wondering why your blade doesn't have any bevels, turns out you forged a Hirazukuri katana blade. Nice 😊
Yes, it is hira zukuri. It has no shinogi line.
damn the hamun is a beauty
Thank you!
Hamon.
Thank you very much, you help me so much
I'm very happy you enjoyed the video.
awesome katana,great polish
Thank you!
Can’t you just use a polarised lens which removes reflections since reflected light is always polarised. Since any material would be a lattice structure and light reflected is electrons jumping to a higher state of energy then falling back to its position releasing heat and light, since the lattice structure aligns the atoms the light each one re-emits is the same polarity. Just fun fact for ya
Very nice work
realy good video wana sharpen my chef knifes would this work i have smith try 6 inch bench stone and red ultra water stone
To get a better photo of the hamon use a polarizing filter to cut the mirror appearance and glare.
Gorgeous katana
Thank you for your kind words.
Thanks for sharing some of your methods. I have had good success touching up the edges on my knives and swords with the Shapton Pro 1000 and 5000, forged a few knives and tools out of carbon steel, using various media, diamonds and stones to help in the finish work. For foundation polishing what is the grit and stone that you are utilising, also, would a Shapton Glass 220 be a good choice for starting the foundation work ?
Foundation is 200 grit. I can't say anything about the diamond sharpeners. I have no experience.
@@oldpuebloforge Right, thanks.
After you rub the aluminum oxide paste for hours down the blade, do you just wipe it off with a cloth? I’m looking to sharpen and polish my own bamboo mat. Beautiful work, by the way!
Thanks! Yes, after the aluminum oxide, I just wipe it off.
people skip out on water quenching when making a katana, the ghastly white outline just doubles the quality of the katana compared to a more solid outline of an oil quench
I think you'd need to use a manual focus, since the daylight photo is blurred on the blade and focused on the background. I'd love to know how professional photographers get amazing sword photos. I'd bet it involves a light box with dark walls.
cool asf, big up dude
Thanks!
I am really impressed by your methods of work. I am also working to make a katana from spring steel. As I am a high school right now, I don't have much of an access to the tools and stones u have. I am mostly working with borrowed things. I need tips regarding how to make the blade and hilt. Note that it is my very first sword and I have zero experience but I am imagine and improvise with the things I currently have. Kindly help me out.
Bagai manakah cara mengeluarkan hamonya..dengan bahan apa..
2000 grit sandpaper will give the blade a beautiful mirror like finish
My hands hurt from looking at this
So true.
That came out nice
Will this process work on an older sword? I have an old one with some serious scuffs.
Yes. It should work with any sword.
how course are the first few stones that you used. what are the grits.
I have more details of the grits I use in my more recent video where I polish a tanto. Check that one out, and let me know if you still have questions. Here's the link: th-cam.com/video/lNVSKfzPuvQ/w-d-xo.html
Is using sandpapers necessary when I have whetstones from 400 to 8000?
Depends on how many intermediate stones you have.
I don't think you polished other sword cause I'm looking for sword polishers are extremely rare to find one to work on my sword ?
You are correct. I only polish swords that I make, myself.
Very nice work...
Also... Remember...
Wooosaw foooswabaa
Though shalt not smash thine new sword or camera, no matter how stabbity thou may become.
Nice process, have you considered using different grits of fine lapping film. I've used some that is .10 micron.
I've never heard of that before. I'll have to look into it. Thanks.
Can you recommend a place or website for buying Japanese knife sharpening stones?
I don't get mine from a single source. I get them from all over. I have gotten some off Amazon and Ebay, and others from tool supply wbsites.
@@oldpuebloforge ok thank you so much.
Very cool. Would love to know what progression you used to sharpen and polish this katana.
Thank you! I don't remember exactly, but it was something like 200 grit stone, 400 grit sandpaper, 800 grit stone, 1000 grit sandpaper, 1200 grit stone, 2000 grit sandpaper, 2500 grit sandpaper.
Your work is beautiful!!!! Thank you for sharing this with us all.
I have seen many different answers to this question: What do you recommend to use on a katana to protect it from corrosion when being stored?
