loui

I didn't want to say it:) But I should say again that it is hard to say for sure without being held in the hand. And again, I don't want to insult your sword, I am just curious about it.

What about the patina - looks like it was made yesterday. Any hada?

I can't see any hada from the pictures, looks like a newly made sword, nakago seems new with artificial aging after the polish was done. Hard to say exactly though without holding it in hand, something seems "off" about it, might give a different impression in person so please don't be offended. Edit ...Why age the nakago after the polish - weird, shinshinto - I don't buy it based on those pics sorry. But if Shinsa team members looked and said it is shinshinto then they should know what they are talking about - surprising they would say that with a nakagao looking like that. Louis

Ya sorry about that:) I'll talk about stones whenever I get a chance. Regards, Louis

Yes we are a weird bunch. I received the stone and can't use it, it is too big and I'd have to cut it, was taken by a miner about 40 years ago, before the koma nagure strata was "corrupted". The miner didn't want to cut it and the stone shop I got it from didn't want to cut it, soooooooo......I can't cut it either. Even the stone guys are strange:) It now resides in my display cabinet.

No doubt about it, I won't go into the details on that but I prefer old school honest polishing - drilled into my head a few years ago. I do realize there is a place for it with modern swords - the hardness of the steel is much different than blades of old, my stones would take a beating and I love them too much for that. Is it wrong to say good night to a 4 pound koma nagura-do before bed?????

The process of hadori is accomplished with finger stones, a mixture of oil and kanahada and/or other ingredients are used before the fingerstone work is done, the kanahada darkens the ji and give the whitish work contrast. It may be "chemical" but fairly inert as it is mainly oil and kanada. Sashikomi is different and used Jitekko and oil (and maybe some other ingredients , the effect is not as drastic and has s different effect on the steel, chemical in nature but fairly inert ie, not caustic or acid in nature. Some processes on hybrid polishes use mild acids for etching I believe, I do not know much about hybrid polishing and don't care to know as I don't believe the process crosses over to genuine Nihonto - IMHO. Regards, Louis

Like Chris said opening a window is usually about a 4-5 inch section, the polisher can open it in several places, ie, kissaki, or any place along the blade that he feels might be a questionable area (something that might pose a problem like loss of temper), or for a healthy blade just about any place. The term is Madoake - which I think literally means "open window" - like opening a window of a house to see what is inside. The window could be in sashikomi or keisho depending on how the polisher would like to see the finished product. What stumps me a little here and in some other threads is the method of polishing, it isn't traditional, it incorporates some artificial means of "polishing" the ji area and what may be an acid procedure for the hadori. The pure white area is unnatural and does not produce the proper effect - it is not traditional or really very acceptable. Keisho is basically to make pretty - like make up, it is not supposed to be cover up. A black and white sword to a new collector might seem flashy and impressive, but given time and knowledge one will learn that swords are not just "black and white". I usually don't like to critique any polishing but this "process" can be harmful, I just received a blade that had the very same treatment and some chemical was seeping out of the hada and corroding the blade, so I had to re-polish it. And to boot the "white wash" covered up a hagire that would have been seen with a proper polish. Please don't allow chemicals to be used on swords. Regards,

Paper scabbard, pretty common practice, just roll the blade in newspaper from the tip to just over the machi. Leave about 3 inches past the tip and fold it over and tape it - tape along the paper every few inches. Oil blade and leave it in the paper scabbard - done.

Some times it is just obvious what finish should be used in my opinion, no set rules.

