Bruce Pennington

Yes, and while searching for contact info (which I have not found) I also saw the name Moses Becerra, whom I have heard recommended many times. Don't have contact info on him either.

I used David Hofhine, but I just tried his website and cannot connect to it. I also saw his Facebook page has been dormant for several years. Don't know what's up with him. Maybe some other guys can make a recommendation. I believe there is a guy in Hawaii that is quite popular, but don't recall his name.

Mark, You can read all about the RJT program and the swords they made on this thread: Arsenal Mark on RJT Sword Fittings. You have a quality made blade there. If you have a couple thousand dollars to have it polished, it would look quite fabulous! Would you mind posting a photo or two of the full blade and fittings for my files? Care and Cleaning tips: Japanese Sword Care. The style fittings are a contingency model made for Japanese officers. There is no Army official name for the style, but most people call them a Type 3 gunto. You will see terms like Rinji Seishiki (contingency model in Japanese), Type 44, Late war Navy landing sword. You can see pristine examples of them on Ohmura's site: Army Officer Type 3. The history of the model: Unveiling the Rinji Seishiki Sword in 1940 - by Nick Komiya

Crimson MIst has a kabutogane: Sword Parts - Crimson Mist Militaria This guy on ebay has a full koshirae set, but wants $1,200! You might message him and ask if he'll sell what you need individually: Ebay Sale

That's going to be a challenge, Kevin, but not impossible. Took me 2 years to get the missing parts I needed to refit my dad's gunto. Here's a couple shots showing the needed parts (from Ohmura's site: Army Officers Gunto 1943)

Sure! I like an overall shot of the whole rig, and a close-up of the hamon and blade tip, if that's OK.

Again, thanks Ray. I just got around to reading Markus' article from your link. That cleared it up for me. I was able to condense Markus' description in a way to explain that on my Stamps doc.

Hi Theo! The fittings are Japanese Army officer Type 98. The saya (scabbard) is aluminum, which is not rare, but not as common. The paint they used wouldn't stay on the aluminum. Don't know if they ever figured out a better compound for them or not. The style was released in 1934, Type 94, and modified to the 98 in 1938. They were produced all the way to the end of the war. If there is a small stamp underneath the tsuba/seppa set, I can narrow the timeframe a little more. You can read up on the Type 98 (and others) on Ohmura's site: Army Officers Type 98 - Ohmura Care and Cleaning: Japanese Sword Care

Sort of related to the topic - a waki in shirasaya that was fully leather covered for the war. Posted by Jack Smith on the Facebook group:

Thanks Ray! So, way back in 1183-98. Were these swords in the time that Japan went away from the straight blade to the curved blade?

Will, I track these a bit, and would like to hear your understanding of the ichi added to the kiku. I was once told it was a tip-o-the-hat to the ichimongi school.

I am not aware of anyone posting regulatory specifications for them. After doing a quick (not all inclusive) search of Nick Komiya's posts, I found one on the Army Type 94 tassel spec. Nick's answer described it as "approximately ....". I know we had a discussion about the Navy tassel at some point, but I haven't found that one yet. I do remember that in spite of his stated length, we posted several tassels showing a wide variety of lengths Maybe @PNSSHOGUN or @Kiipu might have a real answer for you. Here's a page from the specs on the kaigunto. Note the extremely short tassel. Maybe the draftsman had no need to draw a real tassel for this page: Here are some we compared in length: Here is a Type 94 spec:

Ah yes, I remember that conversation. It just held no meaning for me in the RJT context until now. Plus I've forgotten more info than I can ever know! Ha!

Thanks Adrian! The blade has no obvious signs of being a souvenir blade, and the three dots are like a couple others I have on file, as well as fourth made by the Inaba forge. Overall a real odd one.

This one is clearly mounted as a mon. It's on a custom kaigunto found on the Facebook Military sword group.