Ken-Hawaii

Thanks, Jean. That's very interesting, & I'm surprised I hadn't heard about it. So the Muromachi tosho used these Oroshigane Gama to create Shingane for Nihonto, right? I assume that Kawagane would require better control of the steelmaking process (i.e., Tamahagane from a tatara). Can this process be tied in with the Kazu-Uchimono that appeared during this period? There were a lot of factors that led to the demise of Kamakura blade techniques, & this sounds like one of them. In other words, since Kamakura tosho techniques were passed down through word-of-mouth, I'm hoping to eventually write a paper on how & why these techniques were lost in time, because there was so much else going on (like Daimyo demands for more blades, at any cost!). The quality of steel (or lack thereof) from this "field experient" process would certainly seem to be inferior to Tamahagane, & I'm getting a better handle on why several of my Muromachi blades have inconsistent jigane.

I understand the repurposing, but I'm thinking about early/mid Muromachi, when tosho were scrambling to make as many blades as possible. The tatara process isn't true smelting, as I recall, so would broken blades just be dumped in with the masa satetsu? That wouldn't allow for much control of the tamahagane. That may be the answer, based on sheer need, but I'll bet there was some type of processing after a battlefield was cleaned up.

Swords & other weapons broke, but how was the material reused? Tamahagane was too precious, a few hundred years ago, to just throw it out, but I've never seen any discussion on how it was reused.

Agreed that it's worth $750, but why buy a blade with unknown features or provenance?

Mike, right now is a good time to stop doing anything to your blade. There is a huge gap in your knowledge, & you need to fill it with some studying. I suggest heading over to Amazon, where $20 will buy you https://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Sword-Handbook-John-Yumoto/dp/4805311347 which is a good primer for this very complex field.

Quite impressive, Piers!

That would have been an interesting weapon to fight with. Pole or sword?

John, please note that if you send the blade to NBTHK, it will need a quality polish PLUS a new habaki & a shirasaya. You can't send it in koshirae. My guess is that you're looking atb $1500-$2000 before the shinsa. Are you that curious?

It's interesting, Peter, that my wife & I have agreed to start selling off items that no longer interest us, which includes a large art collection, Sterling silverware, & the like. But neither of us are interested in selling our sword collection. Of course, that may be because we're both still active martial artists, & after 30+ years, we're still learning the correct ways to use a sword.

Welcome aboard, Joshua. Grey is exactly right. We've all been in your position, craving our first blade. Most of us grabbed the first thing we could find, & a few months later, wondered what the hell we were thinking! Grab some reference books from Amazon, instead, & spend some time learning before you buy. You'll appreciate that advice, later on.

Still drooling over that Yoshiro/Heianjo tsuba!

Paz, please take a look at the sixth photo here, https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/39816-tanto-yoroi-doshi-unmounted/ That angle tells us a lot, because the nioi-guchi highlights the real details. It does take some practice, though.

Roger that, Piers! I waited 6 weeks for a tsub from Hiroshima back in March, so this is a big step in the right direction.

A shinsakuto can also be a shinken. Just how the blade is used. Can't be an iaito, because those blades aren't sharpened.

Very nice collection & stand, Jiri. Surprised it hasn't already been snatched up.