cuttingedge59

Hi, Unfortuneatly as others have stated made by that little chinese guy called one hung low . Use this forum and good books as a resource before spending your hard earned money on junk. regards Chris nz

In a word , no . Something like that would bother the hell out of me and then I could probably buy four good blades of the type i like for that sort of money. Maybe even one or two more. Beautiful sword though when you look past the flaw. Chris nz

I always wonder when old photo's like these come up how many of the nihonto shown have survived through time to be somewhere in the world today . It would also be very interesting to know who carried which smiths work . There seems to be some shown who obviously had standing at the time so one would expect them to carry items with the sample level of prestige as their position indicates . regards Chris nz

Hi I use Forex which is a wire transfer company that deposits the funds direct into the receipt's bank account . Exchange rates are always better than the banks. You do need to set up an account with them but is easy and they do have a minimum transfer amount which here is 1k . Regards Chris nz

Hi all So after some time thinking about this item and taking on board all the excellent advise received i took the plunge with this sword and sent it away to a american based Japanese polisher for assesment .The gentlemen in question served an 7 yr apprenticeship and is a 7th dan iado sensei , so has been around swords all his life. He also felt the sword had merit and that the flaws would come out with the polish . The end result was brillant , no flaws in the ha or near the hamon with a small ware opening up in the shingo-ji . He also made a new saya for me with all horn fittings . This is the first that i have had polished and really have enjoyed the journey and the satisfaction of bring back to life so to speak something that last had a stone on it 300 yrs ago. This has ended up with a beautiful Mokume hada and very active Toran harmon with Togari. Nagasa of 28 inches. Ubu and mumei nakago. Polishers attribution to Omi No Kami Fujiwara Tsugahira. Photo's attached are poor , best i can do at the moment . Chris NZ kat1.pdf kat2.pdf kat3.pdf kat4.pdf

Hi As a matter of interest i have seen a couple of signed Hizen Tadahiro's listed for sale by Nihonto australia and both times now they have proven to be Gimei , infact i almost brought the first until I asked Rogers opinion. So I guess it really is very important to do your homework on this school before committing. This is something that i have learned over some time mainly through reading the topic's on the board and listening to those with many years experience plus reading some good books on the subject . So a big thankyou to those who contribute on this topic . Chris Nz

Hi I have watched this video several times now and each time i see something else that has the wow factor. This type of display is duplicated across many different types of arms and armour displays across the musemum. if i ever go to Italy this musemum willl be a must visit. Glad others are enjoying video. Would be great to hear from some of our european members if they have visited. Chris NZ

Hi All, Youtube video i was sent the link to recently . Fantastic display of some really nice items in an Italian musemum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIkngz2fODc Regards Chris NZ

Thanks Jean, Links much appreciated. Chris NZ

Hi All I have a katana with a big aggressive Harmon that starts of with typical Osaka yakidashi. This seems to run for around 50mm. Does anyone have something similar they could share or links to photo's. Have done the usual searches but not a lot comes up. Katana is away at the polishers at the moment who has attributed it to Omi No Kami Tsuguhira. , Sword is mumei . Have searched the smith and got additional info but not a lot of help comparing apples with apples . Regards Chris NZ

Hi , Just a thought , as you live in southern California I do wonder if this is one of the items that Eric Roush has had a go at. Seems very similar to other examples of his workmanship . He resides in Santa cruz and is one polisher you do need to avoid locally. Cheers Chris NZ

Roger , Absolutely bloody fantastic. A good aquaintance here in Nz has talked about your knowledge and your book so a buzz to hear from the man. I believe a Daito he once owned is featured in your book . another really good bloke. Cheers Chris NZ

Hi , If i am correct i have a hunch that this may have come from e-bay seller Showa22. If you do return it to him You must have a good reason ie not as discribed . Send it tracked and signature required on delivery . E-bay / Paypal will probably side with the seller as was my experience. He can be slippery when it comes to returns . Best of luck. Chris nz

Hi , For Tsuka work I wouldn't go past David McDonald , Japanese trained tsuka -shi and i know many from the board have used his services . I have had a tsuka done by him , one that a certain US based clown had a go at and he turned a shambles into stunning . Chris nz

And even the odd piece to New Zealand . Bottom of the world . Chris NZ There is no doubt, especially now with the internet, that there is a global market. Sitting here in northern Minnesota I sell as much to Europe as I sell to the US. I've even sold Japanese books to Japan. Cheers, Grey

Thanks Steve and Jean , I have had misgivings regarding the mei since i started researching it , so went back to the sword . Every thing else seems okay bearing in mind that my level of knowledge is at novice level . However it is as it should be for a Mino school sword according to the books. regards Chris

