The edged weapons from Supreme Replicas are products of the supreme art of forging: they are handcrafted of AISI 1065 – AISI 1095 carbon steel. These carbon steel grades possess the optimal balance between hardness and flexibility that you cannot achieve with stainless steel. When sharpened, they are 100 percent suitable for test cutting. To keep swords bright for the duration of their service lives, proper care is essential. Swords have a tendency to rust and dull – especially after being touched or coming into contact with oxygen. Observe the following care instructions to conserve the long term functionality and aesthetics of your sword:
Avoid touching the blade with your bare hands! The oil on your skin contains acids that may react with the steel.
Store your sword in a dry place in which, ideally, the temperature does not fluctuate. Temperature fluctuations may cause the steel to tarnish.
Do not use a leather scabbard for the long term storage of your sword. The chemicals used to waterproof the leather may harm the blade and the leather itself may contain moisture which will stain it.
Clean and oil your sword after every practice session! This will restore the bright surface and guard against surface rust.
The normal, 2-step cleaning procedure:
1) First, remove any dirt, sand, grass, etc. with clean toweling. Normal paper towels or unscented paper tissues will do the job perfectly. Nuguigami, special Japanese paper for cleaning katana swords, is widely recommended but not absolutely necessary. If your sword is very dirty, you can add some metal polish, but DO NOT USE stainless steel polish. If the sword you are cleaning has been sharpened, hold the sharp edge away from your body. Keeping the palms of your hands at a safe distance, draw the paper towel down the sword toward the point. Repeat the procedure as required, and clean the steel parts of the hilt in the same way.
2) Now take a new piece of paper towel, put some oil on it and repeat step 1. For caring for and cleaning edged weapons, high quality weapon oil (such as WD-40) has proven effective. Of course you can also use pure camellia oil or Japanese clove oil (as recommended by Asian sword fans), but both are expensive. Do not use essential oils, vegetable oils or machine oils under any circumstances. They may contain other components, such as ammonia acid, which can corrode the steel. Apply enough oil to completely cover the blade with a thin coat without dripping to prevent the leather of the scabbard from absorbing excess oil and staining the blade and scabbard. This is also the reason why you should not permanently store your sword in a leather scabbard. Repeat this procedure every time you use your sword, but at least once every four weeks.
If you will not be using your sword for a long time, plan on „conserving“ it. Use normal vaseline or weapon grease and apply a thin coat to all of the steel areas. Then cover your edged weapon with lint-free cloths or simply wrap it in plastic wrap. This will provide long term rust protection for your sword.
Removing Signs of Wear and Tear
Scratches
If you use a sharpened edged weapon to cut a variety of materials – for example, while test cutting – scratches are unavoidable. But you only need a few supplies from the hardware store to easily and effectively remove them yourself. All you need is:
- Metal polish (see above)
- Range of coarse, medium, and fine emery paper (if used as intended, fine 1000 CAMI grit quality should yield a smooth surface)
- 1 Microfiber cloth
First, place your sword on a flat, even surface and use the coarse emery paper. With medium pressure, rub the emery paper from just below the crossguard to the point and back again, using long, even strokes. Never scrub or use rotating strokes! Repeat on the other side of the blade. Be very careful when you are working on the sharp edges: 1) to avoid injury, and 2) to avoid impacting the blade geometry negatively. Caution: risk of injury to hands while cleaning weapon! After you have used the coarse paper, there will be fine grooves in the blade. Don’t worry, you will get rid of them in the next step. Now repeat the rubbing procedure, using progressively finer grades of emery paper, until you have obtained a bright surface.
Take the cloth and apply the metal polish to the blade using the same motion you used to sand it. But this time, apply a lot of pressure – and watch out for the sharp edge! After just about 30 minutes of rubbing and polishing, your edged weapon will shine like new. Now apply oil as described above.
Nicks
If the sharp edges of your sharpened edged weapon become dull or have nicks, you should only grind them yourself only if you already know how, have the correct equipment, and are very careful. If you choose to grind the blade yourself, do it by hand. Only trained blacksmiths and toolmakers specialized in replica swords should use sword-grinding machines. If too much heat develops during the process, your blade’s sensitive hardness/flexibility balance could be ruined.
