kissakai

That's the one - Thanks Andi Grev UK

Hi Can anyone give me a youtube link to a katana quenched were the water bath has glass sides to you can see the sori being created? Grev UK

Enrico Let me assume you only want to pay $250 - $500 Everyone will say save up and buy the best you can. Good advice but only you know what you can afford I bought many tsuba some OK some not so good I always (and still do) find books difficult to understand Some of my tsuba have been bought from eBay (dangerous), antique fairs (some of my biggest mistakes) and this board (I've always have good value tsuba from Thierry - his images are never a good as the actual tsuba but I have never had one I didn't like). Obviously there are other great sellers. Without doubt I've always had value for money buying from here and there have been no fakes! It may be heresy but I'd buy a tsuba you like from here then buy a book that shows the type of tsuba you have bought so you have something to compare an actual example to the book Before buying PM the seller and find out as much as you can and (I assume) all sellers will take it back if it is not to your liking Once bought but an image on this board and ask for opinions but always except some hard words but hopefully it will be constructive criticism The best advice is use this board to see if there is a collector in your area who you can meet and discuss your tsuba. My mentor has been invaluable We all have our own views so just cherry pick from these posts Grev UK

Tsuba 184 has been sold Hi James, sales OK but still a lot more available May help to pay for the katana I've just received from James Lawson Grev UK

Tsuba 198 has been sold Grev UK

Hi Markus Add me to your list Grev UK

Hi Jason When I put my first tsuba I was blasted out of the sky but thankfully someone gave me a parachute! After my initial put down (it was a crap tsuba) I've learnt so much from this message board so don't be afraid to ask questions as everyone started as a novice As a learning exercise you could try this free website http://jisho.org/#radical If you find the kanji for kanemoto then put the kanji and something like nihonto or katana into an internet search it will show you a load of info If you are new to collecting then please add a picture of the whole blade and you may get some useful advice You will find most swords are not very desirable and someone will shoot it down but it is only words Grev

Update Tsuba numbers 155 and 161 have been sold Grev UK

Hi Kurt 198 is still available Grev

Hi Stephen The pdf could have been put in various orders such as: Signed Unsigned Maker name School name 'T' number In effect you can't please every one I would suggest that you can download the pdf and look at it your leisure You can do a search by tsuba number if you want to see what is not available If you prefer a particular school then it is in that order Or just look at each tsuba to see what you like (my preferred option) If you find anything you like then check from the list to see if it is still available Grev UK

Hi Stephen Go to the 1st post on page one and you can down load or look at the pdf file Grev

Hi Just an update so you don't have to trawl back through what has been sold Sold 11 Sold 30 Sold 49 Sold 57 Sold 62 Sold 77 Sold 88 Sold 92 Sold 172 Sold 186 Sold 201 Hold 67 Hold 155 Hold 204 Auction 10 Auction 23 Auction 39 Auction 47 Auction 64 Auction 100 Auction 157 Auction 173 Auction 198 Auction 200 I have decided to select a few to try in a local UK auction I will be talking to the auctioneers on Tuesday 17th May If you want any of the tsuba going to auction can you please let me know before the 17th Grev UK

T57 sold T202 withdrawn - I decided I liked this one too much Grev UK

Hi Yes Namban Check for a seal line on the inside of the 'slot' I have a fake Namban and other members will have seen many fakes Grev UK

Many thanks Bob for posting as I'd have never seen it and there other amazing presenters BTY It is on Thursday not Friday Does anyone now how I can take a copy or maybe I can purchase a DVD of the event My mentor is not computer literate so if I see anything of interest I put it on DVD Grev

Isn't there a 'seam' line in the middle? If so then it will be cast Grev UK

Hi Brent With some help I put my tsuba sale items (loadsl) in the cloud and NMB members could download it I'm sure you can have 50meg on the cloud for free Grev

Haynes update The haynes spreadsheet is still available, see replies above I have done the same type of spreadsheet for the Wakayama kanji Anyone who has the Haynes Index (via a NMB donation) can have a free copy of the Wakayama kanji but you need to PM me and state your personal email address Anyone seeing this post for the first time can obtain the Haynes and I will email a copy of the Wakayama Index as a freebee These are ideal for a quick reference when looking at all or part of a mei Sample - there are some more columns that are not shown Grev UK

Hi It was never posted for comments so it doesn't matter to me but over a hundred views with no comments I did find a bit strange I'm not fishing for replies so no replies are required Grev UK

Hi Rob It's great because you have shown your appreciation of the tsuba I agree with Stephen about less is more, this way nothing distracts from the tsuba but enhances the design How about looking at some examples of ikebana? I thought a single 'twig' on the left hand sign may look good Grev UK

Hi I have just had this tsuba repaired. I was unsure whether to buy it or not due to the damage around the fern frond which will always draw your eye to this area I bought it from Ron Hartman in Dec 2014. The colour diffences between before and after is due to using two cameras It was suggested I send it to Mike Hickman-Smith for his evaluation These were Mikes comments Looking at the quality of the surface lacquer I do not propose to do a full ‘restoration’ Problem would be that to get a fully polished flat surface I would risk damaging the old lacquer around each section of damage with the polishing. What I can however do is to conserve. The undercoat exposed where the damage has occurred is far more porous than the top coat so I will seal it these areas with urushi then build up with top coat black lacquer until I am as close as I can get to the old surface level without doing any polishing to flatten. I should be able to fill in the missing section of gold pine branch. It will be time consuming in terms of number of days but only a few minutes at a time. Tsuba work is finished and I am pleased with the result. As I mentioned at the start, I have lacquered the damaged areas in only and not over lacquered the whole item so that the original surface is honest. The original covering was black when it was applied but over time it browns / clears so giving that beautiful slightly translucent dark brown. I have patched with clear urushi (which is dark brown when applied in any depth) with a tiny amount of black and brown urushi mixed in. The patches are currently slightly darker if you look in very bright light however over the next 18 months to 2 years, the clear urushi will continue to clear further and it lightens up so hopefully the patches will be less visible in time. I am pleased also with the gold work which is not really apparent unless you go looking for it. Grev UK

Thanks Peter This all makes perfect sense Grev UK

Hi Peter Although there are condition issues I didn't think it was too bad - I wonder if it is worth asking Ford to have a look at it as it didn't cost very much Has anybody any idea which Jakushi it is? In Wakayama Vol 3 P281 is a close match for the mei but as I don't read Japanese so no idea which Jakushi it is referring to Grev

Wonderfall I think both submissions are better than last year so both should be winners I only hope they keep away from politics and choose the best Good luck Grev UK

Hi I'm hopeless on this type of sosho script I have seen similar which is shown as Jukashi What are your opinions? Grev UK