Jamie

Absolutely

Bone- I know how you feel. I have a beautiful Old Tanto that will be here next week, and I'll be out of town when it arrives. I'll have to wait out the duration of the week. I hope your post office is open and you can pick it up.

it depends on how unpolished. Or corroded. If you hold it up at eye level with the nakago slighty lower - Look up the blade. The light should kinda move up and down the blade. You may be able to see traces of the hamon. As you know-it's different types of steel , so you should see slight color variation. if it's too rusty- or corroded you won't see much if anything.

A collection of what?

There is an invaluable amount of info here, but I'd bet pictures will help exponentially. Best of Luck!

You may also want to post some pics so the damage can be assessed better. You might consider sending it to a polisher who would be able to make the most accurate assessment of whether it is able to be polished or not.

Steven, A lot of the old famous swords are named. Your sword does not look to be a modern reproduction to me either. It stinks that someone removed the nakago patina, but it happens. It has lots of activity and I bet you can learn a lot from it.

Joe, I certaily see your dilemma. Especially in the current financial market. But if the sword isn't going anywhere soon, and you are doing it for yourself, you may be able to have it done for a reasonable fee. Or you could collect Fuchi/kashira, then a tsuba-, etc. (so the expense doesn't hit you all at once. And a Tsuba, and Furniture aren't going to lose value right. I have a Tsuba that is silver and I love it. It Will be mounted on something- because it's too nice not to be.IMO I was going to mount it on a custom contemporary wak, but have decided against it since that piece is not antique. and I will likely sell that piece at some point. So I will mount it on something I intend to keep. I think it's Wak size.

I agree with you to a certain extant David. I wouldn't suggest using repro fittings on an old blade, even a gendai. But I agree with Rich also. And I agree that it wouldn't necessarily increase the value at all -but I'd like to have a samurai mount if I had a nice Gendai in Shirasaya.

Pics were deleted I think. Tsunagi is basicly a wood copy of the blade -made to hold all the sword fittings. http://sayashi.com/project%20pages/tsunagi.htm

good pictures, and very nice blade. Thanks for sharing with us.

I agree with you David, but you could have it mounted for a reasonable fee, depending upon who you have do the mounts.

I am fairly new to collecting- so the other members may have more meaningful opinions. But I collect mainly tantos so far- and for the price I think you got a decent deal. Knowing that we all will be trading up at some point I try to ask myself if you can recover the amount paid so as to not lose any money. I would bet you could sell that piece for what you paid for it. As far as knowing for certain whether or not it was acid etched- I'd send it to a reputable polisher for their opinion. Blades are hard to assess from photos. It may be etched as Pfarrar suggests, I have no opinion there- due to my lack of experience. I've seen lots of etched blades but they are mainly production pieces- and in those it just brings the hamon up. Tamahagane has it's own unique characteristics when compared to modern steels.

That's very nice. I like the little oval Tobiyaki.

So I ordered a Mekugi nuki from Paul. This is a very nice piece. It fits perfectly in your hand and the nakago even has a very nice patina. The nuki is the perfect size for mekugi removal as well. And it will fit perfectly on a keychain. This will come in very handy. The delivery time was fast too,considering they were made by a smith and sent from Japan I ordered a couple sword cloths as well and the are very good quality and affordable. Easily cut into whatever size pieces you like, and two colors. Thank you Mr Martin!

Per forum rules, you may want to post your real name. Secondly, since you're asking if the blade is believed to be handmade, you might want to post some pictures of the blade as well. As much detail as possible helps. Mei, Whole blade, and Boshi (tip) You'll find many willing to help.

I am aware of the characteristics the retempering causes, but have yet to see a sword I know is saiha. I'd like to see pics of one if anyone has some. Thank you Jamie Edit for spelling.

That last picture doesn't look like a gunto. It's LONG. I bet many were lost. They are so much more than just a tool of war.

The core has less carbon, being closer (not much) to iron. I would think that's why it is darker. I don't believe it's more prone to rust.

Out of Curiosity what color is the tassle? I can't translate Mei yet, but others will graciously help you there. You might want to post more pics of the sword though. I'm sure most everyone will want to see it as well. Jamie

http://www.Japanese-swords.com/pages/maint.htm You might want to read this as well. http://www.Japanese-swords.com/pages/handling.htm

Signed Nambakucho piece , well forged. Hamon is a touch thin, but that Tanto is well preserved for being so old. It appears that it hasn't been submitted for juyo either. Very nice piece IMO. Jamie

I'm following the thread. Nice idea Jamie

Uchiko, That is correct. Jamie

If you can't make out the hada, maybe it just needs touched up, But that doesn't look over polished to me. Over polished I would think meant a lot of the meat of the blade would be gone, and you would be able to see the core. Maybe it's just not in a good state of polish. Do you know how to clean it properly? Also you'll want to wait on other opinions, as I am a novice myself. I remember seeing a sword with an almost identical Hamon on a Wooden rack in the sun(recently). I wonder if that was this sword? Jamie