You can try "Renaissance Wax" which is available from cutlery supply stores.
@@michaelharrison8036 Thank you. This stuff sounds great!
Hey! Thank you so much for the videos--they're an invaluable resource for me. I was wondering, however, which whetstones you used in the initial contouring of the blade? I'm in the market for whetstones and I'm not sure which to buy.
Thanks for the kind words. The first stone was 200 grit, I think.
What is the best angle to sharpen a katana?
It's not a single angle. The surface is curved.
Nice sword. I's tye bevel crisp? It kind of looks like you lost the definition. Can you show tye tip? Also looks like you may have lost definition in the tip.
This sword has no secondary bevel. It is a hira-zukuri style blade, not shinogi-zukuri.
0:52
...How is it difficult? You can buy Naniwa stones in virtually every grit you could ever want off Amazon and they're one of the best Japanese water stones on the market. I prefer Japanese Shapton brand stones because they wear less than Naniwa Chosera stones, but they also come in virtually every grit you could ever want.
...If you meant, "it can get extremely expensive," then yes. That's absolutely correct. But you also don't need *_every_* grit. Once you get to 1,000+ (and until you get to around 1,000 grit it doesn't matter how you're doing it, really. A 1,000 grit on Japanese water stones is just going to look better than 1,000 grit on ceramics) you can start skipping various grits and just make up for forming the scratch pattern more thoroughly by spending more time on the next stone. I think 1,000/2,000/4,000/6,000 is a pretty good compromise. And I wouldn't really bother with an 12K stone or higher. 8K is really even pushing it, to be frank. At those grit levels you might as well start stropping.
In the early stages, I like to go 200, 400, 600, 800. I haven't found 400 or 600 in big bricks, only thin stones for sharpening kitchen knives. That's what I mean.
Damn, brother. After I win the lottery (which I expect to happen any day now) I'm going to contact you and commissioned a katana. Meanwhile I'm stuck with my sub $300 production ones from Hanbon Forge. Which are "Okay", but obviously nothing like these.
Would really like to own something made by such a skilled craftsman. 👍
How did you convex the stones?
Some of that is the stones wearing down from use. Some is me preparing them with a rough stone, called a lapping stone.
amazing result but where is the shinogi?
This is a hira zukuri, not shinogi zukuri.
@@oldpuebloforge ic thx
Question. I'm making 2 chef knives from W2 and plan on adding a hamon. The steel is 1/8" thick. Would the hamon still be visible if I quenched before grinding the bevels to avoid cracks?
Beautiful sword btw.
Thank you for the kind words. To answer your question: The hamon is mostly a surface feature, and is removed along with the surface metal during grinding. The hamon on old swords is eaten away over time from repeated sharpening. So, if you quench and then grind, I would expect the hamon to be messed up badly if not completely eliminated. This is especially true for something like a chef's knife that is ground very thin.
@@oldpuebloforge thanks for the quick reply. So I guess I'll just be dealing with warps.
Ya, it's something we all deal with. I correct lateral warping after tempering when the blade is still 400F. It don't find it that difficult.
@@oldpuebloforge I'm to scared that I'll break the blade😅
Any time I correct warps I use the 3 pin technique in the second temper phase.
I don't have a second temper phase. More tempering dulls the hamon.
awesome
Thank you!
This man is a cowboy .!!!!!!
What do you use to wipe the sword?
What is mixed with abrasive powder?
1) Pikal metal polish. 2) 3-in-1 oil.
Do you perform this service for customers? If so, would like to send my Katana to have it sharpened. Thanks in advance.
I'm sorry, but I don't do that kind of work. I understand that Dragonfly Forge in Oregon does professional sharpening.
I like your technique.. Make the blade convex shape...( Patience technique ) thanks.
The blade is convex you can tell by the way he was rolling the convex edge on the whetstones. if it was a flat V grind there would be no need to roll it.
I really love your work. Ist there a possible way to give the hamon exactly the shape you want? I really want to see a real version of some katanas from the Anime one piece. I know its fiction, but i hope it can get real. :)
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, there are ways to control the shape of the hamon. Not perfectly, but it can be controlled more than I normally do. I like bit of randomness and unpredictability in the outcome.
