Quote:
Originally Posted by VydorScope
Sure. Hmm so a true master would send to a master sharpener... would he polish his own blade then? So the scene is this swordsman is preparing to do battle with a worthy adversary and is making sure all his stuff is ready while he awaits the fight. He is traveling to the fight so he has plenty of down time. I had him slowly and carefully running his blade across "a stone" in "long slow strokes." Trying to paint the picture of a calm master preparing, and not a wild west cowboy.
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This is the
basic setup that EVERY Samurai would use on a daily basis. A little hammer to drive out the pin that holds the 'tsuka' (handle) onto the blade, remove the tsuka, the 'seppa' (spacer,) 'tsuba' (guard,) and habaki (front spacer.) Once it's all taken apart, the blade is oiled, wiped down with the cloth, then powdered and re-assembled. Daily maintenance. Keep in mind that
all the thousands and thousands of soldiers were Samurai. Only Samurai were permitted to fight. 99.9% of them would sharpen their swords themselves using
a set-up like this.
Read the instructions for use on the page. You'll notice that most of the work is done with small chips of stone and the finger tip. Yes, very Zen-like, rather than sitting around with a couple of beers and friends and a cigar while sharpening. No one would DARE think of letting their swords get to the point of dullness that would require a large sharpening stone!! However, after a battle, stones were used, but most often by professional sharpeners (not necessarily 'master sharpeners,' but pros none the less.)
As it's one of my hobbies, I can sharpen a knife to the point where it will shave curls off of a hair. It will slice a ripe tomato paper thin... without needing to even hold the tomato to cut it.... (try that with your kitchen knife. First cut a slice off the bottom to hold it steady on the cutting board, then try slicing horizontally paper thin slices off the top.) But edges like that are basically useless in warfare. While the katana of a Samurai was razor sharp, there was nothing magical about it. It was the combination of the sharp blade and, more importantly, the
way it was used in the cutting motion that made it such a devastating weapon in the hands of a skilled Master. Samurai practiced 6-10 hours a day. Every day. Even today's Kendo players (the good ones, anyway) will make 1,000 cuts every day.
Take a look at
this video. These guys are just hobbyists, by no means Masters. This would be the sort of folks that would do the sharpening for the average Samurai on the street.
Stitchawl