Thread: Iwasaki Kamisori Repair/Restore

This one was a bit of a mini disaster all over.
The owner had stored it on a window sill which invited rust. Even the maker's stamp had rusted. The edge was pitted & chipped & the icing on the cake was that he dropped it & broke a few mm's off the tip. All on a near new razor
Bit of bad luck & bad management but we caught it in time rust wise.
Yet to hone it but so far so good.
First set of pics are all befores. Remembered to do them this time

I feel like crying...

Originally Posted by JimR

I feel like crying...

There there...
It's in a better place now.

Sad to see ain't it

Anyhoo.
These next pics are after about 3 hours on the wetgrinder reshaping the tip on a lapped, very slow 80 grit stone. Did some work on the nose bevel with a bastard file & some slip stones & then cleaned up the blade faces with scotchbrite wheels & a coarse cut polishing compound. The omote (front) is soft steel & you can see the weld line is starting to show as a shadow (pics 2&3). First pic is ura or back. Pic is edge down.
I've left a rather large muting on the point. The honing should shorten it some. Still some rust remaining at this point. More to do.

Next lot are pics after trying to reblacken the stamps & other patchy areas. The stamps came up ok after sanding them over but didn't seem to improve the rest much. I used oxalic acid to try neutralise the rust I was chasing & then took it all back to the buffs again as I had some over runs. Happy with the rust removal but I must research that black finish a bit more. It seems more than just an acid etch as I tried to do. Has a powdery feel too. Any input appreciated of course.
Start honing tomorrow. Need alcohol now

btw pics are beside another Iwasaki to compare toe reduction & finish. Repaired razor is on bottom &/or right side

Nice Work!

Great work on the magnified photos. Microscope and a good camera I assume? Roughly 20x?

Jeff

Great work mate. That bevel was in nasty shape.
Thanks for sharing and explaining.
G.

Oz,
if I am not wrong that it Kurouchi finish, it is basically the crud after the forging that has not been cleaned off the blade. This is a very popular finish on Japanese style chef knives, it is great way to prevent rust.

That is a wonderful rescue. That blade should be cherished, being made by one of the best and then restored with such care, it will have a lot of love in it!