Widowmaker

Hello, guys. I recently plan to buy a Mukansa level nihonto and I found this one. http://imgur.com/BDpYQXa I want to know your opinions or critics on this sword. Especially what are the flaws of this sword. For me, the only thing which disturb me is the width at the Hassaki which is a little bit thin compare to the average (2,65cm compare to 3cm). Also the price is around 1 000 000 JPY. Do you think it is worth it ? By the way the sword doesn't have any tosogu. I have to ship it to a Japanese craftman so that he can make a scabbard and tsuka for me. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your answer. Here is the photo of this nihonto. What do you think about its quality? Thank you http://imgur.com/BDpYQXa

Hello everyone, I hope everything go well for all you guys. Recently I have spotted a very good Nihonto forged by a Mukansa rank forger. The hamon looks beautiful and the length is quiet good for my size. I measure 172cm. However I have two questions for you guys: 1. The Width at the Hamachi 元幅 is 2,65cm and the one at the Kissaki is 1,95cm. This number seems to be quiet low for me as average width at the Hamachi is around 3cm. The length is 71cm for the blade. Do you think that the blade is too thin? I have searched on forum that if we are not technically trained, the sword may blend if it is too thin. 2. The blade is in Shirasaya. How much does the fabrcation of a new scabbard and tsuka cost in Japan? Thank you very much!!

Hello everyone, Thank you for all your answers. I have asked Roman to make a new pair of thick Seppa for me. He did incredible amazing seppa in the past. Thanks again for your answer.

I am 99% sure that it is fake. The hamon looks so artificial... The guy who made this tried to impress people with all the engraving on the sword, but this just make it even more ridiculous

Hello everyone, today I finally managed to put my 风林火山 tsuba on the kanehide nihonto. However I just noticed that, I have a 0.15cm gap between the tsuba and the inferior seppa. I didn't have such as a gap before, it is certainly because of the thickness of the new tsuba. So what should I do now? I just don't like the fact that things are not well assembled. Should I buy a pair of seppa which are thicker than before so that I don't have any gap? Or I should add a third seppa? Please give me some advices please. Thank you very much in advance!!!

Hello everyone, I recently begin iaito training. I wonder which transporting bag do you guys use when you take bus or subway in public place? I have this bag, But it is way too attractive for other people. Everyone is looking at the bag as if there is something strange or dangereous inside, I feel unconfortable... So I plan to buy another bag, something like this What do you think? Is there an specific manufacturer or seller or brand that you use? I need a really high quality one. Please give me some advices. Thank you very much in advance!!!

Hello, everyone, The alcohol I purchased from a reputed ebayer has arrived yesterday evening. I cleaned my sword with a microfiber cloth with this alcohol. It is 99,9% isopropylic alcohol. What is suprising is that, when I looked my sword after cleaning it under light, I discover something like choji style hamon that I didn't notice before applying the alcohol. We can observ this if I place the Nihonto vertically under the light and looked at it carefully. Is it normal? I didn't see this before when I examined the sword under light. (or maybe I didn't pay attention). It is hard to take photos right now, since I am alone and no one could help me holding the sword. But I will try to find a way to make some photos. Thank you in advance.

Hi, guys, Just want to make a little update for this thread. Does anyone find any new interesting offer for this book? Please let us know if anybody got it for a interesting price. Thank you

Thank you Chris. I will wait for yuji's answer.

Hi guys, here are the Mei. Hope it could help you identifying. Thank you

:D

Hi Chris, I have asked this to Yuji of Tokugawa arts sword. I am waiting for his answer. Thank you for the observation.

It is recent, anything later than 1900's is recent imo. I say cut away! If later in life if he decides to polish it then im sure years of use will be fixed in one polish anyway. Great sword, your photos look way better than the ones from the dealer. Id be happy with that. Btw is your profile picture Aizen? Trent S I have been in the list of David Hofhine for a future polish. It will be done in two years... I think I have a lot of time. LOL, yes, my profile is Aizen Sosuke, my favorite character in Bleach.(before he reveals his true nature).

Zhang, is this a Japanese blade? Seems unusually heavy, and the edge should not have a mirror polish. At least this is what I am used to see. Hello, Rokujuro, yes, it is a Nihonto. I would say that the weight is normal and average for a traditionnal Shinken. I think it is just I lack exercise and my arms don't have enough muscle yet. LOL.

Thanks. Does anyone have something to say on the hamon and the steel grain? Thank you

Could you post more pictures of the edge? I mean, zoom in on the edge so that we could see if there is any presence of Hamon. At the moment, I would say that it is not a traditionnal made tanto, the shape is very odd. The mei may be Gimei(false signature). I cannot see any presence of hamon, so I would say that it is some fake reproduction of Japanese tanto. Please wait for other people's opinion. They may correct me.