Hi Chris, I appreciate your enthusiasm for this subject it is always interesting to hear about collectors and dealers likes/dislikes. I would however say that your statement above might be a bit terse, a poor polish doesn't always end up as a dead sword, for the most part it is usually just a sword with a bad polish. We see blades with old bad polishes (pre WW2) that are not dead, heck we even see fresh polishes from Japan that are bad polishes - they just need a new good polish, or perhaps can even be enjoyed by a knowledgeable collector the way it is, they can see through the bad to the good. I am seeing many generalizations in this thread, and as usual the new collectors on here should be taking some of this with a grain of salt as most of it is merely personal likes/dislikes and "trends" that may be dictated by more that just what is best for the sword. At your level of collecting (mainly newer swords?) I am sure you know exactly what you are looking for (while always expanding your likes/dislikes), I am also sure that you are able to see the good in a sword with a bad polish - the potential it you will, at least I hope so. Regards, Louis

Hi Chris, I I'm curious, you said that westerners don't know how to view swords properly (can't seem to find the exact quote), can you please elaborate on that? Thanks.

It doesn't always have to be an old Koto katana to make you stop and take a look eh. Very nice little piece! Regards, Louis

Very nice Philip! Louis

Hi Gents, A friend brought this over the other day, not quite sure what it is, we were thinking a ranma at first but this is a little different I think. It mounts from the side with wooden pegs. Any ideas what this is?

Nice sword, lots of potential, like Mark said not tired at all. The tsuba and nakago can be repatinated easily, lots of potential there in my opinion. Regards, Louis

Thanks for the post. My Sensei told me that he finally really understood kendo when he turned 63 even though he had been training since he was very young, his last grading was at 7th dan in the 1970's when he was in his 50/60's. He returned to Japan and left our school when he was 82 years old, he could out pace, and out work everyone in the dojo up until the time he left. I have not heard from him in about 8 years. Incidently he was forced into the imperial army when his family returned to Japan in the 1930's for a visit from Canada - he was born here in Canada as well. Regards, Louis

Ya, it was a bit of a joke:) Maybe it will be an Iphone app one day:)

So, do they have a suitcase size analyzer to bring to shinsa? Very interesting - thank you for posting. Louis

Very nice story, and a beautiful blade. That "son of a bitch over there" sounds like someone familiar. Regards, Louis

I've polished several very badly buffed blades, no loss of temper and they turned out fine. Regards, Louis

I have a few swords on the wall, some of them are pretty nice, but one of them stands out for me and I like it the most, a bizen wakizashi, gimei, a large hagire, and 2 large blisters above the hagire. This blade had been bent very badly at some point in its life - that caused the crack and blisters. This blade came out of an old collection in Japan, the Japanese owner was very wealthy and had some very expensive swords, he loved it enough to have a high quality shirasaya made, a top quality polish, and a top quality habaki for it - so why would a Japanese collector spend 3K on a restoration on a gimei blade with some brutal "fatal" flaws? Maybe there is a sucker born every minute - or maybe some people see things differently than others. If you think that there are old collections in Japan that are free of hagire then I think you are mistaken. I remember looking at a Kanabo Masatsugu katana at one of the Chicago shows, it had been taken out of a shrine and polished, I think it had 8 or 12 hagire in it, it had obviously been in some major battle/battles, it was quite the sight to behold - worthless? To some maybe, as a functional sword? You bet, but I don't think it would have formed all those hagire in one strike - seemed to work very well for its owner until it was offered to the shrine. Valuable enough for a shrine. It isn't black and white to all, some have their likes and dislikes, historical value, aesthetic value, group mentality etc all tend to form the way we feel about swords. I'll keep my old bizen sword, it's not for sale, newer collectors tend to look at it and just see a hagire, some old collectors as well, but some look at it and see a very nice sword, it's all in the eye of the beholder. I am not saying that all swords with hagire are great and that they should be restored yada yada, but I will say that each sword should be judged on its own and to not always succumb to a group thought. To say a sword with a hagire is worthless as a rule I'll disagree some of the time. Oh, and I paid $100.00 for my wakizashi. Regards, Louis

Excellent example, that is exactly how my 26 inch Kanabo Masatsugu was mounted. Well done. Louis

I have had several that are split like Ian says, hollowed out but there is a small wedge cut the length of the nakago - then glued in place and wrapped/banded. Louis

Here are some blades that have been restored that most likely would have been written off by many people: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/restoration.html Regards, Louis