I got this today, and has taken up a chunk of my afternoon... a fairly rusty, old Yanagiba by Kikushige.
Another member has helped translate some of the Kanji (here: A Kanji Question) and mentioned that because of how they were written the knife could possibly be pre 1945, which would be cool! Either way, a rusty old Yanagiba, after taking the handle off:
After some vinegar, baking soda, and scrubbing:
There's some pitting, particularly around the tang, but the blade is in ok shape (particularly if it's 75+ years old!). There were also a fair few rust spots along the edge which will need to be sharpened out, and some weird sharpening marks near the heel that almost give it a serrated look. Here it is after some sanding:
And onto making a handle, and my biggest win of the day... the invention of the VB-Tinnie-Epoxy-Mixing-Cup:
And here we are now... It needs to be sharpened, and the dings/pits gotten out of the edge (if anyone has any advice for this i'm all ears...) I'll probably sand it down another time too, and touch up the handle a bit:
Another member has helped translate some of the Kanji (here: A Kanji Question) and mentioned that because of how they were written the knife could possibly be pre 1945, which would be cool! Either way, a rusty old Yanagiba, after taking the handle off:
After some vinegar, baking soda, and scrubbing:
There's some pitting, particularly around the tang, but the blade is in ok shape (particularly if it's 75+ years old!). There were also a fair few rust spots along the edge which will need to be sharpened out, and some weird sharpening marks near the heel that almost give it a serrated look. Here it is after some sanding:
And onto making a handle, and my biggest win of the day... the invention of the VB-Tinnie-Epoxy-Mixing-Cup:
And here we are now... It needs to be sharpened, and the dings/pits gotten out of the edge (if anyone has any advice for this i'm all ears...) I'll probably sand it down another time too, and touch up the handle a bit: