jason_mazzy

I thought the other was a copy also, but didn't see enough evidence to call it cast. I think it may just be a later copy of a tsuba, hand done tho? but if it is cast, then that is even more impressive the quality of the 2 casts of the same tsuba. (not that the tsuba is impressive, just the same type of mold and such a differance in the cast)

Much more fun to keep you guessing. also depends on which sword you are refering to.Mwoooohahahahahahhahahah! BTW on the sword I am calling sadare-ba, how close do you think I am on the kantei? mishina? yoshimichi? the rest can be seen here: http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii82 ... %20polish/ the high def can be emailed if anyone needs to zoom in

the rest can be seen here: http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii82 ... %20polish/

Took some photo's in the sun. Now the sun is low here in the winter so it creates alot of shadow, perhaps that is part of the problem but, The sun does allow you to see the kesho work and some of the translucency of the polish. On the negative is wipes out all the detail of the jigane. I am hoping some day I can show both at the same time. heres a few samples: the rest can be seen here: http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii82 ... %20polish/ the high def can be emailed if anyone needs to zoom in

wow. that was like night and day between the 2.

Grey i thought the same thing but I thought perhaps, he should wrap the nakago for 24-48 hours with an oil soaked cloth, making sure the nakago was fully soaked with oil. That should penetrate deeper into the bad red rust and allow for it to crumble off easier and safer when he applies the ivory technique......

That is sad to see. they would have made a great pair.

Updated pics from new thread merged to original thread. Link to 130 pictures and the pictures of a different blade I'm calling mishina school on previous page. the first sword, I am thinking Koto, I am not sure if the grain is closer to mokume with running masame, or running itame. Boshi appears to be Ichimai. It protrudes slightly into the kissaki. more so on one side. kissaki has lines of nie and nioi patches. So either Ichimai, or possibly a ko-maru sagari.

perfect, now you just need to wait for someone who can read kanji (IE. not me!!! LOL) ps do not clean the tang at all. not sure what your experiance level is, but no cleaning the tang (by clean I mean scrub it with steel wool or some crap). Have you oiled the blade lately?

I can already see activity. maybe u one grandpas lotto!

Please take a soft chalk, talcum powder, or corn starch and wipe it into the mei (sqiggly lines) on the nakago. Utsuri is temper in the sword other than the mune (muneyaki) and ha (hamon) usually seen around the shinogi ji

looks like it may have some nice utsuri. could we get close up pictures of the Nakago please? And of course alot more pictures of the sword.

It is muneyaki not utsuri. Well from the kantei I have done on the muneyaki blade, I am putting it in a mishina school. And the hamon activity, and shape looks like Tanba Yoshimichi school, from what images I have been able to gather and study.

A single Tama-ba on the left of middle right under the muneyaki. (pics 1 and 2) the fukura is full of nie the muneyaki is black with nie

Mount fuji in clouds with possible tama-ba?:

Here is one in Sudare-ba with muneyaki:

here is a before picture:

I may try in the sun when we get a sunny day also, but my best work was in the bathroom, under the light, balancing on a trash can while standing on the side of the tub. So after all those acrobatics I am posting these pics horrible or not. see the rest here, some better some far worse: http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii82 ... %20polish/

Whats really pissing me off, is the burnished ji, looks all scratchy in these pics instead of mirror like, like it is in my hands. though I do think there is some oil perhaps on the ji giving it that effect. was ultra worried about scratching it with the uchiko.

here is my best shots. they suck I know.

An SLR would help to since auto focus keeps focusing past the blade. I will try and post 1 or 2. But mind you they are horrible and do not represnt the blade or polish well.

I got a Wakizashi back from a polisher today. It is very stormy and over cast and wet, so I am forced to try and take a few pictures inside with a point and shoot 12mp camera. I took about 50 pictures and 95% are unusable, and 5% are usable but make the blade look like the mokume and masame hada look like white weird rings (like you would think of an open tired blade) instead of the beautiful burl full of nie and chikei that it is. I am getting reallly frustrated at this point. I tried a scanner and it shows a great kesho hamon and some translucentcy to the jigane but it is not picking up any of hada. Any ideas at all? I could really use it, as I feel like screaming out, and only allowing in person views. edit* grammar the rest can be seen here: http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii82 ... %20polish/ the high def can be emailed if anyone needs to zoom in

The comparison was a tactical one. The rangers assault in groups the seals and berets attack in teams, and then there are times for single one to one tactics. I am not comparing ninjas to the military, just stating different ways they would have attacked or used there skills.

A ninja I am sure covered a wide range of interpritation. to group warfare such as the army rangers, to team hits like the seals or berets, and then lone assasins. A ninjas one main objective would be no one knowing he was one. Just blending in.

That is my point. They used tools and other devices to do things like scale walls or appear, disappear or reappear, or distract so that another ninja would show up in a different place giving the illusion of the same ninja in multiple places. To the locals it would appear they had magical abilities, that bore the legends and myths we hear of today. also the art of stealth and killing silently lead to the belief they were ghosts, spirits, or magical in some way.