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Alex A

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Everything posted by Alex A

  1. We use the term "cobbled" a lot but again worth mentioning that folk have been cobbling koshirae together for hundreds of years. There are things to look for when buying swords with a koshirae. Fit.....is the saya and tsuka made to fit the sword?, does everything line up ok for kozuka/kogai Seppa, do they match the size of the fuchi correctly?, are there too many ? (not to say you wont find examples in the Tokyo museum with seppa that are undersized or stick out like a dogs hind leg) Ray skin............old or new Ito...........old or new Ito wrap, done well or amateurish Damage Quality of fittings Small things can be put right, loose tsuba, seppa, small damage, not the end of the world. Over the years, seen some very good deals on good swords with good antique koshirae. Nick and Ray sold some very nice examples if my memory serves me right.
  2. Hope it comes with some provenance regarding its history, im not seeing any. Tsuka ito dont look so old in the images.
  3. Jon Told you you would get some opinions! Another thought, be careful where you show potential purchases, seen one or two get snapped up on sight haha
  4. If we are heading into blade quality, perhaps better with a wak. For a lot less than that seen blades by Naokatsu, Tadakuni, Nobukuni, Sadayoshi come and go.............
  5. Alex A

    My first purchase

    Seen some polishes, looks to be an old blade and interesting. The very first pic, i thought Bizen. (not to say thats right)
  6. As Matt and John point out, that Tadayoshi is nice, from a long line of well known smiths. Konuka hada............
  7. Does not seem so many great deals about at the moment. The koshirae is nice on the Owari (1), The blade itself is nice too. Ive asked for clearer images in the past with this dealer but it does not seem to go down well. Welcome to the wonderful world of buying swords online
  8. Alex A

    A tanto

    Must admit, struggling to see a re-shaped kissaki or anything unusual about the boshi in these images.
  9. Hi Jon, Some variety in that bunch, see your sword must have koshirae. One of the dealers there, imagesi struggle with, blades always look to be in heavy hadori polish even when they might not be, difficult to tell, for me. One of the blades is kanbun shape with little sori, not the most sought after, consider re-sale. One looks tired. All personal opinions and likes, as is what you will find when you ask
  10. Alex A

    A tanto

    Hi Grev, Adding all that together looked at Mino and other schools like Takada and Fujishima etc And in the end, my inexpert kantei attempt comes to Sue-Seki also. Be nice if there was masame near the mune and would help varify. Be good to hear what a shinsa panel think.
  11. Alex A

    A tanto

    Hi Grev Your tanto What is the kasane ? Is the mekugi-ana punched or drilled?, looks punched ?
  12. Alex A

    A tanto

    Be good to find out what they think. The little time i spent the other day i ended up looking into Shimada but then footy started Some good clues there, you should be able to come up with something yourself
  13. Alex A

    A tanto

    Hi Grev, was hoping get some time have a go at this one, like these kantei quiz. Something telling me this may be early Edo but not sure yet. Personally, i would not bother with Shinsa unless it was in UK, not because its not worth it, just i couldnt be bothered shipping abroad + expenses. You should be able to get some good answers without the hassle. Nice blade.
  14. Simple rule to sword buying, if unsure or have any doubts, then dont buy it. Consider selling it in the future............... before buying.
  15. And what a great reminder of how you must do your homework before any purchase!
  16. Alex A

    A tanto

    Not the most typical type of yasurime for Sue-seki.
  17. Think i have been unaware as i usually go in the post office and the folk that work there dont know the rules and just let stuff go. Must say though, i dont ever remember them stating "antiques over 100 years old" on their website before. As for the insurance i paid, will attempt to get it back. No one down there had a clue or the authority to give me a refund. In the end i was asked not to talk to a representative but to do an online keyboard chat with someone, which was frustrating
  18. Its only a few times lately that i have booked online with parcelforce to post swords. I usually go in to the post office and as much as that can be a hassle i was unaware or cant remember them saying they dont insure antiques. Anyways, posted a sword to a friend today, did it online to be picked up today but got this email last night, so had to send at my own risk. Tried to cancel the insurance before pick up but got messed around for an hour then got told as its been picked up there will be no refund. See below, when reading through all the details it does make me wonder WTH they do actually insure and also notice they state they no longer ship antique firearms also. I described it as "antique over 100 years old", as always. I will point out that in the past folk have stated they wont pay insurance, as claiming for it is like getting blood out of a stone anyways. Good Afternoon I am contacting you in regards to an order that you have placed for collection. We notice you have protected the item and would like to confirm that you are aware of the prohibited and we exclude from compensation items list. We must advise you that 'antiques over 100 years old (or any item similar in description or content) can only be carried on a no-compensation basis on any service, meaning your parcel contents are not protected for loss or for damage. Such items would be sent at your own risk. During the booking process you are asked to check your item against the prohibited and no compensation items list and antiques over 100 years old appears on the list. You can see the list on the link below - https://send.parcelforce.com/prohibited-and-restricted-items https://www.parcelforce.com/help-and-advice/sending/items-we-exclude-compensation Providing that your goods are well packaged, I can see no reason why damage would occur. We must remind you though, that we will not be liable for any damages caused due to insufficient packaging of the goods. Please ensure that the packaging is suitable for the weight of your goods which are being sent and there is internal packaging used to protect the goods. To help you out with this I have provided a link below to our packaging advice, here you will find useful hints and tips with regards to packing your goods for transit; https://send.parcelforce.com/help-centre/parcels/question/packaging/packing-advice-and-guidance We also must confirm that you are fully aware of the service terms and conditions before the collection goes ahead. Full terms and conditions can be seen at the link below: https://www.parcelforce.com/conditions-of-carriage If you wish to remove the protection, you can do so, but this must be done before the collection takes place. You can also cancel the order and receive a full refund if you do not wish for this to be collected. *Please note protection and order cancellations/changes can only be accepted before order has been picked up*
  19. Ye, be good to see nakago
  20. I use something called ballistol, seems decent but does smell a bit weird.
  21. Perhaps the images Simon, cheers
  22. Your blades look nice, Just have a thing about decent blades being brought down by questionable koshirae. The ito wrap looks amateurish, if any of the fittings are modern repro i would get rid and start again with old, or just get shirasaya made. Nice swords though!
  23. What oil is that Jean ?,
  24. Hi Simon, difficult to tell from the images, but is that koshirae modern ?
  25. Hi Jacques, Im no expert either, just have a few humble thoughts now and again. Seen and owned swords, papered swords by the way that dont quite fit the typical range for a given timeline (call it what you want). So i just accept there are always exceptions to the [ ] we like to fit stuff in to. Once had a chat with a dealer in Japan about this, kind of got the impression he was thinking i was being a little pedantic (at the time)
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