What is the purpose of going to the polishing stones in between the sandpaper?
Why not just use ever decreasing grits of sandpaper?
The polishing stones remove metal a bit. So, they can be used for gently shaping as you go, perfecting the contours to the final degree. This is especially true at coarser grits. The sandpaper doesn't do this, in my experience, in my hands.
@@oldpuebloforge thank you for taking the time to reply. 👍
I'm just starting out with this sort of thing so am interested in learning or having information on various aspects of it.
Years ago I learned if somebody learns/knows the WHY of some thing the HOW sometimes comes easier. 😁
Really in depth video. Thanks. Subscribed. You're gonna do well I think.
Thank you!
Hello, can you tell me where do you buy the aluminum oxide? and what kind? Thanks for your help, your job inspired me.
It is 15 micron aluminum oxide. I bought it off the internet. I don't remember what website.
@@oldpuebloforge thanks si much! I bought an old wakizashi and I have to polish it.
@@felipeandresatenasla I wish you the best of luck. I'm happy you've enjoyed my videos.
@@oldpuebloforge very good videos my friend!
Very nice method for polishing your blades!
Where do you buy your stones? I have similar projects but find it difficult to source them. Do you buy those internationally?
Btw, Walter Sorrels made a video specific about fotographing blades. Maby that helps.
I just buy my water stones off the internet wherever I can find them. Nothing special.
@@oldpuebloforge ok, thank you for helping!
But those are indeed japanese(?!) water stones? Or at least you are searching for japanese water stones an buy what you find?
I ask because I only seem to find the generic synthetic kitchen knive water stone. I tried polishing blades with those but they don't seem to be usable for that task.
@@dickesf8525 I search for "King Japanese waterstone" and the grit, or "Sun Tiger Japanese waterstone" and the grit. King and Sun Tiger are the brands. They are synthetic stones, not natural. I don't source them internationally.
Years ago Walter Sorrells had a source for stones from Japan. Maybe you could contact him for more info.
@Old Pueblo Forge Thank you very much! that was the information I was looking for!
Unfortunately I cannot subscribe twice but I am surely going to watch all your upcoming videos!
Thank you, friend.
on the coarse stone do you sharpen to final edge or to 1/2 mm?
Final edge on the very first coarse stone.
Do you sell these
Sorry, no. I give them away as gifts to family and friends.
does the mesh of the aluminiun oxide interfere with polishing?
No. It is the perfect mesh to bring out the hamon, but doesn't mess up the mirror finish of the rest of it.
Thank you!! I was confused about which mesh buy, since the seller have the aluminium oxide in the mesh 1000 and 400
compared to Japanese sword what's the weight/ your drum sander could be electric to spin if your feeling lazy / the criscross pattern didn't seem to show up or its the picture ( no flash different angle so no blinding light) also call a camera shop they may have a few ideas/ use a piece of rag doing final polishing I cringed hoping you wouldn't cut your thumb/ but after all that that came out awesome 😎 just a few ideas have fun. kevin
where did you find the polyethylene cylinder?
Ebay
Can other oils/lubricants be used in place of 3 in 1 oil?
Of course. On my most recent project I tried WD40. Worked great.
@@oldpuebloforge Thanks for the info, just wanted to save a little by being able to use what I have.
Chất dùng để nhiệt luyện là gì vậy?
I'm sorry. I do not understand your language.
How thick is your edge post quench? When I water/brine quench, I leave the edge very meaty (at least 1mm or more) to avoid cracks.
I would imagine it takes very long to get the edge sharp. What would the equivalent grit of the first stone be?
I leave the cutting edge 2mm thick for the quench. Water quenching is brutal, and thin edges crack. I've quenched blades that didn't make the "ping" noise, but still when I polished them I found 3 or 4 cracks because I thinned the edge too much.
My first stone is not very coarse. Only about 250 grit. I'd like it more aggressive than that. Because it's only 250, I spend too much time with the foundation polishing. You can see how worn down it is compared to my other stones. But I haven't really found a better coarse stone, so I take what I can get.
