Stephen

Yes Grey i remember them days, Military collectors are reall after them nowdays. a sound one under a grand is rare. remember when NCO were under a buck,,,now they bring upwards of the three you got guntos for. 1600+ is a bit over the market imho, but doubt hell lose money if he wants to resell in looks for a older blade. looking forward to pix on the mei...it could just be my ol eyes.

If you can't find the book you want... on nihonto... you're... at... the...

buy it just to save it from rust, you not going to find another like it at that price. yes it has a good chance of seki stamp....also a chance its not. Keep us updated on this, it may be worth the gamble edit to add what do i base the chance on? the kissaki looks longer than standard showato

ran across this and thought of your request. http://cgi.ebay.com/WWII-Japanese-Navy- ... 27ad16f008

Steve when you get the sword get us a better shot of the mei....i dont see nobu that i know of, i think you did ok ...not sure what 1800 aussie dollars is in USA. looks to be a good clean gunto.

want to bite my tongue but willing to take the lumps, IPOV items going to a Museum is a kiss of death for the item. Better to have them go to a collector who cares for them until its time to pass them on. Ok fire away If the gunto has to go into it I can kinda understand as it was a war item, but to not know the smith is cutting short the history of it.

IMHO its Steel and hand forged. priced as i said before.

oh if all amateurs were to be as diligent. Light plays so much in pix, and yours is getting much better. Now we see a wide white area that does not show what you point out, a early one of the boshi does, maybe a shot down the blade as the blade is held up to some light to see if that white area does have the nei we want to see. I'm coming off as making this more than it is I think. If the smith truly liked the work he would have signed it, or maybe something happened the day it was done, that we'll never know. IMHO you have a very nice clean Kai gunto. it should be sold as that on which side did you start your count of four?

Yes we never touch the blade with fingers, prints have oils and acid in them that left un checked will rust. i really can make out any hada, in one i think i see some but that maybe fingerprints. Clean with talc powder in one wiping motion upward with the cutting edge on the outside as you wipe. apply a light coat of machine oil. i see the circle but not sure what it is. does it look like anything on this file?

Yes

lets start your own thread if you do, Mels thread should stay on her own. Found three or four smiths with stocking stamped numbers most were star stamp or higher rated smiths. FWIW the pix might make think you see stainless, its just well keep, ive had Emura and Nagamitsu with no rust and just as bright. lets keep working on the blade.

No i think i see it now when you said above i was looking above the hole not off to the right of it. i think if you take the org pix and crop it down to the hole and not reduce the pix it should show. file marks are very well done....maybe it did not get signed for one of many reasions. for the time being im going with a nice hand forged blade. what kind of steel used is hard to say other than its not stainless. ill look at other smiths tonight and see how many let stocking numbers be used on the nakago.

steve what is your guess the red stuff is around the hole?

dont know how my last post got bumped maybe you posted at the same time, Stainless steel is not as well thought of as other hand forged blades. this may have been water tempered as i think i see nice white nei in the hamon. better pix would tell. the leather tassle is off a NCO and should be sold by its self on egrab. the same (ray skin) on the saya is in good shape. as before id not take less than a grand, on the ebay im thinking Military collectors would take it well over that. edit ....new pix added while i was posting....youll have to get better pix of the mark...does in look like somthing is inside the circle?

Id like to add im not so sure its stainless steel, if so it would have in most cases have a stamp.

John not sure if your seeing the numbers and think its a mei , i tied to blow it up as well....just the three numbers...i could be wrong. Mel the price is going to come down to how well the fittings are. is the saya covered with same* ? looking forward to the blade condition as well ...if all very clean there going upwards to 1200. Id not ask less than a grand as of now.

Mel any chance of scaning it? acess to a flatbed? if so lay it on the glass and to get a better image cover it with a blue or purple cloth.

Bruno Taking on the task of whether a blade is gimei or not is quite advanced. Great scholars who have studied Nihonto for years can not agree at times. Best to study the blade, if you want to check mei you'll have to purchase many books starting with Fujishiro Koto and Shinto, and Nihonto Koza....others will have books to recommend. the odds of finding a great name on Ebay is like hitting El gordo or Mega Millions. The seller in question is a good guy but he lists for others in Nippon who I don't have as high regard. Silly gaijin will buy anything with a name on it, esp on ebay.

i was going to turn it right side up but you have a right click block, maybe Masahiro...cant get my head upside down for that long...a old goat i am. Pete has the date down, feel it true gunto not copy.

Very nice

Jan never found your wak but heres a mate to it...tease tease http://www.seiyudo.com/KA-098123.htm

Jean dont go opening in Doors...oh wait thats Animals .....sorry flash backs, carry on.

second Mark USPS, listed as Japanese Nihonto cir (what century)

LOL i was right your are related LOL