Hello, everyone. My nihonto arrived Saturday. I couldn't hold myself to try immediately cutting some papers to test its sharpness, It was holy easy. Every part of the edge can cut paper like butter effortlessly. A little bit heavy for me right now, it weights 1200g. I lack exercice for sure and my arms are not developped enough yet. The balance is about 8 cm on top of the tsuba. the global condition is as Mint as the seller stated. A very healthy blade.

That's a pain to find an Break Free Collector online store who is willing to ship to France. Most of them only ship to USA.

Enchanté et Salutation, cher Jean! Good to find French expert here. Nice!

Yes I live in Paris. Are you French too, Jean?

Thank you Chris. I will definitely check out the Camellia Oil and Rem Oil. Thank you for your information Chris!!

Thank you kunitaro for your detailed answer. Fri 08/22/2014 11:53 AM ROISSY AEROPORT CHRONOPOST Shipment in transit Fri 08/22/2014 10:13 AM Chronopost France Arrival at inbound gateway Scan site:Roissy - Paris - FR Fri 08/22/2014 09:24 AM ROISSY INTER CHRONOPOST Shipment cleared by customs, consignee to pay duties and tax Customs tax:Shipment taxed Comment:Duty to be collected at delivery Fri 08/22/2014 07:48 AM ROISSY INTER CHRONOPOST Arrival at inbound gateway Wed 08/20/2014 05:55 AM ETRANGER Arrival at outbound gateway Tue 08/19/2014 02:57 PM ETRANGER Sorting done at departure depot Comment:Sending supported by Chronopost, delivery in progress As I said below, the sword arrived safely in France today. I called Chronopost to get information about the tax to pay. They told me that I have to pay 30 euros (VAT tax + custom handling fee) when the parcel will arrive at my home. A sms was sent to me from Chronopost to confirm that the parcel will be shipped to my home tomorrow. However, what embarassed me is: it is 23h00 Paris local time, the parcel has been in transit for almost 12 hours now. Normally, when the parcel left custom and is taken in charge by Chronopost, the parcel would arrive very fast in the distribution center before the end of the day. However, this time, the parcel is still in transit. Very strange. On top of that, the aeroport Charles de Gaulles is really not far from Paris and the Chronopost paris distribution center(30 minutes car driving). I wonder why they take so many time in transit. Don't know if they will take my parcel to other department. The worst case would be that the parcel has been stolen and I don't receive any scanned information anymore. But I think I should stop panic and call them tomorrow morning.

Hi, thank you for all your answer. It seems that I overworried. The parcel has just arrived this morning at 5 am in Paris. It is planned to be shipped to my home tomorrow. However, according to the french tracking page, it seems that I have to pay tax in spite of my low value declare. Fri 08/22/2014 09:24 AM ROISSY INTER CHRONOPOST Shipment cleared by customs, consignee to pay duties and tax Customs tax:Shipment taxed Comment:Duty to be collected at delivery Well, I don't know which tax it is. I doubt highly that it is the VAT since for anything under xx$ (I forgot the value limit) we don't have to pay VAT. Maybe I was wrong. Whatever, the most important is it arrives safely in Paris and will be delivered to me. I have a friend who is photographer. I will ask him to make some decent photos of the sword once I receive it so that you guys can rate the quality of the hamon with these true photos. Thank you again and sorry for this newbie stress. The thread can be deleted since it is quiet useless and doesn't represent any interest. Have a nice day all!

Hello everyone, My Nihonto has been shipped on 18/08/2014. From the tracking page, it says that "Dispatch from outward office of exchange" on 08/20/2014 13:21. Now we are 08/21/2014 18:42(both Japan time), and the status remain the same. I checked also the french Chronopost tracking page(organization which will take in charge once the parcel arrived in France), it says the same thing. I have already make online purchase from Japan several time. The delay between dispatch from export agency and arrive in France import agency usually is inferior to 24h even less. So I wonder maybe the Nihonto need to be specifically treated by the Japanese custom. Are there additionnal process to make when we ship a Nihonto? Thank you, I begin to worry more and more. Japanese EMS tracking page State occurrence date （In local time if occurred overseas） Shipping track record Details Office Prefecture / Country ZIP code（Postal code number） 08/19/2014 14:57 Posting/Collection NAGOYAHIGASHI AICHI 461-8799 08/19/2014 23:51 En route NAGOYAJINGU AICHI 469-8799 08/20/2014 05:55 Arrival at outward office of exchange CHUBU INT AICHI 479-0199 08/20/2014 13:21 Dispatch from outward office of exchange CHUBU INT AICHI 479-0199 French Chronopost tracking page History Date and Time Event Complement Wed 08/20/2014 05:55 AM ETRANGER Arrival at outbound gateway Tue 08/19/2014 02:57 PM ETRANGER Sorting done at departure depot Comment:Sending supported by Chronopost, delivery in progress