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thanks again for your help , koichi & rich Adding some additional photos off the fuchi , kashira and the habaki. rich the work on the fuchi , kashira sure look like Soten style work!!! so i take it if Kanenori was "faked" a lot he must have been highly rated ? what do you think ? ray.

Hi, all NHB looking for help with kanji on this fuchi please and any info on schooll etc. I bought wakazashi yesterday at an auction in the UK . Tsuba missing / scabard seen better days , but nice fuchi / kashira off samurai in full armour 3 off on the fuchi and two on the kashira and pair of shi shi menuki. blade signed Bishu osafune ju nin. yokoyama kodzuke daijo fuji wara sukesada . will try and get some pics later off the fittings etc and post over the weekend the reason i was keen to get the wakizashi was i have a katana by hopefully the same smith , so i hope it is not gimmie ray.

HI johnb PIC N0 4 ?? WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT LOOK'S LIKE THE SWORD HAS " FUMBARI " [ DO NOT THINK THE CHINESE HAVE GOT THAT MASTERED YET ? ] BUT AS YOU !! AND MANY OTHERS LATELY HAVE SEEN THEY ARE GETTING GOOD AT FAKE BLADES AND GUNTO MOUNTS . REGARDS RAY.

Hi to all on N H B dont know if this the right place to post here , but be aware of ebay sale item number 260099124346 name [ moralsins ] if i am not mistaken this Generals sword is a scam ??? this is now four or five times this item has appeared regards ray.

thanks for your help . Rich T and b.hennick ray.

Thanks / Nobody for your help with the saya kanji . question ! could it be that the family or owner off the sword , went to a shrine ? and asked for some good luck or a blessing from the shrine before he went of to war !! the reason i say this is , the sword was semi - civilian shin gunto mounted with a handachi saya with a leather combat cover and a civilian tsuka thanks, ray

Iron sukashi tsuba ? same as before looking for some help with . 1. school 2. date 3. tsuba style or theme 4. size 80mm x 3mm thanks ray.

more help with tsuba , please . Iron tsuba with dragon signed , masahide saku size , 75mm x 70 x 3/4mm school ? any opinions please date ? opinions please Ford - if you see this post , This was the other tsuba i mentioned re- it's patanation !! thanks ray.

Tried to get some close up's off the saya its fading and difficult to get a good shot ! can anyone make out any of the kanji or the content ? thanks ray.

Hi Brian very nice looking f/k in gold ? my photos do not show the tsuba at it's best and the close up techniques i am still working on ! so the details off the mountains and the stream and the trees ETC not showing at their best thanks ray.

thanks Mike no doudt there will be more replies , i hope to clear up the date and school , from the NMB regards ray.

Hi Grey you are right , it has a very nice bluish / black patination to it thanks ray.

ray again tsuba , from one off my swords , will post photo off the sword and tsuka at a latter date school , onin !! date , circa 1600 ? size off tsuba , 85mm x 80 mm x 3mm boars hart design ! with brass inlay off flowers ray.

Hi all / on the NHB this was my first ever tsuba purchase , opinions please iron tsuba, choshu - school , i think ? circa - 1750/1800 ?? tsuba , size 84mm x 78mm x 3mm as you can see it has a landscape design with a village and a lake and stream on the mountains in the background ,on the front face. and on the reverse, the back of the mountains. and seems to be off good quality !! ray.

looking for help with this painted inscription ,that is under a combat cover on Handachi mounted saya . i know it is not very clear but can anyone help please ! i presume that i may be the person who owned the sword ? will try and get some more shots of the kanji later having camera problems at the moment regards ray.

