ROKUJURO

Hi Adam, very nice picture! You can avoid reflections in case you have a dark room or a photo box. Btw: It is NAKAGO, not Nagako.

Adam, some images are really good in my opinion. It is as you say: TRy different angles and lighting, use a dark background for good contrast, and find the perfect focus. Your results will guide you!

Not only for you Erik!

Hi Erik, some of your photos are really good! Generally, making photos of swords isn't too difficult, but some practice can be helpful. Meaningful images should be: - well focused, not foggy or blurry - made with a plain dark/black, non-reflective background for good contrast (not white or bright) - made in a dark room, using spotlights - made with light from the side (may not apply to HAMON photos) - made directly from above (not at an angle) - made with correct orientation (straight vertically tip-upwards, especially NAKAGO photos) - without HABAKI, showing the MACHI and NAKAGO JIRI - made in high resolution to see details like BOSHI, HAMACHI, HAMON, HADA, NAKAGO JIRI etc. - presented as cut-outs so very little background is showing One main thing is to know what the important features of a blade are and how to capture and present them. It does not depend so much on expensive camera equipment or on special skills, but more on observing the results. You will find that only really good photos will contain enough information to help with the identification. Kind regards, Jean

Matthew, a GUNTO WAKIZASHI? That must be quite rare! The KANJI on the TOP end of the TSUKA are from the craftsmen who made it. Usually, they are not related to the smith. Unfortunately, I can't help with reading.

Charles, what did you mark on this last photo? No details visible! I would be extremely surprized to find a sword from late Heian to early Kamakura times in military mounts, but who knows? Diamonds have been found in the rough.....

Charles, does the handle have a tight fit or are TSUBA and SEPPA a bit loose? When you speak about age-related flaws, how old is the blade? It is better to make photos on a dark, non-reflecting background so we could see HAMON and HADA

Not impossible unless you mean Marilyn Monroe.

I think Geraint says it all. It is clearly an UMEGANE, and the defect it was thought to conceal would be called KITAE-WARE. The English text is based on assumptions and is not correct. The forming of FUKURE happens in the fire-welding process, and has nothing to do with tempering (again, "tempering" is not quenching/hardening). Usually, FUKURE are caused by trapped coal or impurities like scale. FUKURE can have many different shapes, and as they are a defect in the KAWAGANE, they are not just a "cosmetic" issue but may well have an impact on the structural integrity of a blade in case they are large enough.

Not easy to read for me but might be TOMOMITSU. The blade looks indeed KOTO. A little tired though, which after a few hundred years is not surprizing.

Rohan, that is of course correct. But in this case, it is not a "feeling" of your senses rather than a response of a tool on the steel. In this context, you could call the stone a "sensory device".

Mason, this is of course nonsense and only used for the lack of a better word. It is certainly not meant in a technical way. You will find other technical terms like "dense" for the steel in HIGO TSUBA, but it is only meant in a descriptive way. One cannot see or feel hardness or density.

You are (almost) correct Calabrese, in the description (which I should have read before writing....) the SUGATA is mentioned: UNOKUBI-ZUKURI (鵜首造):

The pictures are not very good. The blade may indeed be HIRA-ZUKURI, but the wide BOHI may give a wrong impression of a SHINOGI.

Ubay, you posted in the wrong place. We have a special translation section, but I am afraid you will not get a more positive reply there.....

HIMEMATSU?

Chandler, I understood your post completely. This may be YOSHINDO-SENSEI's way to do it, but as I wrote, technically, it is not necessary to "soften" the steel for a new hardening process. It is not a "better" way, but causes scaling.

Thank you Dirk, that sounds much more reasonable! What can we learn from that? Good translations can only be made with some competence in the subject!

Mark, Chandler, this is a complete misunderstanding! Clay-coating of a blade (= TSUCHI OKI) is usually done one side after the other prior to quenching - I did not say 'hardening' was done side after side! I tried to explain why a HAMON usually is not perfectly symmetrical on both sides. Re-hardening (= SAI HA) can indeed be done, but as a side-effect, long blades can show a stronger SORI afterwards because of the martendsite expansion. Repeated hardening also results in a material loss as some superdial steel is oxidized into scale. Of course there is no "softening" (or normalizing) of the steel necessaray prior to a second hardening unless the blade has to be worked on, e.g. straightening it. Heating it up to yellow heat (= 1.150°C) would not only damage the blade but also be useless as the hardening is completely gone already at 750°C.

Thank you John, very interesting! But as I wrote above, traditionally made TSUBA do not contain carbon in a useful amount, so this method might not work. I have tested damaged TSUBA (19th century) for their carbon content, and it was Zero with my method. With the TATARA method, a wide range of iron-carbon alloys is produced. That goes from cast iron with more than 3 % of carbon down to pure iron without carbon - and every percentage inbetween.

I would not exclude that completely. There might have been single occasions where this was done for reasons we don't know..

Deanna, as far as I know, the smith only makes one MEKUGI-ANA in a location that is most likely correct in his experience. In many cases, the TSUKA can be adapted to this. If it does not fit, there are two ways: Either the blade is brought back to the TOSHO to make a second MEKUGI-ANA, or the TSUKA maker does this himself, keeping the dimensions as close as possible. In early times, MEKUGI-ANA were always punched. So if the blade was already finished, but a second MEKUGI-ANA was needed, it was wrapped in some fabric or rags. This was then soaked in water to make sure only the NAKAGO was heated up, preventing the blade from loosing its hardness.

Dale, when you look at these later added signatures, you will find that they are not cut deeply. If you are careful, you can work on cast iron without breaking it. It is not really hard but brittle at the same time, depending on the force applied. I will try and post samples of this process in the near future. On the other side, it is only little work to anneal/temper a finished cast TSUBA, especially in an industrial production line.

It is frightening how good these reproductions can be! With modern silicone forming and die casting technology, it is not as much work as it used to be with the "lost mold" process, so they can indeed flood the market.

Paul, if you used a non-reflecting dark background for better contrast and light from the side, I would perhaps be able to help. With these photos, I can only guess MUNENAGA (?)