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Mikevorn

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Everything posted by Mikevorn

  1. I think a plastic fabricator may be the way to go. There are a lot of great stands pictured, but they seem to be made primarily for koshira. I am really interested to see the stand Barry mentioned. It is an interesting concept. I have been using a light with a flexible neck to capture the best angle, but a stand the changes angles would be really cool. Thank you everyone for the help.
  2. I was wondering were to find acrylic sword stands designed to hold a bare blade. I have been able to find numerous sources for acrylic stands that fit a saya but haven't been able to find them for bare blades. I have seen examples of the stands in displays at museums or special exhibits, but no luck finding them for purchase. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Mikevorn
  3. Yep those are the exact same menuki. I am amazed there are more of these props out there, and even more surprised that they have similar designed fittings. I wonder if they were made as movie Noh or Kabuki prop, and if it was one company or group producing them.
  4. Lee, You are are brilliant! What you are describing matches almost exactly with what I am dealing with here. The "tanto" that was in the mounting had a paper thin nakago. There is no way a regular sized nakago would fit in the tsuka. The "tanto's" blade was correctly shaped all be it a little on the thin side, but there was no tempering on it. I had originally thought it may have been a project someone Frankensteined together but now I wonder if maybe it is supposed to go with an boys day display or something. I wonder when these were made as there seems to be more in existence and what the purpose was?
  5. I recently was given a tsuka and was hoping someone could help me with a guess to age or any other information on the fittings. I am pretty limited in my knowledge of tosogu and what very little I do know is about iron tsubas which doesn't help. The fittings don't strike me as very old. They could even be modern, although I think slightly older Meji maybe? I think the f/k has goldfish on it but I might be mistaken. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
  6. Thank you everyone for the advice. Looks like I have some book shopping ahead of me.
  7. I am sure this subject has been addressed in another post but I didn't see it. What are the best books on tosogu, in particular tsubas? I have read the volume of the nihonto Koza dealing with the subject, and tsuba an esthetic study. What other books are recommended, and is there any that offer a broad overview similar to how the connoisseurs guide addresses Nihonto? Thanks for the help
  8. Could a re-temper have this result?
  9. I have been procrastinating on getting the sword made I have been busy with a mile long honey do list and child birth classes, (I make a pretty nice nursery.). Mom and baby are both doing great. She is due early February so I am still excitedly waiting to meet my little girl. My wife is giving me a weekend off of baby duty for the Tampa sword show. I want to talk to a few people there and then get serious about the commission.
  10. Clem, As a fellow newbie I would suggest skipping Hawley's. Markus has an index which is very good and if you buy it as an ebook with a lulu coupon it is like $50. Much cheaper than $500 for Hawley's. If you are looking for the Nihonto Koza, Grey has a complete set for sale for $800. I made the mistake of buying it piecemeal and have paid more and am still missing pieces. It is a great reference. The connoisseur's guide is my choice for a starting point. If you don't have a decent base knowledge the rest won't help. I have read and bought most of the recommended reading PM me if you want my suggestions for the best route to go cost verse knowledge value. Cheers,
  11. Chris, Thanks for the info. I googled the museum and it's collection looks really nice. I probably won't be able to make it that far north this trip but I will keep it in mind for the next one. Thanks,
  12. I am going to be in the Washington DC for a few days and was wondering if there are any good nihonto exhibits in the area. I feel like the Smithsonian art museum should but can't remember any from the last time I was there. Thanks,
  13. Ah a kurikata. That explains a lot. I thought it was rather unusually shaped. Just goes to show my ignorance of fittings The metal isn't attracted by a magnet so brass makes sense.
  14. I was hoping I could get some feedback on a Fuchi/Kashira. I picked these up on a whim mainly because they were dirt cheap and they looked like they maybe antique, so I figured why not. I am a sword guy and am completely clueless when it comes to fittings so any feedback would be appreciated.
  15. Is it only re-tempered blades by famous smiths that can pass shinsa, or can any re-tempered blade pass if that is the only flaw? Is it NTHK, NTBHK or both that will pass re-tempered blades?
  16. That is really impressive and very reasonably priced.
  17. The nihonto world sure is small. I have your book in my library. It was a good read!!
  18. Mr. Sinclair, are you the Clive Sinclair that wrote samurai the weapons and spirit of the Japanese warrior?
  19. Wow talk about a lot of quick replies. Thanks everyone for the feedback. Here is some additional info I didn't include in my original post; The wife is good with the idea. She is wonderfully supportive of my hobbies, (part of the reason I married her.) I do appreciate Greys concern (I will remember to duck if I come up with more outlandish ideas.) The babies college fund and our retirement are both well funded. The budget I came up is fun money. My main question was meant to be, Can a decent tanto realistically be commissioned for $2K-$3K and if so through who? Based on the responses I am not to far out of the ballpark. Thank you for the links and contact info, once I know the gender I can start following up. Side note; if I got it done, I was planing on displaying it until the child was 18 and then presenting it to them, or possibly waiting and leaving it to them in our will. I am not trying to follow any particular Japanese custom, (we aren't Japanese,) I just think a sword is way cooler than bronzed baby shoes. That said, there must have been something similar happening in Japan at some point in time as "there were orders of guardian swords from the Imperial Family when celebrating the births of new princes and princesses." (Yasukuni-to Tradition and Ideal Beauty translation by Kenji Mishina pg 16) Thank you everyone for the Congratulations and the sword help!
  20. I found out that my wife is pregnant with our first child. I thought that it would be cool to have a sword commissioned to commemorate his or her, (to soon to know,) birth. I don't have a huge budget for the work, (Dr. bills and all,) so I wanted a reality check to see if it was even possible. My price range is between $2000 - $3000. Obviously a new katana is way out of my price range, but I wasn't sure if a tanto would be unrealistic. I don't need a top rated smith to do the work as all I want something that will be sentimental in nature. My question is, is this realistic or a pipe dream, and if realistic, any suggestions or recommendations on a broker or someone to commission through? Sword shop usagiya seems to have options similar to what I wanted.... Thanks
  21. I thought perhaps the design was a clematis vine. The flower looks like a clematis I have seen on other tsuba, but not sure about the leaves being correct for clematis.
  22. Thanks David, Your site is very informative. Books on fittings are on my reading list, but for the time I am trying to work through the massive amount of nihonto info out there. It seems like the more I read the less I know and the longer the reading list gets.... I am a little disappointed it appears to be a Showa period tsuba. The people at tozando assured me it was late edo. Oh well live and learn besides its still a pretty cool souviner.
  23. Thanks for the info you do have and taking the time to post
  24. I was hoping someone could give me some assistance identifying a tsuba. I acquired this tsuba in Japan from a reputable antique dealer. They said it was from the late edo period. Unfortunately I can only speak a little Japanese and I couldn't find out any other information on it. I was hoping to get confirmation on the approximate age and what school it might be from. Also does anyone know what type of flower is pictured on the tsuba? I am a new collector and this was kind of an impulse buy.
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