Sword cleaning - mistakes to avoid

[John Hsiya]

Hello,

I thought it would be helpful (and perhaps a bit therapeutic) to speak of some of the mistakes which can happen during attempts at preservation. I feel many of our mistakes go unspoken, but talking about it and providing examples can help others in the future.

There are many wonderful resources and topics for cleaning procedures already, but they do not cover every mistake or always provide visual aids.

I will begin with a mistake I've recently made:

While cleaning surface rust (oil, autosol, paper towel, 0000 steel wool) I have taken off more of the oxidation than I would have liked. It's only visible from certain odd angles (last photo), which is how I made the mistake.

So when cleaning or polishing - make sure to view your work from multiple angles as you go.

It may seem obvious but is easily overlooked by novices such as myself. I have never seen anyone mention it before.

If anyone has similar "I wish I had known that sooner" experiences, please feel free to share.

Best regards,
John

[Will M]

Reminds me of swords I've seen with griner marks or other power tool marks such as swirls. Very difficult to remove such markings. If you're not mechanically inclined and competent, allow another to clean your swords.

[Kmaddock]

Welcome to the forum John, good thread Idea.

My Tip would be do nothing with an item for at least 2 weeks, just look at and study, to rush in invites errors.

I then soak in diesel all swords with no organic component for a week and than give them a gentle rub to see what lies underneath,

Looking forward to seeing how this thread develops.

Regards,

Ken

[werecow]

I'm usually pretty conservative with them but at one point early on, I tried brushing a bit of the deepest black off of a fingerprint on this tulwar. Now I'm left with this ugly sheen whenever the light hits it at a certain angle. It glares at me from a distance as if to say "You did this to me! Behold your shame!".

[Will M]

Originally Posted by werecow

I'm usually pretty conservative with them but at one point early on, I tried brushing a bit of the deepest black off of a fingerprint on this tulwar. Now I'm left with this ugly sheen whenever the light hits it at a certain angle. It glares at me from a distance as if to say "You did this to me! Behold your shame!".

800-1000 grit water paper can easily remove that shiney spot. Best to do the complete blade under running water with the paper. If you don't like that finish try a wire wheel with 0.005 wire or try an acid. I would use the water paper.

[werecow]

I'll try that, thanks!

[Martin Lubojacky]

Originally Posted by Will M

800-1000 grit water paper can easily remove that shiney spot. Best to do the complete blade under running water with the paper. If you don't like that finish try a wire wheel with 0.005 wire or try an acid. I would use the water paper.

But this work should not be done under running water treated for drinking. Chlorine ions, which may be in such water, will penetrate the corrosion-damaged steel and settle on the walls of the microscopic channels inside. The blade will be beautiful for a year, five years, 10 years -- but then you can be surprised, because rust comming from the "deep inside" could appear on the surface. It is therefore recommended to work in distilled water.
(If you want to unify the appearance of the surface, good results can also be achieved with sandpaper stuck to a soft sponge)