Ken-Hawaii

Common sense says that if you have a blade with active (red) rust, you need to use something that will stop/slow its progression. Depending on condition, I've used Bob's uchiko to spot-treat an area, until I can afford to get the blade in for a polish. Other than that, just remember that uchiko is the exact same material that a togishi uses to polish your blade. I'm not a togishi, so I don't use uchiko, except as above. Case in point. A fellow iaidoka saved up for five years to buy her first Nihonto, & since I had advised her, she set up a Zoom call, so I could see her reaction when she first saw her blade. It was a nice old Bizento, & I was walking her through the details, when I had to break away to take a call. What I didn't know was that the seller had sent her a "cleaning kit," thinking he was doing something good, I'm sure. Anyway, by the time I got back, she was whapping away with the uchiko ball, & didn't stop when I told her to, because she had seen Samurai doing the same thing, before they used their sword.. She wasn't going to use it that way, & I finally got loud enough to get her to stop. It didn't take her very long to be able to see the damage SHE had done, & she was in tears. There wasn't a lot more that I could say or do. "We have met the enemy, and he is us" Pogo

That's damn impressive, Richard! Well thought out & designed. Just remember that thieves who see your locking machanism can just walk away with the entire katanadansu. Bolt to something solid.

About 10 years ago, I was teaching tameshigiri at least once a week, & I had it polished twice that year. It's a Cold Steel katana, & one of the toughest modern blades that I own. Excellent for cutting.

That's right, John. The blade isn't actually unsharpened, jsut micro-chips forming, from what I gathered.

After many years of swinging swords, teaching tameshigiri, I always question why blades don't stay sharp. I ran into a fascinating study that might shine some light on that, https://www.zmescience.com/science/shaving-razors-blade-chips-46373453/ I've always had the impression that more extensive or complete cutting occurred with tangential cuts, but this kind of cutting may play a role of more rapid loss of sharpness. Thinking about it, perhaps a tangential cut places more stress vectors on the side of the edge that makes an obtuse axis to the object. Fractures probably occur in a laminar fashion, parallel to the edge not supported by the material being cut. This is what keeps tosho, & razor blade companies in business. Just speculating.

Before you panic, Jason, take a look at https://markussesko.com/kantei/ Markus walks you through a university-level kantei. Great learning experience.

Glad to have you onboard, Charles. Please let us know your interests as they develop.

Yes, & midare is almost too shallow. Hard to tell if it's carefully-controlled, or the victim of too many polishes. Have to see the blade in-hand. Boshi is midare-komi with hakikake.

Be interested to see how it compares to Markus' excellent references.

For those of you who are bidding, but aren't yet Gold Tier members, that's another good way to keep NMB afloat.

Glad to see that Bob is finally getting some blades back from shinsa. I've been putting off sending anything outside the U.S. Congrats on the Motooki blade getting Hozon, Ray.

Please, George, read & study first. Then, you can make an informed decision on whatever you want to buy. I agree that Grey is top-notch, BTW.

The 70s, hmm. I got shot at, had kids, got divorced, remarried, sold my GTO & motorhome because I couldn't afford the fuel. Yup, those were the days.

+1

The discrimination circuit in most sub-$1000 metal detectors aren't very good at identifying anything except base metals (iron, tin, etc.). The good ones will also indicate silver/gold/platinum, but unless you have X-ray fluorescence equipment, don't expect to see any differentiation.

Pretty sure that punched = chiseled, Piers.

Jaime, the first time you hold a real Nihonto in your hands, you will understand just how NON-Nihonto these two blades are. We can't call them "fake," because they are actual blades, but they are far from being Nihonto, no matter how many photos you show. Please spend your money on a couple of good reference books, & then study them closely. That is the best way to ensure you don't waste your money again.

Steve & John V., let's start off with the fact that there were many generations of Sukesada tosho. So if someone is going to make a gimei copy, this name probably would not be chosen, as there simply wouldn't be much, if any, profit. This is what John J. said. With that out of the way, have either of you taken a close look at your blades for their other qualities? Sugata? Jihada? Hamon? How do these compare to known-good blades? There's an important saying: "Buy the sword, not the mei.' When you're considering a blade to buy, strip it down, until it's bare, before you start your kantei. Look at the koshirae & tosogu only after you've made sure that the blade is what you think it is - & what you want to spend your money on. This site should help: https://markussesko.com/kantei/

Dimensions?

An excellent lesson. Thanks, Paul.

That's quite good, Kirill.

I haven't received anything yet, but it's been so long that I don't recall what the reward was.

Del, there's no reason to worry about removing old oil, under most conditions. I've received a couple of blades with the oil sort of "condensing," into small sticky globs, & those were the only times when I needed to use denatured alcohol to clean everything off, before reoiling. Using uchiko on a decently polished blade isn't a good idea. As far as getting your money's worth, I think you did okay. An ubu Shinto blade is perfectly reasonable as a starter. As Kirill pointed out, Eric doesn't sell junk, & my dealings with him have always been positive. Now that you've invested in your first blade, it's time to invest lots of time in studying. Connoisseur is an excerllent reference, but trying to study & learn from it alone, is like trying to use an unabridged dictionary, while you're still learning how to spell. I would start with https://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Sword-Handbook-John-Yumoto/dp/4805309571/ followed by https://www.amazon.com/Facts-Fundamentals-Japanese-Swords-Collectors/dp/1568365837/ That will give you a good initial library, & you can add to that as you find more specific interests.

Yes, same here.

It's possible to build your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUeNt3z7TK0