J Reid

I think if you found it in a waste bin you did a really good thing by pulling it out. If it was me who found it I would clean it up best I could, remove any active red rust, oil it, and display the blade as is. To be honest.. I'm a little jealous! The fittings aren't much but the blade has its merits. From what I can see it looks like an Echizen blade. Don't let bad vibes get you down. There are many other collectors out there who don't appreciate the attitude that some of the elite boast when they see a blade that has had a hard life. Each and every one should be respected for what it is. Once upon a time.. someone cared about this sword. Keep studying and push forward!

It's either that or perform an O-suriage with gaku mei. It's a good sword made by an excellent smith and a samurai wouldn't have disregarded it as useless.

If it's shallow enough and outside of the cutting edge you can simply erase it. Theoretically it shouldn't effect structural integrity. The polisher would basically shave the Nakago down flush with the hagire.

I'd also like to add that I think the sword has passed hands at least once since I sold it as the current (or previous?) owner contacted me about 4 months ago looking for me to re-send the high res photos of the hagire so he could provide them to a potential buyer..

Here is his response for reference

This sword used to be mine. I sold that sword to a member here about 8-9 months ago now. It was listed here and sold at a very discounted price (about 1/4 value) with full disclosure of the hagire with pictures. I have an email from Moses becerra that says he can remove the hagire by 90% as if it were never there. He recommended this when personally I inquired about O-Suriage. He says it's not necessary. I sold it to the current owner with records of this opinion from Moses, in the event he wanted to follow through.

I guess the blade was an attachment to the koshirae.. thought I was onto something

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/12871-ubu-mumei-tachi-at-the-kasuga-shrine-in-nara/?fromsearch=1

I forget the name (and have no link) but there was a sword forged in heian? Kamakura? that was held at a shrine.. it was in original condition and had never been polished. It was recently polished and was viewed as an exceptional example of the original sugata of swords made during that period. We discussed it here on the forum years ago.. does anyone remember what I'm talking about?

I just don't understand why someone would have a blade retempered that has already achieved juyo status.. there must be another answer

Jean, the differences between aoi oshigata and juyo seem to be purely the artists interpretation, imo. I find it hard to think any reputable smith would retemper a juyo sword these days (as the risk for damage is high) especially one with boshi still intact.. It's more likely that a cosmetic polish was applied and that it is reflected in the oshigata as oppose to the actual boshi.

All words said and done. I have nothing further to add. Lesson learned.

Finally someone gets me!! Thank you Stephen!

There was no time frame. After Gilles hmm and haw'd he finally stated he was going to buy it. 20 minutes later I provided him with payment instructions and then it takes him almost 24 hours to respond? Why should I wait for that when I have others who are waiting in line? If Gilles really wanted that tsuba so bad, he should have glued himself to the computer until it was said and done. Like I said "early bird gets the worm". This is ridiculous.

My side is simple. I'm trying to sell something. I had 3 people interested who claimed they were ready to "buy it now". 1 stopped responding after I provided payment instructions. The second (Gilles) was provided with payment directions yesterday, and didn't respond for 24 hours, and the third individual responded immediately and promptly. I merely sold it to the individual with the quicker trigger finger. This is slander boys.

most dealers can only ship surface from Japan to Canada.. or in lucky cases they will be able to use fedex. I don't think they can ship EMS anymore.

Gasam, In the last picture you posted of the kissaki, it looks like it shows that the blade has a hagire. Even at $700- I'd be weary without better pictures.

It's definitely Nihonto. I've seen this before on a Tanto many years ago and another sword posted here on the board quite some time ago. In the past it was suggested that it was probably poor large slag welding by the smith. It could also be an acid bath gone wrong. Regardless, it's real.

Harry, can you link the shops where it's available for preorder? Thanks!

Harry, where did you hear this? Do you have any further info? Thanks!

Score! Lucky find.

Nice pick up! Money well spent! Congrats!

I've seen them on eBay.. they're common.

This is the last in depth discussion on never-dull. Now.. I wouldn't use it on a blade in polish, however, it really does work quite well. I have removed light active rust, finger prints, gunk, and stains easily without any damage to the existing polish whatsoever. No discolouring, scratches, etc. I side with Arnold in this debate and that is from hands on experience. In my opinion, it's much safer than uchiko. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/12028-help-black-spot-on-the-blade/

Use "never-dull". It does wonders for light surface rust, staining, finger prints etc. Safer than uchiko! Won't hurt the polish. Should take care of any minor issues! Will clean it up nicely. Note: Keep away from nakago! Wipe clear once finished and then re-oil. Don't use the same piece of cotton too long (it comes as a saturated cotton ball in a tin).