felixAmbrosetti

Mystery SOLVED! Unlike in the movies where the protagonist finally would get the sword apart to find that it's the rarest most valuable sword ever created by the greatest swordsmith in Japan.....alas the blade does not seem to be signed. After hours of painstaking tapping, fiddling, gently prying, more tapping, more fiddling, more persuation etc etc etc....I got it apart. It is very corroded the pictures show. This pics are AFTER a bunch of elbow grease with 00 steel wool. It still looks pretty rough and if there was a signature I don't think it would be recoverable. Such as life. I am secretly happy that I get to keep this as a gift from dad and maybe I'll pass it down to my daughter some day. The question now is what is the best way to get this thing polished up and preserved. I got the mineral oil (light coating) part but what is a good way to get it up to shine like some of the one's I've seen online. It's still got a pretty good edge and I don't plan on trying to sharpen it. I guess the signature was on the kozuka and it's faded beyond being recognized.

Ok I admit defeat. I'm sorry but a can't get the handle off the blade. I've gotten the habaki a little loose....a tiny bit even. I tapped with this and that, I took it down to the shed and tried different techniques and I've not even been able to move the blade mo. My alternative now is to up the tapping and I'm just not willing to start breaking parts just to try and get a look at the blade and see if it's signed. Does anybody know somebody in the Atlanta, GA area that I could take this to for blade extraction and inspection? Thanks BTW for all the great info and advice! ps- anybody know what the symbols on the kosuka say or mean?

Ok horn makes sense. As the story goes a recent ancestor of my family picked this up in Japan between 1910 and 1920. Seems to fit in the late period everybody is mentioning. Also, it's supposed to be made by a highly regarded sword maker (she was a woman of means and a marquis as they tell me). It's all a neat story but I tend to be a sceptic. I managed to get the habaki to be a little loose by carefully tapping and scraping off some build up but no luck with the blade coming out yet. Will WD40 ruin parts? I know it would be horrific on the wrap on the handle but what about the horn parts or the blade?

Ok I have taken more pics with a real camera (not my phone). I compressed them down but not as much as before. You'll see a Pic of the inside of the hilt that my wife noticed there was something written. The characters are cut off by the shadow but the second is definitely a "3". I can remove the peg fairly easily but then it seems like I would have to hit it hard to get it free...I'm very hesitant to try this because whatever the material the hilt has on it doesn't seem to be strong or metal...maybe early plastic? Jade? I don't know.

I am brand new to this forum and if I have posted in the wrong place, my apologies. Let me preface this with I know absolutely nothing about Japanese swords except for what I have tried to learn in the past two days. I'm interested in finding out if this is real and possibly valuable. My father recently gifted it to me and says it's been in the family a long time. So Far I have been able to identify it as a tanto (duh) and the two smaller pieces seem to be a kozuka and kogai? That's all I know. Although the blade is somewhat discolored it is not pitted and I'm sure could be buffed or polished out. I have not done anything to it for fear of ruining it's possible value by doing that. I would love some expert opinions and this seems to be a good place for that so I thank you in advance. I can post more pics or send higher res pics to anyone interested. DISCLAIMER: If this actually turns out to be a valuable antique I may very well sell it to help finish out my basement for a father-in-law suite. However, I will not be posting opinions as fact in any kind of sale without permission. Besides if it is truly valuable I will be having a professional written appraisal done.