bigjohnshea

Putting 4 random items from my collection up for sale. Always open to offers. Please wait for photos and descriptions to upload. J

Thank you!

I'm scheduled to give a lecture about the "appreciation of Nihonto" at a sci-fi and fantasy convention this coming summer. I'd like to try and integrate the following stats into it, if I can find them... Estimated number of Nihonto made until the end of WW2? Estimated number of Nihonto brought west just at the end of WW2? ie. As war prizes... Estimated number of Nihonto destroyed just after WW2? Total number of Nihonto that have passed Tokubetsu Hozon? Total number of Nihonto that have passed Juyo? Total number of Nihonto that have passed Tokubetsu Juyo? Any help is greatly appreciated!

He was too young... I had a Howard Clark katana made for myself years ago that Keith polished for me. He was skilled and did a lot of great work on the "Japanese Style Sword" realm, though also polished modern nihonto from time to time. He was a good man to work with... Wish his family all the best... ????

I love seeing people's libraries. ???? Wonderful stuff...

Guess I was hoping others would show their libraries too... ????

It's true... I need more.

pics

My collection

People always say things like "If you want to learn about nihonto, start with some good books." I have practiced what I preached... Share some images of your nihonto book collection. ????

Do you have an external link with any additional information regarding that sword Jussi? Thanks!

LOL Wish we had that money available. ????

She made a good choice. ???? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F372887344358

If I didn't already own a Nidai Nobukuni I'd sure as hell buy this one... Phenomenal tanto, and worth every penny of that very realistic price tag.

Thank you Kirill! Very helpful! If I have a "Daimyo registration" number for a blade of mine, where would I look to check the number and any information that might be associated/documented with it regarding the blade? Where and when would that "registration" have taken place?

Sent you a pm BaZZa. Just hoping to find more information on the collection, and available reference books, publications or websites would be appreciated. Cheers!

Hope you are all well. Does anyone know of any resources that document the contents of the Mori Daimyo collection. Perhaps the associated Daimyo registration numbers, maybe any photographs and/or descriptions of the blades that were in the Mori Daimyo collection? Thank you for your time!

Barry, I agree with buying the blade, not the school, and if I may add, not the paper. All, I'll add to that a lesson I learned recently, that if you are buying for your own enjoyment then the best shinsa is yourself. As for Barry's comment regarding either paper being sufficient for signed blades, I must respectfully disagree. I have personally had signed blades of mine pass NTHK-NPO shinsa with 72 points by Miyano sensei, only to be submitted to NBTHK shinsa and fail being called gimei. I'll add the following, that this blade was worked on by a mukansa polisher who absolutely, 100% agreed with the Miyano decision... Let me elaborate by saying that this experience was mind numbing and infuriating! The implication of those two polar opposite outcomes is that not even the top sword scholars in this business will reliably agree on the veracity of a signature! A SIMPLE SIGNATURE! If it was a mumei that had received two different attributions I would have completely understood. As a good friend once said "Once you remove a mei, any attribution is just one man's best guess." In my opinion, if you have bought a mumei sword with little knowledge of the school it has been attributed to (regardless of what paper) then you bought the paper, not the sword. The paper unfortunately can change in a heartbeat... If you judge the sword yourself first and foremost, and then decide if the paper agrees with you, then the paper never really mattered, did it? In summary, signed or unsigned, if you are buying for your own enjoyment of the blade then the best shinsa is yourself. If the papers agree with you then they are the right papers.

I owned this blade for years before it became part of a buy/trade to the current owner. It was my prized possession for those years. The near mirror image hamon with shallow valleys, nearly touching the ha, is definitively Muramasa. Even though I have a signed Muramasa tanto now, I still miss this sword. Somehow the papers dissappeared during the transition between me and the current owner, which was facilitated by a third party. It is a damn shame... Papers or no, were the money to come to me now I would buy back this sword in a heartbeat. I love it, and you will too if you are fortunate enough to acquire it.

I was expected to be the new owner of this but for personal reasons I am stepping away from collecting as a whole, and can no longer afford such luxuries as these swords. I have never actually handled the blade as I had only paid half of it off, so I am not stepping away from the deal because of the blade itself. I was very much looking forward to studying this sword but unfortunately life has gotten in the way... Ray is a delight to work with as well. In a world full of questionable people Ray is an absolute gem of a person to buy from, and should be trusted without a second thought. Sincere apologies to the seller... John A. Shea, MD

Thank you very much to everyone who has contributed useful insights to this process. I am in the process of moving right now so my fiancé and I have been doing nothing but that for the last few days. Sorry if I have been absent from the thread. Thank you again!

Thank you Barry! Will try this for certain!

It would be my pleasure. :-) Glad to see the outcome of your hard work Daniel! It will be a while before I can start my project, but I look forward to sharing the results online here as well.

Thank you for a very helpful and informative response Franco! http://nevrdull.com I assume that is the product you are referring to. As for the outcome, I only hope to get the rust off. Seeing the hamon at all would be an added benefit. Regarding moving the rust around, Other people I spoke to privately warned against the same. They suggested a “pinch” maneuver with the fingers where possible to avoid this. My tetanus is up to date. Part of my job working at a hospital. Last but not least, if I thought for a second that this sword was anything other than a low quality blade then I would not be using it for this project of mine. :-) Thank you again Franco!

Your point is well taken Brian, and I apologize if I came across aggressive in my response. I do feel that I was clear in my original post though that I was looking for non-abrasive methods that would not damage the blade, so what you are indicating was addressed originally in my post. Perhaps not well enough. The way you frame it, it sounds to me like it’s just a topic that is impossible to talk about publicly without getting the same answers that have already been posted on the page a million times... “Don’t do it.” “Only professionals should restore nihonto.” Next, add in the snide remark by someone... At the end of the day there are ways to clean off rust without damaging the jacket steel. It requires the application of somewhat proprietary methods that I’m not going to detail here for anyone because I have yet to even try it once myself, so I certainly can’t teach it. I will say that the key ingredient in the recipe I was given seems to be patience and commitment, both of which I am willing to give, but not everyone may be...