Bruce Pennington

Luke, Robinalexander has gone through the process of making he own liner. You can read about his efforts and the woods discussed ON THIS THREAD.

Map, About halfway through, and you’ve added a lot of photos for my stamp survey! You might consider a smaller version, maybe less pictures, and post it in the JSSUS newsletter. I can give you an email for the editor. They’re always looking for articles.

David, you didn’t mention the fittings. If they are fancy, wooden with lacquer finish, even double release buttons, then this blade may be something nice by a nice Smith. But if it’s standard fittings, then it’s likely just a war blade and it wouldn’t hurt to remove rust to read the writing. On the other hand, as a standard war blade, removing the rust wouldn’t reveal much. Likely 1943, 1944 1945, and a Seki Smith. But as a war blade, no one would criticize you much for cleaning it enough to read the writing.

Nice one Thomas! It's now added to the study.

Ha! Actually never heard that one! My middle name is Wayne, so I get a lot of Batman questions. Of course I have to deny that I’m him!

Good catch, Steve, on the handle wrap! Luke there’s a long discussion on the evolution of these here: https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112-5/

Cool Trystan, thanks! Sorry Neil, ..... and back to the show!

That’s honestly very kind of you Trystan, but I can’t read your Japanese print any better than I can read Japanese in the Nakago!

So much reading, so little time!!! Looking forward to it, guys, thanks!

On the philosophy: I agree with those who view these as history, and we are preserving history. As such, I don't re-paint anymore, but I do replace missing parts and add missing tassels (period of course). But these are weapons. No one would leave an Arisaka or Nambu in "as-is" condition, with all the dirt and grime in the chamber, bolts and firing mechanisms. Neither will I leave my weapons in such degraded condition just because they are swords.

Luke, Welcome to the club! Is that a small remnant of a leather saya cover? If so, too bad it was destroyed. Type 95s with leather covers are hard to find! By the looks of the rust on the saya, this baby probably spent some time in very humid tropics, which decomposed the leather and started eating the saya and blade. On restoration: I've been down that road a couple of times already. I had 2 Type 95s painted gold and black. The late-war 95 had the original paint underneath and I was able to remove the modern paint with acetone, so a success. The early 95 had been stripped to bare metal and spray-painted gold. Even the blade was painted a translucent gold! I stripped it and couldn't bear leaving it bare, so I had a buddy, who paints models, do the tsuka and I painted the saya. It's a far cry better off now than with the gold paint, but it's too new looking and the colors stand out as wrong when next to original paint. For me, it was the lesser of 2 evils, and I'm glad I did it, but it's still sad to see. After all said and done, if I had yours I'd lightly remove active rust, oil to prevent future rust, then leave as is. Here's the thread where we discussed my process, with some links to recommended paints. Any tips for Period Re-Paint? On disassembly: When you remove the tsuka on a 95 and re-assemble, about half the time, you'll have some wiggle that wasn't there originally. That bothers some guys, so consider it before you proceed. I have 9 95s and have broken each down for cleaning and oiling. There's often some serious gunk around the seppa and other fittings. You have to carefully bend the sarute (I use 2 pliers with thick clothes in the mouths to avoid scratching the sarute metal) to get it off. That frees the barrel screw at the end of the tsuka. Be careful with both the barrel screw and the lower screw. The metal is moderately soft and easy to bugger up if the screwdriver slips. The lower nut requires a 2-hole driver bit, or a 2-hole plier to hold the nut. I don't recommend sanding the blade, even the finest grit shows in the finished surface. Lemon juice + baking soda makes a mix that will help kill and remove some of the rust. Don't use it on the seppa or fittings as it will also remove original paint and patina. 90%+ alcohol will put a little shine on the blade when your done. Get a good uchiko cleaning kit, and clean the heck out of the blade with it. Oil and wipe down all the parts before re-assembly, and done. Oh, don't use Brasso on the copper fittings, it will Totally strip the original finish! Like the guys said, other than a small arsenal stamp, or an occasional "W" stamp, you won't find anything on the nakago. With a badly pitted blade, I have found that the wooden liners were corroded inside as well. Those I sand down with copper-wool and smooth out completely.

Forget the blade! I need the translation for the Kakihan!!! Ha! Just kidding (ok, maybe not!). Classic Neil-style drop dead gorgeous! Someone spent a pretty penny fitting this one out. I got the date down: Manji 3, so 1660, Nov 10th. Will need help with the rest though!

Thanks George. By all appearances, stamping went regional after the Army assumed control of all sword production in 1942. These would make sense, in that context, as regional stamps and this information about the "Eastern" Sword Forging Assoc. fits in nicely. The Matsu stamp started in 1942 as well, so it would be convenient if a regional tie could be found. The katakana begin in 1944, but seem possible to be tied to locations too, and it would be cool to find that they are all tied to this Association. To explore some more, are these smith, whose numbers don't have a symbol in front of the numbers, located elsewhere: Tomomaro 535 Riyuu 1301 Morinobu 95 Munimitsu 315 Akitaka 1098 Munetaka 490 Katsumara 1512

Neil, I saw that one too, but these are pretty specific. Slight variations in the pattern signify different things. Dawson's has 3 levels of the rays - outer, middle, inner - whereas this tanto only has 2 levels.

Neil, Does this blade have any stamps? The reason I ask, is that in one of Ohmura's discussions, he mentions "tosho mei with saka or na stamps" (these along with star-stamped blades are always gendaito, he says).

Neil, Does this blade have any stamps? The reason I ask, is that in one of Ohmura's discussions, he mentions "tosho mei with saka or na stamps" (these along with star-stamped blades are always gendaito, he says).

Found at this Warrelics Thread. I'm stumped by the 32-ray emblem and the backstrap pattern. I can't find anything like it in Fuller or Dawson. Anyone recognize them?

Oh, right, yes that was my first thought on this too. My question on the TA and FU was that you were supposing that the I and O were tied to locations of the smiths - so do you see a connection with the TA and FU for Munetoshi and Masakazu?

Well, I'm open to suggestion, but this would be the first time an English letter is used in front of the numbers. Would this shed a new light on the other katakana found before numbers: Munetoshi タ2353 Masakazu フ 37

Thanks for bringing these to our attention, Thomas. Now we have stamped numbers on Type 95 nakago too.

That's a fabulous piece of history, and the story (at least part of it) of a man's life. Thank you for sharing it with us! It's sad that so many stories, so many lives, are lost. I'm just glad you were there in the path of all this to save and honor this man's service. Sadly, to many who served in the war, things like this are often something they preferred to just walk away from. Too many painful memories. He might have been the one that dumped it all at Goodwill. Or it could have been family, after his death.

Must be. Here’s mine:

John, I think you're right. I checked some other blades with stamped numbers and they all had the horizontal base to the "1". These two one's are just low and the base isn't fully struck. Thanks!

Thanks John! I've never seen so many Mantetsu on one site! I had a couple of those already but several were new. Now added!

Guys, I'm pretty sure the first character in this number is a katakana. I want to say it's "イ" but it looks like the top is just a corrosion dot to me. What do you say?