Prewar70

Ok I'm learning, so why a katana mei?

Technically speaking, would this be a katana?

I was only there Thursday night at the hotel and Friday afternoon but what a great time. A bit overwhelming for a newbie, sensory overload. You can't own everything but there are so many things to enjoy! I would have liked to have brought home a few swords, some original koshirae, throw in a few tsubas, a new hat, and some naked lady tees and I would have been a happy camper. I was able to have a few (3-10, not sure) beers with Brian Tschernega, great guy and working on a couple habakis for me now, Grey Doffin, fellow Minnesotan and all around great guy, and finally Roger Robertshaw. He and I have had a lot of communication via email so we were able to meet Friday after he arrived at the hotel. He literally took me around the show looking at swords, teaching me etiquette, pointing out flaws and attractive qualities in various blades, how to disassemble a sword at a busy show with a dozen people standing close by, how to use the light to inspect a blade, and many other things. We even found a couple of original Hizen Tadayoshis, a papered 8th generation and a papered Shodai, dated as well, although suriage. I saw some blades I have never imagined before either. An extremely long tachi that I cannot imagine trying to swing while on a horse. And an amazingly wide and thick Shinto katana that must have been twice the weight of a typical katana, made for cutting through armour. I'm looking forward to the Minnesota show in October when I will get to spend the whole weekend as it's in my hometown, look at more fun stuff, and get to meet a few more people.

Ok thanks Stephen. It all fits loose, not snug and tight.

Happy to take some pics tonight after work.

Sounds like it's probably silver then, as it's heavy given the size of it. I appreciate the help. Is it common to see silver used for a small tsuba like this and can anyone draw any generalizations, ie. someone spent extra $ for nicer fittings? I will follow up with some pics of the rest of the koshirae. The kozuka and fuchi kashira are iron, mumei, with a sunflower or rose theme. Bright gold with a copper/pink look to parts of it. If anyone is familiar with "Black Hills Gold" here in the states in South Dakota, it has a rose color to it.

Ford, is there a layman's way to "test" for aluminum vs. silver? It feels heavier than alum would and has a silver coin like sound to it but I don't know.

This is from a tanto. It has light oxidation in places where the seppa rested and also due to some rust from the iron fuchi. Any info on this type and what it's made from would be helpful. It's softer metal. Thanks.

Great news Grey. I hope everyone has their tables fully set up Friday, because I have to fly out Friday night. I will be at the hotel Thursday afternoon, so hopefully I'll get to meet you all that evening for dinner and/or beverages.

There are a couple very good mune strikes and the one on ha, well who knows what you would do when a crazy person was coming at you swinging a sword! I'm guessing you would block it anyway you could.

I have no idea how you would be able to tell the difference.

Thought I'd post some pics on a sword that has seen some battle time. It's ubu and mumei. I was wondering if kirikomi is more often seen on katanas or wakizashis? It really makes the mind wander....

Thanks Stephen, that pretty much takes care of it. Well I have some consolation that I didn't buy the Tsuba as an individual piece. Can someone explain why the inside doesn't look cast and what else jumps out as being an obvious cast?

The Tsuba came with a sword I purchased. This is a good learning moment for me. I would have guessed not cast, because the metal inside the cutout for the sword is solid and smooth and there are no casting bubbles, etc. I do not see any layers inside it though, from hammering. It almost looks machine cut it's so solid and smooth. So there is no question this is a cast?

What is this line? It is not present on both sides of the sword.

I really like these and the Fuchi & Kashira seem better quality to me. I'm hoping the Tsuba is legit, I see no casting signs and I like the design. I don't know about the translation, if anyone would like to lend a hand. Look forward to your comments.

So it's a traditionally forged blade but oil was used vs. water during quenching? There must be more to it than that and why use a scarce resource like oil during wartime when water is free? I haven't googled it, thought I'd ask quick.

To my eyes I do not see any shintetsu. Tried taking pics in different light, hope it helps. Grain and texture seem pretty consistent throughout. It's a sunny day here in MN, wish I could find the right setting for a good overall pic. Thanks.

When a sword is described as being tired, I take that to mean used and polished one too many times. To me, this sword seems very healthy, no openings, some ware in one spot on the mune but that is it. I've been searching Soden-Bizen, and found some swords with similar nakagos, so I thought I'd do some close ups and see if that means anything.

So happy you chimed in Darcy as I have enjoyed reading your posts and appreciate the experience you bring to the table. I hope this spurs more discussion as I am eager to learn. I just finished looking at it, again, and I have to reverse my statement about having a high shinogi. It's wide, but it is not high, definitely low.

Thanks Hoanh, I don't think I can resist a polish on this, it's way too nice. And, I don't have much money into it. It seems like a worthy project to me. Still would love to know more about this blade if anyone has more ideas as to school or smith perhaps or point me in a more specific direction. Thanks

Boshi is difficult to photo so hopefully you can see what Im looking at. It does have turn back, and I took a pic of the mune to see the color difference as well. Let me know what you think.

I will get a better picture of the boshi. Ken, thanks for your direction. Hada is difficult for me to peg, and I haven't looked at enough examples in my hand to really know at this point. I totally missed the obvious fact that the mekugiana were drilled, I should have picked up on that right away. Good lesson. So Shinto most likely, now how do we drill it down further? Any ideas? I'm going to check on the boshi. Thanks everyone.