steel and blood

[ulvulv]

Strictly hypothetical: ;)
If/When you get blood on a shinken,from a minor mishap like a sloppy executed noto, how long will it take before the blood will permanently stain the steel? And second;what is the best way of cleaning/removing blood from a blade?

[chrismoses]

It can stain fairly quickly. Get it off as soon as possible with whatever's around (windex or isopropyl alchohol will at least clean it off). Then clean it with your handy bottle of Noxon at your earliest convenience. (You do have a handy bottle of Noxon right?) ;)

Edit- Just noticed your not stateside, Noxon is an ammonia polish, I'm not sure what a comparable brand would be where you live. The nice thing about it is that it contains no abrasives so it will eat away rust, but not change the polish or hamon. I'm a nasty sweaty guy, so I use it to clean my sword after every training session.

[paul manogue]

Roar,

it will take somewhere atround 10-15 minutes to really sink in, when this has happened we just wipe it off right away with a cloth.

This will happen much faster if you have an acid etched blade.

[ulvulv]

I guess my blade is acid etched, it is a forged steel iaito(not swordstore), but I do not have the competence in blades to see the difference between an artificially made hamon and a "real" hamon. Is there an easy way to spot the difference? I can make a closeup with an digital camera later of my hamon.
if you have any pics for reference on hamon versus "hamon", feel free to post them.

[Kaoru]

Originally posted by ulvulv
Strictly hypothetical: ;)
If/When you get blood on a shinken,from a minor mishap like a sloppy executed noto, how long will it take before the blood will permanently stain the steel? And second;what is the best way of cleaning/removing blood from a blade?


"Strictly hypothetical?" Come on guys, nobody asked how his hand is?? Sheesh! :( Roar-san, I hope it wasn't a bad cut, and I hope it gets better soon. :) I'm a Kendoka so I don't know much about cleaning swords other than you should wipe it off right away-after taking care of yourself first! :)

[ulvulv]

Small cut, no harm done. Blood was removed quickly, with some choji and a small piece of soft cloth. My main concern is future coincidences of the same kind or worse, and besides, flesh heal, swords not. You cant help me on the flesh-part, anyways ;)

I do not know if this pic is enough to make an accurate judgement about the hamon, but I am pretty sure it is cosmetic/acidated.

[A. Bakken]

Originally posted by ulvulv
I do not know if this pic is enough to make an accurate judgement about the hamon, but I am pretty sure it is cosmetic/acidated.

There is a significant difference between the two. A (purely) cosmetic hamon is usually scratched or "painted" on the blade, and does not reflect any microstructural change in the steel. An acid-enhanced hamon, on the other hand, is usually real. The use of acid to make the hamon jump out is a shortcut that replaces the very time-consuming procedure of polishing the blade with extremely fine stones. The hamon on your shinken seems real enough, though it is certainly true that the acid-enhancement makes it look more "artificial" than a traditionally polished Nihonto.