Marius

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Russell, You cannot go wrong buying from Grey. He is one of the top dealers, always absolutely reliable and honest.

Why don't you post your video on Youtube or Vimeo, and them post the link here?

Sengoku_54jp is the same dealer as daimyou54eb. On Yahoo they can pull any auction if the reached price is not satisfying for them. And so they do - a common practice.

John, You won't find anything better at this price, that is for sure. Also, Grey is one of the nicest people to deal with - a real gentleman. Tokubetsu Hozon is also nice to have - it tells you a lot about the quality.

I will take it.

Bought one, can't wait to get it.

And you were right. Don't do it, unless you want shiny inlay.

Yes, but this tsuba has soft metal inlays. They will be polished and I am not sure if Mark would like that.

I just wanted to add, Barry, that I appreciate that you are worried what people can do to their swords. The best advice is "don't try to clean it, apply machine oil". I agree with that, it is the best advice for novices. But not for seasoned collectors, is it.

Barry, I agree on the pitfalls, but one can: 1. get proper uchiko (e.g. from Bob Benson) 2. apply it carefully (in fact Bob attches a document on how to use it to avoid scratches) Of course a moron will do neither 1. nor 2., but then again, a moron will try to remove a rust spot with sandpaper and possibly polish a sword himself. Hence, I do not think that your argument is valid.

Gents, this article is not about how to remove oil. It is about how uchiko can enhance the sword (show its "true face" if you will). Of course, poor uchiko (to be bought as part of those cheap sword care care kits) may damage the sword, just like the application of too much pressure during "uchikoing". But that is another matter. Provided we have good quality uchiko from a polisher and we know how to use it (gently), its application should result in a sword where you can see more activities, including steel particles. This is what Kojima is claiming and this is what we should discuss. Of course warnings like "crap uchiko will damage your sword" and "too vigorous cleaning with good uchiko will result in scratches" is absolutely OK here, they are in fact really needed.

An article on using uchiko on polished swords. Easy to dismiss it as advice that results in damaging a fine polish, but since the author is also a nihonto afficinado, who has handled hundreds of swords (including many important ones), his point of view seems really worth discussing: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/uchiko.html

Period is most likely late Edo. School is difficult to determine.

As for the second sword - to determine if it is real, you need to remove the handle to let us see the nakago (tang). First, remove the pin from the handle (if there is any) Then remove the balde from the handle (do not do it bu grabbing and pulling the blade) Here is a tutorial how to do it: