How do I take care of of my katana?

Question

I recently bought a Hattori Hanzo Samurai Sword, a replica of the one used by Bill in the "Kill Bill" movies. It has some liquid on the blade when I bought it. I'm assuming it's grease to keep it from rusting, but I'm not sure. Should I leave the liquid on the blade, or take it off? Would I need to reapply it? This is merely memorabilia for me, and I don't plan on using it.

Answer 1

Care for your sword will depend on what kind of steel it's made of.  

Stainless steel requires very little care. wipe the shipping oil/grease/whatever off with a clean soft cloth.  That's pretty much it unless you handle it.  After anyone has touched the blade, simply wipe it down with another clean soft cloth.  If the fingerprints etc will not come off easily, try Windex.  

Carbon steel requires much more care, but it's not too difficult.  Most replicas that are not functional weapons ( made for heavy use during martial arts practice to include kata or cutting) do not disassemble.  You can buy a sword care kit and use that, but most of the lower-end kits have powder that is too coarse and may scratch the blade's polish.  

The simplest way to clean a carbon steel blade is with denatured alcohol.  You wipe the blade down, from hilt to point, with the spine of the blade facing your palm (this is critical if your sword is sharp...watch your fingers!) with a cloth that has denatured alcohol on it.  The cloth should not be "soaking wet", just damp.  This will remove any oils and fingerprints from the blade.  Then you wipe the blade again, this time with a light grade mineral oil.  You don't want a lot, so wipe it on, then use a clean cloth and wipe most of it back off.  

You can use this method to clean a stainless blade if you wish, but it's not necessary.

In general,  it's never good to touch a sword's blade, even if it's stainless steel.  The oils in our skin and perspiration are very bad for steel.  It's also a bad habit to have your hands around a sharp blade when they don't need to be.  It's awfully easy to get into bad habits cleaning a non-sharpened replica that will bring tragedy if you decide you want a sharp one later, so always treat any sword as if it's razor sharp.

If you want more information, check out the Sword Forum.  There's loads of good information, and we pride ourselves on being "warm and friendly".

Good luck, stay safe, and enjoy your sword!

Answer 2

Disassemble the katana ( assuming you have a real one not machine manufactured in Taiwan or something ) remove the pen from the handle using the little tiny brass hammer that comes with a cleaning Kit.  Slowly and easily remove the blade from the handle and remove the "gasket" be very careful in how you handle the "gasket".  Now wipe the blade with only "one" straight wipe down the entire length of the blade.  Now powder one side of the blade with about three to four gentle taps down the entire length of the blade.  Then remove the powder with the paper that came with your cleaning kit.  Flip katana blade over and repeat those steps.  Once the polishing ( powdering and wiping of the blade ) is complete take the choji oil that came with the cleaning kit and add the oil to a new piece of the cloth like paper that came with your kit.  Not too much oil but "lightly" apply the oil down both sides of the blade.  Now that you have finished that reassmble the gasket, blade and handle.  Hang "curve side up" on display rack and you're good to go!!

Answer 3

if you're never going to use it just keep it in it's sheath.

besides I've never seen one of those kill bill copies as a battle ready sword.  they are usually just wall hangers.

if you do intend to use your katana you can get a cleaning kit in a descent store.

this is an example

http://www.kingdomofsword.com/swclkit.ht...

the basics for cleaning the katana are the following

first wipe down with the rice paper (kitchen paper will do fine too) to remove the old oil.

then cover the blade in lime with the ball shaped object

remove the lime with another piece of paper

cover again in new oil

and you have one clean katana.

Answer 4

Like anything metal, it will rust if you don't keep it oiled.Your best bet is to get some 3 in 1 oil and wipe the finger prints off the blade. It doesn't need to drip oil just have a very thin film.

Good luck  

Answer 5

use cleaning powder and then polish w/ cleaning oil. SwordsSwords.com makes a nice cleaning kit

Answer 6

if you dont plan on doing anything wiht it just leave it as it came. and dont touch the blade.