Old Pueblo Forge How about some 120 grit ceramic belt sandpaper taped to a hard backing like a piece of wood? Have you tried that?
That hogs off hardened W1/1095 for me quite well.
@@Divine_Serpent_Geh Honestly, I own a KMG 2x72 belt grinder that I usually use for the foundation polishing. I did it all by hand for this video just to show how it's done, but I don't always do everything 100% old fashioned.
Old Pueblo Forge Ahh... Ok. Thanks for all the info. I recently forged a Katana from W1. The measurements were based off an authentic tachi piece I saw on Aoijapan. It’s quite a narrow blade (2.4cm moto haba, 2cm sakihaba), but the thickness makes it very rigid.
It’s on the lighter end of blade weight but with lots of forward heft for powerful cutting. How much weight on average do you lose on the blade after filing and sharpening?
@@Divine_Serpent_Geh Wow, very impressive. I'd love to see your work. I've never weighed before and after to see how much I lose. I suspect I lose a lot, because my forging is not terribly accurate at this stage in the learning process, and I tend to do a lot of filing. I try to get it as perfect as possible before heat treating, so I suspect I don't lose much in polishing.
How coarse is the first stone you used?
Sadly, I think it was only about 200-250. It should be coarser, more like 100. It would do the job quicker and easier if it were a bit more coarse.
Naniwa Sharpening stones
Can i just use the aluminum paste mix to make the hamon pop? Just bought a tanto and the hamon is barely visible but this tanto for sale photos they made the hamon SERIOUSLY pop. Does the rubbing method screw with the sharpness edge ? Or acid edging screw with the sharpness of the blade?mine came mirror finished and battle ready(sharp s hell) but the hamon just doesnt POP as much.
I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that. It depends on how perfectly the manufacturer clayed, quenched, and tempered the blade. It also depends on what quality of steel was used. My methods all work together, and I don't know how well one part might work when applied to someone else's piece.
Where do you get your large whetstones?
Just wherever I can find them on the internet.
😮😮👍👍
Thank you.
It bugs the hell out of me not knowing how to contact this man.
daniel.akms@outlook.com
I love this
Thank you. I'm so happy you enjoy my videos.
@@oldpuebloforge i love black smithing video. And can you make the hamon review it self by vinegar?
@@vulcansworkshop7001 Yes, I use both lemon juice and vinegar. Similar results.
@@oldpuebloforge hmmmm yes. Can you make a katana with multi layers blade and a soft mild steel core next time? I would love to see that 😆
I have thought about doing that for a long time. It is a huge amount of additional labor. Someday I will do it.
where do you sell your swords?
Thank you for asking, but I don't sell them.
👍👍💪💪
Do you keep the same water in the tub for the whole process, or drain the tub and re-fill it between grits?
@@michaelharrison8036 good question. I flean and refill between grits.
you sure take your time releasing new vids😅
I recently tore my left distal biceps tendon (doing something unrelated to blacksmithing). I had surgery and now I need it to heal a bit more before I can continue.
@@oldpuebloforge oh sorry to hear that.... i hope you get well soon
Thank you. I plan to post a new video in a couple of weeks.
really looking forward to it
Great video thank you for sharing. I'm under the impression the aluminum oxide is hazardous and should touch your skin.
The aluminum oxide is completely inert and harmless
Beauty be still my beating heart lest I fall for thi my steel lady
Outlawsamurai47
Thank you!
You are quite welcome and might I suggest you forge an unkubi zukuri katana next that would be quite a test of skill
When applying the aluminum oxide do you apply directly to the Hamon? Or to specifically the ji or ha(I think those are the right terms for above or below the line)?
I rub the entire blade with it evenly. But if you watch my most recent video on polishing the tanto, I didn't use it at all, and I got great results. I've found that with some steels the aluminum oxide enhances the hamon, and with others it does the opposite. Not sure why.
@@oldpuebloforge interesting, Thank you for the information, I’ll try it out with the blade I’m making now
@@oldpuebloforge can you please give me an email address to contact you????