Reproduction katana care.

[verity]

This post is intended to cover reproduction katana. Monosteel, or pattern weld.

This post is NOT intended to be used for nihonto, gendaito, shinsakuto etc. please refer to my nihonto care post for that.

So. I think a lot of people overthink blade care for modern swords. When you buy that fancy Paul Chen katana and it comes with a traditional cleaning kit you think you gotta use it, yeah? NOPE. That stuff is a gimmick. The traditional methods may work for nihonto (and I assert they don't even for nihonto anymore), but for a modern blade, you surely don't need all that gadgetry. The box is nice. Use it for something. The hammer is useful. Keep that. The rest of the stuff? Toss it because it is likely garbage quality anyway. Furthermore it's overkill.

Buy yourself a $3 bottle of isopropyl alcohol, and a $5 silicone gun and reel cloth. (Gun stores, outdoor shops and amazon all sell them. I'm a particular fan of KleenBore ones).

This also assumes you have a toilet and stock it with toilet paper. Haha.

Take some toilet paper. Soak it in isopropyl alcohol and wipe the oil off the blade. Now take some dry toilet paper and wipe down the blade again to remove any moisture the alcohol may have left.

You now have an oil free and bare blade.

Take your silicone cloth and wipe the blade. Now you have a re-oiled blade with a proper air barrier to prevent rust.

You're done. The rest is all just over complication.

Again. NOT for nihonto. See my other post for that.

Cheers!

 

[Ouroboros]

Simple and to the point. Thank you!
Modern steel needs care but it doesn't have to be complicted.

In my experience the more steps in a process or the more variables the more prone to mucking it up I become.

Ouro

 

[verity]

Exactly! I do more for nihonto due to the meticulous preservation of polish and the fact they are historical artifacts.

Modern steel? Air barrier of any kind works. And gun cloths are super efficient hehe