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Wakizashi


EdWolf

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Let me begin with a short story. I have collected ww2 helmets for quite a long period. A few years ago, I lost interest in them and sold many helmets. Now, I have only a few of them left. Recently, I made a deal with another collector to swap two helmets for a navy sword. (pictures of the sword are posted in the Military Swords section). Because the value of the two helmets was just above the value of the navy sword an old wakizashi was added. This wakizashi brought me to this forum. The nakago was signed. Now I know (thanks to this forum) that the blade is signed Ietsugu. Unfortunately, the blade is not in the best condition. Because the sword was just for closing the deal I don’t expect the sword is valuable but I want to learn as much as possible from it. Like time-period, how to preserve the blade from further damage, etc. All information about this sword will be highly appreciated.

Regards, Ed

And a thread without pictures is no thread ;-) here are some pictures of the sword.

 

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Ed,

 

I have really seen worse, it could polish out well (in spite of some ware and "holes") but I am not sure it is worth the cost (between 1 to 1,5k$). The blade being out of polish, you can uchiko it, wipe it and coat it very lightly with some sewing machine oil.

 

Have a look at this topic:

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21327-care-and-cleaning-by-tsuruta-san/

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Hi Stephen,
As a not native English speaker I don’t know the meaning of WAG. Hope this means nothing bad about the sword. Oil on the blade to protect the blade is probably the best option. Do you mean that the tosogu is a real bonus? Can you give me an indication of the age of the sword? My thoughts, late 19th century but I can’t find any records of a sword smith Ietsugu is this time frame. All information is welcome! I really want to learn.
 

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*wild ass guess

 

 

id guess 18th but may be wrong, but their in the higher end of middle class fittings 

 

WAG break down

 

kozuka with blade at least 400

 

tsuka          low end 250 but nice F/K and menuki so ill say another 400

 

tsuba  1-200 lowballing it,

 

im sure the blade is shinto in state at least 500

 

So not knowing what i use to wear daly in Nam are going for i cant give you a good answer.

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Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your reply. All prices of the different components you mentioned surprised me a lot. Because I purchased it in a trade, the total cost of the sword for me is in the 300 to 500 range. Depends how low or high I could sell the helmets.
Shinto (1600-1764) era blade. I’m way off ;-) How can you tell? I have tried to look at the curve of the blade and how the blade was made. I still have a long road to go.
The menuki of a man behind a golden shield is nice.

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Dear George,
Thanks for pointing this out. Never thought that the shield is a straw hat. It’s funny that the sword I was at least interested in turned out to be the most valuable sword. On the kozuka is also a figure I don’t recognize. Do you have any idea?
Regards,
Ed
 

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Hi Stephen,

As a not native English speaker I don’t know the meaning of WAG. Hope this means nothing bad about the sword. Oil on the blade to protect the blade is probably the best option. Do you mean that the tosogu is a real bonus? Can you give me an indication of the age of the sword? My thoughts, late 19th century but I can’t find any records of a sword smith Ietsugu is this time frame. All information is welcome! I really want to learn.

 

An abbrieviation, short for Wild Ass Guess.
The origin of this word is likely military, but that is just a WAG.
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Dear George,

 

I think you are right about the boat and fisherman.

When I bought the wakizashi the tsuba was positioned wrong. The hole (I think kozuka hitsu is the right terminology) was on the wrong side of the sword. Maybe the previous owner forced the kogotana into the kozuka.

Regards, Ed

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Dear Ed.

 

I had some success a while ago with kodzuka mounted as cutlery, the same approach might work for you.  A jar of very hot water, pop the kodzuka into this but leave the blade out, give it a minute or two to heat up and then put the blade into a vice, wrap some cloth around the kodzuka so you don't burn yourself  and slowly but firmly pull the kodzuka.  You may have to repeat a few times.  Hope this works for you.

 

All the best.

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Ed,

 

if you don't want an imprint of the vice's jaws in the blade, clamp it in a folded piece of leather (or something similar). 

 

Another trick besides the hot water in a jar is to clamp the blade in the vice and gently heat the handle with a hair drier / heat gun. Not red hot, solder can melt again :-)

 

Depends on how stuck it is, and for what reason;  simple friction, expanded corrosion of the iron tang or some sort of glue or pitch.

 

Good luck!

 

Eric K.

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Hi Erik,

I just removed the Kogotana from the Kozuka. I have used the jar filled with hot water method (thanks Geraint!) and wrapped the Kogotana with a piece of leather for some extra protection. The tang was heavily rusted and was simply push to far into the Kozuka. Thanks for your advice.

Regards, Ed

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