Customizing a tanto, suggestions appreciated

[tanukimario]

Okay, so I have this stainless steel tanto that I decided to customize a little bit just for the fun of it. I did want to fix it up a little bit too though, but the problem is that I don't have any of the proper tools or machines to use, and I don't really want to spend a lot of money. So basically I have a few questions that I wanted to ask and ways that I could possibly do it.

First, there are a couple of very small scratches on the blade. Also, the tanto is one of those cheap stainless steel kinds, and it has the printing of "CHINA" on the blade and the really ugly "zigzag hamon" pattern on the blade. How can I remove all that? Would it be possible to use fine sandpaper?

Second, this tanto is full tang but is not secured with a mekugi (it's secured with a screw at the tip), so I wanted to drill a hole into it and make it secured. Any ideas of how I can accomplish this?

Another thing I wanted to do was do something with the tanto parts like the habaki and the tsuba. Any suggestions on what I could do? I have read people using chemicals or using some process to take regular parts and make them look a little bit rusty or have the color of the metal changed.

Also I was thinking about maybe engraving the blade of maybe just the tang. What materials would I need to do that and can anyone give instructions on how to do that?

And also, the tip of the blade at the point is slightly bent to the side when it was hit against something a long time ago. It's not a major problem and barely noticeable but any way I can fix this?

[Taygrd]

Here are a few ideas for you that I learned from past mistakes. Pictures would help to give everyone a good idea of what you are working with.

Sanding should take the etched hamon off. Use fine automotive sandpaper.

Putting in the mekugi-ana is hard to say. If the tang is tempered it will be difficult to drill, if it is not it will drill fairly easy. You can hack-saw the treaded end off.

Putting patinas on metals depends on the metal. Most of those are pot metal with a thin base of copper to take a patina. What does the metal look like?

No idea on the engraving.

The blade might be able to bend back. Place it in between two pieces of wood and gently bend it.

Hope this helps

[goose710]

As to the hole you want, if hard stainless you need a carbide tool, drills are expencive but you can use a dremle tool with carbide rasp($1.50 each) they are BRITTLE don't push it and you'll be fine.
goose710

[tanukimario]

Thanks for the suggestions! :)

One thing though about sanding the blade down to remove the etching stuff, even if I used fine sand paper, wouldn't that scratch up the blade really badly and pretty much destroy its polish? :-O

[goose710]

Try wet dry 600/800/1000/1200 paper, and use water or wd40 as a wetting agent, time and payceints (i admit i can't spell) and if you got a buffer it will be fine.
goose710
Ps if really a problem send it to me!i'll buff it up

[Taygrd]

Goose is right! Try the wet auto sandpaper and progress up to the finner grits. Windex works great as a wetting agent as well. A buffer works wonders as well just keep the blade cool. Sand one direction from the tang forward and make it one movement from tang to tip. If you do circles it will be difficult to polish. You are not going to have the chrome bumper look on the blade but rather a satin finish.

Goose, I am hitting the shop in the Am to start the tanto. Going to make a straight hira zurkuri in the stock removal method, no forging needed for this one. I found out yesterday that same is getting harder to get, something about natural disaster in Thailand and the like. According to the supplier the Japanese waters are close to fished out and all of it is coming from China. Don't know if this is true, may be an excuse to jack prices up. So gather ye same while ye may, or pay for out the nose the next day!! (Sorry could not resist)

[tanukimario]

Okay well i've been working on the saya for my tanto and I decided to spray part of it with silver spraypaint. It's all dry now but I noticed even after wiping it as good as I could, small glitter bits tend to come off of it. Is there anything I can do to fix this? When I tried spraying the clear lacquer matte finish stuff, it actually started eating away at the paint and I ended up having to respraypaint it! Any suggestions?

[Taygrd]

I use automotive paint you can buy in smaller cans at auto supply stores. It has a hardner in it that the regular spray paint does not. You may see if you can spray it with the auto clear coat or use a silver auto paint. I don't know if the clear coat will eat the paint off agian. I tried all different types of paint and auto works the best. Krylon and the like will indent easily and the sageo will even leave an impression. Once painted let it sit unmolested for a day or two in a area that the temp is around 70.

Hope this helps.

[tanukimario]

Thanks Taygrd and everyone else for your help! I do have one other side question though. I wanted to customize a katana saya by just simply respraypainting (is that a word?) it and just making part of it red and part of it black. I've done some spraypaint work before, and it never seems to come out really nice though. It seems to dry unevenly and with small splotches and little bumps. How can I make it so that it comes out nice and even? Also i'm just using simple spraypaint cans, nothing fancy.

[bobO]

Well don't try to do it all at once, prep the surface, make sure it's really clean. Start spraying before the work and don't stop till your past it. Use fine sand paper or even steel wool between coats. Let each coat dry for a day. You might want to see about getting an air brush at a hobbie store. If you want something like goose's saya, paint the red first, then the black, then using very fine paper sand down to the red, then clear coat. Good luck. You might want to try the paint they use for model rockets.

[Brian Brazier]

Painting is one of those things that will take a few times to get a good technique down, I find that short controlled bursts back and forth works very well on my RC Car bodies, I haven't tried to paint a saya yet but I imagine it is like painting anything else. Bobo is right an airbrush might be a good idea, you can also brush it on which may be easiest, just put on an even coat, lightly sand after it dries, repeat 3-4 coats and seal it with a clear lacquer.