Prewar70

When you use a knife, it dulls, and naturally you sharpen it. There is obviously much discussion regarding polishing, and sharpening is part of the process or an end result. I have not seen anything on the subject of sharpening for sharpening's sake alone. I was wondering if anyone has information on this practice? I'm thinking of ancient times, when swords were used.

I didn't think I was mixing them, but providing both Hawley's point system and Fujishiro's rating. I agree with the Fujishiro you listed, and double checked what I posted and they are correct.

Jean, it's Hawley's rating system, for whatever that's worth. I see a lot of people refer to it still. Ken, you raise a good point, regarding the value of the rating systems. They are widely referred to so maybe they have some validity. And maybe they are more valid to a newbie like myself, there are so many variables in collecting it gives a person a feeling of assurance. My post is probably a very newbie way to even think about it. But points like yours and others hopefully, might give me some overall perspective. I probably shouldn't have included the price range and period, as it really doesn't matter. These factors can be different for everybody, and they can change over time too. Maybe you really want a piece by a highly sought after school or smith, but their top works are out of your price range so you are ok with an average sword. There are so many combinations it's hard for it to mean anything definitive but it might get some conversation going. Another example, I looked at what I thought was a beautiful sword, nice hamon, ubu, no ware, great period koshirae, NTHK papers, 75 points, smith was from Bungo province. When I asked another collector he said nice blade, but Bungo smiths aren't very regarded. So now I got this stuck in my head but yet that was a great sword! I'm not a dealer, so I don't think of the money part in the same way as a dealer might. I don't want to get robbed either, so it would be nice to buy at a safe level so if I sell someday to advance my collection, I'm in a decent position. Does a TH papered blade from a chu saku smith move faster than a hozon papered blade by a jo-jo smith, no hard n fast rules. I don't know, my thinking is probably all screwed up, but that's what I've been chewing on all day.

So I actually found myself in this situation and I thought it might be a good learning opportunity for me, and curious how the rest of the collecting crowd would look at this. I don't know if there is a survey option on the boards, I didn't see one, but it would be nice to track the results if there was enough feedback. So I know I am generalizing here, and I am intentionally leaving off the smith's names. A good sword is a good sword, regardless of who made it. Really good smiths have bad days, and average smiths can have an outstanding day. Do you buy the blade, and not the name, or a combination of the two depending on other factors. Is it more important to you to have a big name and average blade? A beautiful girl isn't so beautiful to everyone. So, generally speaking if you care to indulge me, where would you put your money? Each of these swords had an asking price between $5 and $6k USD without negotiating. All are Shinto blades, in shirasaya. Let's ignore koshirae, we're just buying the blade. If you're budget today is Juyo, pretend you're back in the early days. $5k is a lot of money, I think. Option 1: Jo-jo saku, 100+ point smith, NTHK-NPO US Shinsa 74 points, plenty to see but needs a polish to truly enjoy, but looks thin, polish could be a dice roll Option 2: Chu-jo saku, 20-50 point smith, Tokubetsu Hozon papers, ok older polish, can enjoy as is Option 3: Jo-saku, 15 point smith, Tokubetsu Hozon papers, good polish, perfect Option 4: Jo-jo saku, 20 point smith, Hozon papers, good polish, perfect

When first looking at this blade the activity looked like rub marks from the saya, or like smudges of grey along the hamon. It's in older polish, and agree, with a fresh polish it could look very nice. The current polish is still good enough for my eyes though. I am going to take it to the upcoming Minneapolis show and get some opinions on it before deciding on anything. I appreciate the help gentlemen.

Can you help me identify this type of activity in the hamon? This looks like either chu or hiro suguha. Sunagashi activity, when I read the description, seems to fit this pattern except that when I look at examples on line they seem very different than this blade. Is sunagashi above the hamon, whereas this is below, and larger? Sorry for the numerous pics, I hope it captures what I'm seeing. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

It's seen some honest use, but a nice design in my opinion. One edge/corner has some corrosion, perhaps from that part being closest to the body or where a hand naturally would have rested. Something to think about. Any thoughts as to age, school and quality would be appreciated. Thanks!