Hi Guys I have been working at trying to decipher this mei that is on the nakago of a mino katana that i have . My very limited opinion is that it is poorly carved and after a week or so searching online and trolling the available reference material regarding Kanji used for mei are starting to wonder if it actually means anything. Just can't find anything that seems to resemble listed kanji, Could someone give me a little direction or pointer as how to move forward with this. i have tried the stroke count option but either i can't count correctly or have been doing it wrong , same thing pretty much. As much as i would appreciate a translation i would like to still have a go myself , so just a little help please. Can i also say in passing that a couple of years ago I was also a newbie and am still here . Check in most days and throughly enjoy the wisdom , experience and point of view that is posted here . Regards. Chris nz mino 1.pdf

Another great purchase from Grey's inventory. Perfect purchase at a great price. Packaged and postaged within the hour of paying now that is customer service. Would buy again and probably will at some time. Thanks for the great service Grey Chris nz

Diego , Honah Had to find the pic's as i kinda thought pictures would really be necessary to judge the flaw . So here they are including a couple of extra 's of the mounts . Thanks for the reply's. Chris NZ P1020678.pdf P1020676.pdf P1020675.pdf P1020671.pdf P1020670.pdf P1020669.pdf P1020667.pdf

Hi All , I am looking for some guidance regarding a Shinto Osaka katana i have amongst my small acumilation of nihonto. This item was purchased for a low price due to the condition of its mounts and some minor edge chips and a fukure in the Ha of diameter 3 mm.The nakago is mumei and the blade in my very limited opinion seems to only ever have had one polish. It has a very aggressive active temper line and shows the posibility of a nice hada.Nagasa of 27 plus inches. Basically the saya was stripped of its fittings (Handachi ) and is split and unusable. The tsuka is loose and poorly finished. However everything is there and is all original . Would need a new saya and tsuka made and all fittings remounted. I don't consider myself a collector more of a accumilator as such , only one of my swords has a mei but all are in good new polish and presentable.One has nbthk papers. As this not a high value item i am torn as to how to deal with it in regards do I send it too one of the polishers( Hoffine or similar) and see what happens with the issues as I really like this sword , it all most seems to talk at times . Or do i keep it as a study piece or shift it on . I know that the purists will advise to leave well alone and find something better to spend money on but ! .Amongst my swords this is the one i am most wary of as it is extremely sharp and likes flesh . I guess my main question regards fatal flaws as my understanding is these are problems that would tend to leave a sword unusable in battle as a broken sword isn't gonna win a contest when the the other guy still has a meter of steel . So hagiri is number 1 but then there seems to be some discussion as to what is acceptable or not . Have read as much as I can find online etc . So thoughts please gentlemen. Regards, Chris NZ

Gentleman, This guy is seriously not the full monty and has a very high opinion of his abilities. As an novice and accumilator rather than a collector i am a little unsure as to who the people are mentioned in the above threads but would like to think that like many others have learned by their mistakes as i have done. Roush had an item of mine of small value that he promised to repair and return which didnt happen , surprise surprise . At the time another person in NZ contacted me after noticing my flaming comments on facebook and here and informed me that Roush had two of his swords for restoration for over three years. Having little joy with the local legal system ( very difficult when you live miles away ) we engaged a local PI who found Roush in No time and successfully retrieved our items . If anyone has items with this very deluded individual I would be more than happy to pass on contact details for the PI . Ps i have noticed some E-bay sellers listing items which would seem to have a signature Roush polish . Chris NZ.

Denis , i noted that however some of these guys have a rat hole so to speak incase things get dicey, and the Showa22 I/d has no listings . Roush changed his I/d a while back to another I/d that also was registered for some time. Maybe just a mirror but seems vert similar. Chris NZ

Hi All, Trolling e-bay this evening and come across a handfull of listings that would strongly sugguest that E-bay trader Showa22 is now trading under the I/d of Kings2715 . This is only a opinion and as such could be completely incorrect however looking at the way the listings are written seem very similar to the way that Showa22 used to list. http://www.ebay.com/itm/H98-Japanese-sword-tanto-dagger-in-aikuchi-mountings-/121642959374?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c527c420e Chris NZ

Often looked at his sales but nearly got ripped by him some time ago . Chris , often notice the same quality of polish as well on a lot of his sales items and wonder if it might be Roush's handy work. just a quess but you never know. Chris NZ

Hi All 'However you can add addition comments to the feedback sent post auction. This possibly has to be cleverly worded to beat e-bay , but can be done. One seller who sold me a fake in my greener years and wouldn't refund nor would e-bay support my claims left rather nasty comments along the lines of "this scammer " . So it can be done . Seems to be followup comments. Just to be clear I got my refund using My credit card company , using paypal does have some advantages. Did have to jump thru hoops . Chris