Polishing rig

[dudleythetogi]

First and foremost I may have mentioned that I restore Japanese swords(about 25yrs worth)but I have always carried a pocketknife.I have shown a few of the knives I have worked on,the same stones can be used to polish either...to a point.On another section of this forum i mentioned the term"selective heat treatment".Hukk replied something like"I think its a hamon and clay or a clay slurry is applied to the sword and heat treated.Bassically true,there are a number of lamination techniques that are used first to make the sword blade.One of the most common is "kobuse" or wrapped.Folded highcarbon steel is wrapped around a low carbonsteel core,forged into the sword shape,roughfly finished,the clay is applied either thinly or nonexistant to the edge(varying widths and patterns) and thickly above,so when the sword is quenched,the edge will cool quickly and harden,and the spine will cool slowly and remain tough,and of corse,the core remains the same.This is the rig i use and a few patters of sword"hamon".Some in prossess and one with an old polish that i removed some active rust on( that still needs a full polish)
Greg

[Hukk]

Thanks for posting those pictures. I certainly enjoy looking at those fabulous Japaneses swords. I know very little about the swords themselves. I hear many are handed down generation to generation. They are real works of art and you must be quite an artist to be working on these swords. I've heard that some swords were made with folded steel hundreds of folds to make not only a beautiful but a very strong blade as well.
I wish I knew more, but I don't even know much of the terminology. Thay have some fantastic craftsmanship.

[gringo]

beautiful work. thank you.