It's not a poor polish issue.

It doesn't seem like these are nearly as common, but perhaps my sample size is too small. When you encounter one, does it tell you anything different about the blade itself? Were they used for a particular reason? As a kantei point, on a mumei sword, should it lead a person in any direction, to a particular school or smith?

I know there's been a lot of discussion around this but for the more experienced folks on this forum, are white papers viewed any differently than the green papers. Or do they all fall in the same bucket as not recognized? But with that being said, are they anymore reliable?

Thanks Mark

Thank you. I was thinking it was the green Kicho papers that are no longer recognized but wasn't sure about these as they are white.

I love what the internet has done for collaboration and discussion around topics that a bunch of people, across the globe, find fascinating. Imagine what I would have to do to, even if I lived in the same city as Ford, before the www, to get his opinion on my little tsuba. What I'm trying to say is thank you, I really appreciate your input and that you take the time to share your thoughts, and knowledge, so the rest of us can learn. It's like a free class at the university. You said a lot in your post, and I want to absorb it. Off the cuff, two things struck me. I need to go back to Venice, a fantastic place and we had a wonderful time there even though it rained a lot. And second, I completely see what you mean as far as the surface of the tsuba and the objects being a part of the canvas, not added later like a "badge". That makes sense to me and is apparent after pointing it out. Thanks Ford, I'm enjoying my coffee while looking at your examples. Great stuff.

i am practically speechless. The amount of time and steps in that process is crazy. Tedious work for sure.

What type of certification is this? What organization and how old is it? Is it still recognized and valid? Finally, what does it say? Thank you.

Come on guys, don't be shy and help a poor guy out with this tsuba. Ford, I just know you're thinking about it!

Thanks for the info and the picture help guys. I have to look at it again tonight to make sure of the material but I don't think it's iron. Hoping some other folks will chime in too.

Saw this at an on-line auction and liked it very much. To my amateur eyes, overall design and shape were pleasing, signature looked crisp, so I threw a bid at it and won. I wasn't so concerned about the name when I bid, I just liked the tsuba. Yasuchika seems like a big name as far as I can tell. So, what did I end up with? A good copy or a modest legit Yasuchika? There is a drilled hole that I can't imagine is original. I was thinking it was used somehow to display it, can't come up with anything else. Would appreciate any comments and discussion. Also what do the figures represent? Broom, musical instrument, or child's toy? Thank you. I hate it when the pics rotate. Just can't seem to adjust for it properly, my apologies

Mauro, thank you for the link and info. That tsuba is strikingly similar. It's in better condition that mine and might show more attention to detail but might be a condition situation too. That's great info, I can't believe you found that. Maybe I have a legit signed one?? If anyone would like to comment on the mei itself that would be great. Thanks.

Wow, thank you Sebastien and Ford. Good information. Ford, I think it's a nice little piece as well and I'm very happy with it. I prefer the ocean side to the dragon. I'll do some research based on your comments and see what I can find. Although for now, I'm enjoying looking at it on my desk as I work on my job that pays the bills. Thanks for taking the time you guys, I really appreciate it.

If anyone has info as to school, real, fake, nice, crappy, all comments are welcome.

Maybe they were job sharing! So gimei although I will enjoy looking at examples from the Umetada school. The tsuba is very similar indeed to the link you provided. Thank you

I really liked the size, shape and design on this. For it's size, it's very heavy.

I picked up a couple of tsubas. Design was nice, iron, and the price was right. Let me know what you think. Sorry about the orientation, they flipped when I posted them.

Since we're talking about cut tests, what do you make of this. It's in a format I have tried to find but cannot. It is also in silver, which doesn't seem to be very common.