Andi B.

...actually I don't have any katei skills or experience (ok, Shinto is clear...) so I had a look at Andreas' spoiler and tried to verify with my books: According to the “Nihon shinto shi“ the long kinsuji and the yakidashi are characteristic for this smith and match with this blade...so my guess is the same. Looking forward to the solution and the way how to find it!

Maybe this extra hole is required for the locking mechanism of military swords (I'm not familiar with this field...).

Interesting discussion! But having natural selection in mind and considering the varieties of existing hamon styles, I came to the conclusion that it obviously makes no big difference which hamon a blade should have to kill people... Maybe I'm a yellow-belly but I would be even afraid if my opponents blade would have lots of hagire...

Hello, on Facebook Paul Martin shared this link: https://www.kendo.co.uk/2017/06/17/notification-death-victor-harris/ Sad news...

What happened to my 5MB image while uploading to the forum? It seems to be there is an additional automatic compression of the uploaded image... (4,9 MB to 80KB). ...but Ken is right: as long as the blade images are coarse, high res is for chumps too.. Shape_Changes_Over_Time_c10.zip

...I saved Jays monster png file (436 MB) as jpg (5 MB / compression 10 but same resolution). Maybe that's a bit easier to download...

Hi, it has something to do with the Dew Point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3ADewpoint-RH.svg Not sure if this is valid for metal surfaces but shouldn't it be possible to make a chart showing the dangerous min. temperatur of a blade at various room temperatures and relative humidities...?

Front & Back:

Hello together I have a small shakudo? tsuba with a strange modification (actually a flaw). Something was erased from this piece. I could imagine there was a third - damaged - horse tried to be removed to fix the tsuba... Could this be the case? Was it common to "fight flaws with flaws"? Any idea what could have been carved away (horse, person, easter bunny)?

...I made a picture of the tsuba table - unfortunately you can't really see details:

Hello, found this article about a Goto kozuka with origami crane design: http://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/AJ201703140003.html

...I can confirm the 7% but you have to prove - e.g. with NBTHK papers - that the piece has really historic value... Few years ago it was no big problem to convince the customs officers (in Munich) but recently they are stricter...

...the body has stripes and it's not a Zebra => Tiger! And I can also see the tigers 'collar' - for me it's clear. Nice tsuba! (I like the old fashioned tigers a lot, e.g. this style:https://www.trocadero.com/stores/thekura/items/1098500/catphoto.jpg)

Momoyama sounds plausible... Michael Hagenbusch said, while looking at my katana blade dated 1500-1530 (my guess) with a silver 2 piece habaki, a simple copper one would match better. I'm not sure if he was driving at the age or quality of the blade but I think/hope it was the age...

...how can a 2 piece habaki improve the fit on a tired blade (if the nakago is wider than the habaki area)? Only an idea: Could exchanging the outer part be an option to improve the fit in the saya?

...the amida yasurime tsuba has a diameter of 7,7 cm. The sukashi is 6,2 x 6,6 cm.

Hi, the tsuba arrived today - together with another piece with "carved" amida yasurime. Below some pics from the ko-sukashi tsuba (yes - the sekigane looks new and DIY) and the second tsuba with some characteristic "neko ashi" (?). Feel free to comment on both pices...

...I ordered a copy on 14.01. but it's still not shipped by Amazon Germany. Usually they should know, how many copies they can sell at which time...

0,66 USD per gram is ok... ...I'll post some pics for further examinations when I received it...

Hello! Years ago I polished my stock removal DIY tanto blade using available stones, grinding paper and acid. It was a good experience! Now I really know, it's impossible for me to do any kind of traditional job on a Nihonto (or any other object with this shape). Actually it's impossible for me not to destroy it... A traditional polish is expensive but when I think at the price of the required traditional equipment and the price of my time, which I would need to do the job - not considering (but not forgotten) - the price of the required Nihonto polishing knowledge (books, shows and years of learning), decision is easy...

Hello, my 2 cents while waiting for the train: Aren't blades actually consumer goods which require a special 'destroying' maintenance to keep their functionality till they are consumed? Like e.g. a pencil? I think, smiths and polishers fully aware of the limited lifespan of their art & objects...do we consider this in out thoughts or is it absolutely wrong?

https://www.amazon.co.jp/Swords-Japan-Beginners-Illustrated-Handbook/dp/4808710714/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478164708&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=Swords+of+Japan+Kubo

Thanks for the feedback, Acc. to my books (silver Sasano and golden Kurogane no hana) it looks like mushrooms. Atached I have 2 pine tsuba and 4 mushroom tsuba images:

Hello, here I have a Ko-Sukashi [(Ko?)-Tosho] Tsuba but I have no more information about it. Size is 73 x 75 mm, nearly 3 mm thick at the nakago ana and 2 mm at the rim. Motif are mushrooms and there is an oddly shaped hitsu-ana as you can see on the images. Sekigane are missing (...and I'm almost tempted to think about adding some because - from my uneducated point of view - this nakago-ana looks naked without...). I like the simple old sukashi style but have no clue, whether this pice is old or a young remake... So any input and lecture is welcome!

...there was this Oiyebo Mempo for 34.000 EUR... Is this a realistic price for a mempo???