MalcolmS

Thanks Brian, I am in San Diego County in California.

Just wanted to post that I had a burglary and 3 of my swords were stolen. 1st sword is a Japanese pilot's Tanto. 2nd sword is a Seki late war officer katana. 3rd sword is Showa pre-war semi-tradiational folded katana. This sword has a very ornate tsuka and a leather combat mount over the saya.

Thanks for the info. I don't believe the tang has a stamp anywhere, I think it is just the signature.

This is the link to the auction. Any help would be appreciated. A friend has already identified the Tsuba, and Tsuka as late 19th century. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

One of the cartoon shims has a Japanese character printed on the back so I would have to deduce it is a wartime Japanese cartoon. Very good quality cardstock. Yes, the blade on my other sword seemed dull compared to this one, I humbly did feel the edge and overall not razor sharp but in some spots very sharp to where I think originally it was a very sharp blade.

Thanks Stephen. A couple of questions. Being a mass produced blade, why would it be customized with the paper shims? Also, why is the hamon so nice yet the tang has no signature? The fittings make me curious because they seemed very generic yet they aren't a nice smooth fit on the tang although the whole thing feels nice and tight when it is all assembled. I had another absolutely original officer sword and the quality of the handle furnishings was vastly superior to this one, the furnishings on this sword are very flimsy and very flat compared to my last sword. Any comments on different grades of handle furniture from WWII?

Hello. I just received this sword and I was curious what members on the board think about it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1