musicman980
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2016
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This is a 190mm Kikuichimonji deba that needing a little restoration. It is a honkasumi model in either white or blue steel, and is paired with a ho wood and buffalo horn handle. What appealed to me were the beautiful kanji and the company’s long history of sword making.
First I used a bench sander on the bevel to take out the large chips in the edge. I dunked it in a pan of water after each quick pass to control the heat. Then I used a palm sander and 400 grit wet/dry to address much of the corrosion and pitting. It worked quite fast, but I left some character. I then used the same 400 grit sandpaper to hand sand a diagonal scratch pattern on the face and ura. The handle was sanded with 220 and 400, and the horn got an extra 800, 2000, and buffing wheel. I sanitized the inside and outside of the handle with alcohol, and reinstalled it on the deba. This whole process took maybe an hour.
Onto sharpening. I started with a JNS 300 which made short work of the coarse belt scratches. The bevel was finished on an Ikarashi and Uchigumori, and uraoshi on a Nakayama asagi.
First I used a bench sander on the bevel to take out the large chips in the edge. I dunked it in a pan of water after each quick pass to control the heat. Then I used a palm sander and 400 grit wet/dry to address much of the corrosion and pitting. It worked quite fast, but I left some character. I then used the same 400 grit sandpaper to hand sand a diagonal scratch pattern on the face and ura. The handle was sanded with 220 and 400, and the horn got an extra 800, 2000, and buffing wheel. I sanitized the inside and outside of the handle with alcohol, and reinstalled it on the deba. This whole process took maybe an hour.
Onto sharpening. I started with a JNS 300 which made short work of the coarse belt scratches. The bevel was finished on an Ikarashi and Uchigumori, and uraoshi on a Nakayama asagi.