thank's John , Curran , Rich T for you posts, and for the info posted on this tsuba . sorry no more photos at the moment having problems with my camera. Rich T, you mention the size !! is their standard set of hard and fast dimensions for tsuba ? ie" Katana / Wakasashi / Tanto etc , [ like there is for sword lenghts ] I think i read somewhere ? that a lot off the early iron tsuba generaly were a lot smaller than what appeared in latter periods ? the reason i mention this is that this tsuba actually came on a shin gunto with civillian mounts and the blade is 30" long and by normal standards looks to small in proportion to the Tsuka and the sword . thanks ray

HI A few years ago at a Token sword event in London , i had taken a sword in gunto mounts with a shin shinto blade for some opinions on it. that weekend there was , swordsmiths, shirasaya and habaki makers and handle wrapping craftsman all from Japan showing their work all that weekend. when i was looking at the habaki display i was asked to show the sword to the craftsman making the habaki when he looked at the sword he said right away that the habaki on the shin gunto sword had been made by his teacher who worked through the war years making fittings etc and lived for a long time after war, and he had been one off his students And he said he "would "recognise his masters work anywhere. I think what happend to me, re - my sword and the habaki being recognised by one of his pupils was a fluke and will never happen again ??? thanks ray.

Tsuba that has an iron body with copper [ mimi ] rim in the form off rope design round the outer edge with black shakudo finish. tsuba dia, 70 x 66 x 3 to 4 mm thick 1. school , ? 2. date , ? any opinions please . regards ray.

Hi Jinsoo, we have never talked before , so hope you dont mind this added onto your post. when you mentioned Kato Kiyomasa ,it reminded me that i have a Kozuka with the theme of him fighting a tiger , when he was in Korea ? regards ray.

Hi can i suggest a short cut that i have tried in the past , just for the fun off it and the practice . it's a bit of a cheat and going against the traditional way of tsuka wrapping ?? So here goes if you do not want to make all the paper triangles and folding paper forever try using Balsa Wood easy to cut and soft enough to shape to the tsuka and gives you the perfect shape every time and it comes in all different thicknesses . REMEMBER, I SAID ONLY FOR THE FUN OFF IT ray.

Thanks / Stephen had a quick look at " Omura Sama's " web sight ,he is not available till after the 20th of feb regards ray.

I wonder if any one has seen this this unusual kyu-gunto / parade sabre back strap decoration before? I have all the FUller & Gregory's books, and i cant find any thing like it as far as the decoration etc is concerned !! It has prety standard floral designs on what would be the area of the tsuba. it has a " shishi " in the centre of the back strap, and directly above a 9-pointed "mon", and on each side in the middle off the back strap . it also has a gold wired barrel style sword knot . And prety much standard 28" machine made blade with full length hi any sabre / Gunto collectors out there, that have any info on this type of sword ? thanks ray.

thanks again for the replies on this tsuba now that it has been sugested [ kyo sukashi ] it has jogged the old memory banks , that is what it was sold to me as ,but ?? as you can tell , not used to posting and describing items properly allways forget important things measurements etc. And something else that springs to mind after all the years off collecting , because i have been sword orientated and probably a bit tunnel visioned i have never realy appreciated what i have ,in my small collection of fittings , now looking at them in a different light ! will try to post latter !!! some measurments regards ray.

this tsuba again i have owned for a long time ,but i have lost the information that came with it . it was in a well knowing private collection in the UK some years ago and i purchased through a contact from a collector friend of mine. and i must admit this one , is one off my favourite tsuba . i think it is - sakashi ? circa 1700. any opinions please , date , school , etc Bit late i know ! / but tsuda - dia 80mm x 3 to 4mm thick thank's again . ray.

HI thanks, Curran for your help. thanks, Rich T / for the the tips on the photos and the translation . do not know when the next sunny day will be here it's bloody frozen at the moment. will try to get better pics soon?? Ford . Rich T / is correct with the flash making it look bad, the tsuba has nice deep black patanation to it and feels good to touch " the tsuba that is " this tsuba i have owned for well over 15 years and came through a private purchase including a sword blade and a broken tsuka so i would say its not been [ tampered with ] i hope. regards ray.