Marius A Bacher Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Hi guys! A while ago I was asked to share how I polished a Yanagiba I'm working on, I'm sorry for the delay. I have to say that I've come to this process only as a result of Brian VanSpeybroeck sharing his knowledge on the subject. Thank you Brian! Here's the equipment I use: A cheap paper cutter to make cutting the sand paper more accurate and efficient. 3M stencil glue to hold the paper on my polishing tool, this glue is very convenient because you can spray it on the polishing tool and stick the sandpaper to it, and when the paper is dull just rip it off and stick on a new piece with out having to spray on more glue, just make sure you cut the pieces a little over sized so that you don't get cutting fluid underneath the paper. My polishing tool; It's a piece of mild steel 10mm thick 40mm wide with a piece of a ceramic tile epoxied to it. I've found that I get better results with a really hard backing for the paper. I start the polishing at 180grit using peanut oil as lubricant and do the normal alternating 90° between grits thing up to 2000grit. Then I polish again with 2000grit without lubricant along the length of the blade, this has almost a burnishing effect. Then I start the finishing process. Equipment: Acetone. A high-speed rotary tool (like a dremel) with a felt pad. Autosol polishing compound. A sent oil heater. Lemon juice. Dishwashing liquid (not pictured) Cotton pads. First I clean the blade throughly with Acetone, then I cover the blade with a thin film of Autosol and start "buffing" with the rotary tool and felt pad (I recommend using eye protection because the "dremel" will shoot polishing compound everywhere and be very careful to always orient the "dremel" so that it rotates either away from the edge or along the edge or else you'll suddenly find yourself in a cloud of felt and you may also have marred the blade seriously ) When I have achieved the finish I'm looking for (almost a mirror finish) I clean the blade throughly with Acetone again. Then I place the blade in a vice with the edge up and angled with the point upward so that the lemon juice flows down the blade and drips into a can placed near the tang. Heat the lemon juice with a drop of dishwashing liquid (to brake the surface tension) in the sent oil heater, Then start etching the blade by stroking a cotton pad dipped in lemon juice along the whole blade. I cover the blade in lemon juice then wait a couple of min (2-5min) and cover it again, I repeat this until the blade is gray/brown and sticky then remove the oxidized sticky film with autosol and a cotton pad, clean with Acetone and etch again until I'm happy with how the blade looks. Here's the result on the Yanagiba: I've read a lot of places that a mirror finish can't be etched to show a Hamon, I find this not to be true (at least with what I see as a mirror finish, maybe I haven't achieved what other people call mirror finish, I don't know). The reason I want the finish as shiny as possible before etching is the same as the reason I use as light an etchant as lemon juice; I've found that the the shinier the finish I have and lighter the etchant I use the more detail in the Hamon is revealed in the blade. I've also found that when I use a harder etchant like 35% vinegar the Yakiba (the hard part of the blade) gets dark and Ji (the soft part) get light exactly the opposite of the traditional look and how I want it to look. On the next blade I'm polishing I'll do an experiment by measuring the PH of the lemon juice and then dilute the vinegar to the same PH to see if the "reversed" look is just a function of PH or if it's something else different between vinegar and lemon juice. Has anybody else tried this? I hope this helps someone here, I've received so much information from the kind people on this forum. Marius A. Bacher "To learn and not think over what you have learned is perfectly useless. To think without having learned is dangerous." - Gore Vidal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Neat process and beautiful hamon! Be sure to post finished pictures of the knife, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius A Bacher Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Neat process and beautiful hamon! Be sure to post finished pictures of the knife, Geoff Thanks! I'll post as soon as I'm done, I just have to find the right piece of wood for the handle. Marius A. Bacher "To learn and not think over what you have learned is perfectly useless. To think without having learned is dangerous." - Gore Vidal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 wow! I hardly ever check the fit n finish section here, but not anymore! that is amazing Marius, the finish and contrast on either side of the habuchi is stunning! Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius A Bacher Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 wow! I hardly ever check the fit n finish section here, but not anymore! that is amazing Marius, the finish and contrast on either side of the habuchi is stunning! Thank you Sam! I'm glad you like it. Marius A. Bacher "To learn and not think over what you have learned is perfectly useless. To think without having learned is dangerous." - Gore Vidal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganCD Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Wow. This is a great process and you've produced incredible results. Thank you for sharing this and taking the time to document it so well. -Morgan Morgan C. Davison In order to bring spirit, originality, and excellence to everything you do, you must make living an art, a journey, and a discipline. Through one thing, know ten thousand things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius A Bacher Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 You are very welcome Morgan and thank you for the kind words. I received some beautiful handle materials of Sugi wood to day, so now maybe we'll see some progress again. I'm going to try to make the "bolster" out of buffalo horn. Here's a pic of the Sugi and the horn, what do you guys think? Marius A. Bacher "To learn and not think over what you have learned is perfectly useless. To think without having learned is dangerous." - Gore Vidal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mross Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 (edited) Could this be added as a sticky/pinned? Edited April 11, 2012 by mross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Indeed! I missed this one the first time around as well, and it will help those in pursuit of hamon immensely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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