Marius

Not necessarily weak. Rather tired and in need of a new polish.

Here is a good example of a very high quality Oomiya blade: http://yakiba.com/Kat_Morokage.htm

Brian, a difficult decision - one can only applaud It would be good to see pictures of the polish, but that is probably not going to happen...

I agree - such a polishing job deserves the publication of the polisher's name.

Unless it is a tachi tsuba. But yours is not.

Ed, the tsuba is Edo. Iron is too bland to be of an earlier production.

Adam, please read this thread - might be useful for your future purchases: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=16947&hilit=advice+beginner And congratulations on your first sword. Well done

You can't read Japanese? Even I can Try to decipher these kanji: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ka ... roke_count It's fun :-)

I think that to some extent this may have been rather gunto collectors who have driven the price up. General's tassel, ancestral blade etc. Have you seen the "q&a about this item"? One of them refers to potential value, a crude attempt to drive the price up. The story about the father who has hidden his treasure beneath the floor boards... Not exactly credible. I have the feeling that there is some shill bidding going on here. Ah, eBay... Sa? BTW, the "kinpun mei" is painted with goldpaint and crude.

Junichi, I have a small lamp with maybe 12 little LEDs...

A simple LED lamp works fine for me :-)

Alan, Kurt, Don't be shy Please share those sites with us

Saku - made (this). Masatomi, Choshu. Nice tsuba, well done Now you'll want to check if the signature is genuine.

Good start It is a real tsuba :D You could try to decipher the signature. But the eBay seller takaramon has done that already... So, what do you want to know?

Mike, I haven't found anything about your training as a polisher. Can you please tell us who taught you?

Mike, Who is your polisher?

Thanks Brian

Also, keep on mind that they publish an oshigata with every sword they sell. That helps the buyer who cares to look at them.

This one is actually for JPY600,000

Apparently some people regarded this as the real McCoy...

Sorry for the OT, but what happened to Reinhard and Milt the Ronin?

And where do you buy? It is always good to have many sources BTW, a dark hamon can indicate softer and less brittle steel. Better to take on armor, especially when combined with niku. But the colour is also a function of polish...

Sorry guys trying to write using a smartphone (I'm off skiing) :D And no, I don't think that deers have any deals for me

Well, I never bid in their auctions But you are right, these auctions are unnecessary.