bmoore1322

Okay, i did end up buying this sword, it showed up today in the mail, and to my surprise it came with a letter from the following ; Japanese Sword Society of the United States, Inc. It is signed by Ron Hartmann, and dated July 20, 1985, and in the letter it does state that it does appear that someone in the past did shorten the sword to try and age it, this does not bother me, as its in full polish, and showing plenty of Hamon, what is curious is that Ron Hartmann says it the letter ; " It is probably a very nice hand forged WW2 Blade ". Does this mean that he thinks it is an traditionally made blade, as there does appear to be some Hada present in the blade as well. The letter does have the copy of the nakago on a separate piece of paper, showing Kanezane's signature. Brian

Seems like a waste of an good Yanone, its so small and so beautiful in design, I could only imagine how long it took to produce it. thanks for the info, much appreciated. Brian

@ Thomas I dont like it either, but it is a wall mounted rack, and I need to keep everything centered and balanced, as I don't want to take any chances of it being off balanced and possibly coming off the wall. My father in law is building me another stand just like this one, but with feet to be able to rest on the table. Here is an updated photo of more items that showed up today. Brian

Okay i have this arrow head, and just curious about something, would this have been the typical type of arrow head that would have been shot and forget about it, as this seems so perfectly made to just shoot it , and just leave and forget about it, or would they have used a much less worked arrow head. This one seems to have had a lot work put into it, just to shoot it, and for get about it, and are majority of the Yanone this great quality. I believe this to be from the EDO period, ca 1750-1850, and would these also have had an hamon. Thanks Brian

@ Brian Thanks, much appreciated, looking forward to the exhibit in Louisville this month, and I should see plenty of truly great swords. Brian

I'm planning a trip to Louisville this month to see the exhibit, so yes that is already planned, and kinda hard to do any shows if none in my area. I wished I knew some fellow members in here that are close to me, as I would love to meet them. Brian

I understand what you are saying, but 6 of my swords are in full new, or newer polish, and two of them are papered. I would not consider them to be low quality blades, one of my swords I bought off Bob Benson, it is not low quality, and another one of my mine that majority of members in here all love the looks and quality of it, that would be the blade I thought was a cut down naginata blade. The only Showa Era sword I own is an Kanezane sword in full civilian mounts, and that blade is in full new polish with a letter from the San Francisco sword society, from the early 80's. Yes, I do prefer Wakizashi's, as I love close quarter battle weapons. Brian

@ Chris I understand 100%, I eventually will end up with a matching set of swords in the highest quality, but for now I really do like these class of swords. I have been looking at some very high quality swords, but these will do for now. Brian

@ Chris I quit buying Showa type swords and buy only true Nihonto's and I still get crap over it, I will eventually move up to what you all are talking about, but in the meantime I really enjoy these for now, before I drop 15-20 K down on a single sword I want to study these for now, and enjoy them for what they are , as they are Nihonto's , right . I can always get my money out of them, or they will make good swords to trade off for something better down the road. You say I don't listen, look at what I'm buying now, compared to a few months ago. All at the advice from you and many others. Brian

I was looking at that, but decided to go with the one I bought. I really like the Wakizashi's better, as I love close quarter battle weapons. Brian

@ Ray Thanks, i understand what you are saying, but I'm really happy with these swords for now, I know as my taste in these swords progress', i will start getting more picky with what i buy, but for now, i will enjoy these to the max. I think i have come a long way from the oil drenched , non-Nihonto blades i was buying. Brian

Why is that, because there have been so many smiths signatures that have been faked on really nice blades. Brian

I understand what you mean, but with these swords, I can read my books, and learn from these swords, I really like the wakizashi's the most. I have slowed down, I have been offered at least 10 other swords in the past two weeks, turned them down. I have been going through my books, I just really like the looks of this one, and i don't think it is a low end sword, it shows the hada, and hamon really good, and in full polish, the polish on it would cost well over 1000.00, as I'm only buying papered, and/or polished swords from now on out, if they are both, better yet. I'm not asking for anyone's approval, just showing the sword, as i like to look at the swords others post in here, so I'm contributing to the pics for viewing. The only thing wrong about it is the non-signed Nakago. Brian

Okay, I saw this, and really liked it a lot, has a great Hamon, and shows great Hada as well, is in good polish, the Nakago is Mumei. Has a really nice two piece brass Habaki. Edo period blade in full Shirosaya, has the certificate from Japan where it was registered. I'm not saying what i paid for it, but the price was really good. Brian

@ Lorenzo Are you saying I'm Zombiefied, or what? ( lol ) I just really enjoy collecting, and studying these great swords. Brian

@ Keith I'm 16 years ex-Army, disabled vet from being injured in Iraq, so I'm always on the guard, and no I don't trust anyone, I do have other weapons in the house, I just prefer to keep my swords in this battle ready position, if it offends anyone, then they can leave and not come back to home anymore, not trying to be rude, just don't trust anyone at all. We live in very dangerous times, people out of work, people doing stupid s**t, so why take the chance. You should see the security at my home, I have two night vision cameras hard wired into my home, and have two wireless night vision cameras as well, full home alarm, with voice record type alarm system, i can view all cameras anywhere on my iPhone. I take a walk every night around my home at various times, with company, and I don't mean a live person. If I seem on the alert, well then i am, as i would rather be safe, paranoid, and secure then have something happen at my home. Brian

@ Ken That's one of the main reasons why i have them on them like that, in the battle ready reach position, so to speak. All of my blades get a good cleaning, and oiling every Sunday, Its now my regime for every Sunday, as i live next to 3 large creeks, and i do have an in ground 30,000 gallon swimming pool in my back yard, so plenty of moisture in the air around my house. Brian

@ Jean Thanks i like it also, I was kinda hesitant on the dojo rack, but in my room of the house I dont have too much room for multiple racks, so i did the multi rack with the kanji spelling " NIHONTO " at the top, which I think looks really good. Brian

I have my books now, going through them, it will take some time to read them all, but time is all i have, so I will be doing some good reading, and the books I got from another member in here gave me a great price on them all. I'm very happy to have such a great collection of my own for me to look over as I read through the books, and see what they mean when they talk about certain aspects, or parts, or history on them. Brian

@ Jean How do i not know you are God, got any proof you are not ( lol ). When I said what I heard, I meant it is what was told to me many years ago. Brian

@ Jean Thanks, i have heard they are to be displayed many ways, some have said with the blade down,. but that makes no sense as why would I put the blade down on the wood inside the saya, as they would dull the blade, and could cut the saya also. Brian

I thought I better post something real quick about how they are displayed, I was told many years ago by my Sensei that swords should be displayed with the Mune resting on the inside of the Saya, never with the edge of the blade resting on the Saya. He also said to display the sword the way I would pick the sword up to use it in a defensive mode. So i choose to display them in this manner. If this offends anyone, Sorry. Brian

Okay this is what I have so far, the only non Nihonto on the wall is the sword I have had since the early 80's, second from the bottom. The Yari is something i got off eBay for a mere $ 25.00. I still have 3 additional more swords in transit in the mail on the way to me. I know the rack is for a dojo, but I wanted a rack to display them all off, so if this is something that is considered a NO-NO, sorry , no disrespect intended. The books are the ones I bought off from another member in here recently. The arrow is from a set of 15 arrows I bought directly from Japan, made the way the originals were made. Brian

Nice, Very NICE.. Brian

More pics of the Boshi, and the Kissaki, and file marks on the Nakago, and the Hamon running all the way down into it also. I did notice that the Seppa's are gold foil covered, really nice to know that also. Brian