remzy

Id be interested aswell, but i guess ill not wait around and try on my own, pretty sure that there is no actual "how to" text on this subject, sadly.

you'd spend 2000+ on this tsuba and still not get a box????? O_O

Yes, not paying/not trying to pay for an item you got on ebay make you a thief regardless of how you say it and regardless of who you got it from, id suggest you get in touch with this person to at least try and pay off ebay... unless you are fine with the title yourself. That is my personnal opinion anyways.

Shira saya look are not important, from what i gathered. I know i dont care as long as the inside is clean... it is 100% utilitarian and its main purpose should be to protect the blade above all. ..now i wouldnt recommand sanding/lacquring/varnishing or altering it in any kind of way tho, as this might make it look clean outside, while it may be dirty with rust particles inside, leading a inexperienced collector to think it is safe to use this shirasaya to store a freshly polished blade inside... (yes i know, freshly polished blade require a new shirasaya but this is just an exemple ).

Thanks to the veterans who sacrified their youth, health and lives ...for our countries, our freedom and our rights to live peaceful lives away from war (well in Canada anyways...) Merci aux vétérans Québecois...

Hehe that isnt a sword bag it is my silk cloth i use to manipulate the blade around, it came from some high end maintenance kit. Here is some more picture of the hada for you Jacques, i did my best but i have no pro settup or photograph experience like Darcy have! I think i finaly managed to get a boshi photo right! there seems to be some sort of skin texture going on that kissaki...

Hehe im trying my best Jacques!!!! but its very very hard to take this hada in pictures!

Greetings everyone, I made this thread to share some pictures of my latest treasure with you all. It is a NBTHK Hozon wakizashi from Tadakuni that i got from AOI art. I red some negative comments here and there about the quality of their polish, but let me tell you right now that i am more than satisfyed by the polish on this wakizashi! it is very fine imho. It came with a nice oshigata, an appraisal (basicaly just the stats and picture that you see on the website) on top of the NBTHK paper... all in all, a great dealer! Some stats (from ao art); Blade length : 50.9cm or 20.03inches. Sori : 1.0cm or 0.39inches. Width at the hamachi : 2.97cm or 1.17inches. Width at the Kissaki : 2.10cm or 0.83inches. Kasane : 0.58cm or 0.23inches. Era : Edo period. Jitetsu : Koitame hada well grained with Jinie attach which is called Hizen Konuka hada Hamon: Niedeki middle Suguha hamon and thick Nioikuch like morning misty fog. The blade looks liketypical 2nd generation Oumi Daijyo Hujiwara Tadahiro. When i first saw the edge with the suguha hamon and tigh ko itame, one word came to mind "purity". No fency hamon patern here... no overly intricate hada either, this blade was made as a practical weapon and... this is what makes it extremely beautiful. Simple and elegant (and deadly, yes, but no need to dwell on this!) The blade feels very light but strong in the hand, you could easily imagine yourself swinging this thing for hours without tiring... altho you might Theres two minor piting on the kissaki area (one that you can see on a picture below) but this doesnt really affect the overall charm of this one, and beside the seller never hidden these in the pictures. With that being said, on with the photos!: This nakago will be very hard to decipher for me... Sugata The kissaki, you do not see much of the hada/boshi details but i liked this picture anyways! Boshi, excuse the dust and my inability to proprely take boshi in photo... heh the boshi again, you can see the little rust spot next to the yokote (with some more dust, arg!) aaah! the nioi based hamon... I love that!

Comments? ... I dont care who made it, I dont care from when it is, it is gorgeous!

I just got my blade today and will post some pictures next weekend to share the wealth!

So my suspicions about the mei were justified?

I am still no expert but the mei engraving strokes looks somwhat... uncertain?! Any pro out there who could land a thought?

Hehe mine is on the way aswell! Arrived in Toronto today so i might get it in a day or three! :D Oh and i think that would be a great idea Brian!

Maybe the samurai who used to rest his hand on this tsuba... had a very abrasive skin? :3 hehe!

I work as a 2d graphist, making posters (among other things) for a living and i find this very interesting to see how they build their posters, i noticed they do not divide them in third like we do over here and they have very tiny margins! nice stuff! thanks for uploading those!

Greetings everyone, I started making habakis for fun today after gathering as much information as i could during the past few months, but i still have one some doubt about the "proper" shape that a good habaki should have (decorations aside). I know that the top should be flat (not rounded) but i am not so certain about the sides... should it be curved or have crisp lines? Anyways, based on this picture, could you tell me which shape you think should be proper for a good habaki. Mayhaps theres no such thing as "good shape for habaki" as long it hold well in the saya... Thanks for your time, Remy

^Holding blade with fingers for posing shot!

^LoLz!

hum Did you stole this boshi, Roland? This might aswell be only shading on the steel that we see... personnaly i cannot see any boshi going on even if i distort the pixel to the max... might want to ask for more pictures. Remy

Oh sweet, thanks Brian!

From the mount i would say... o-tanto, but the sugata tells me ko-waki... hum... We might need expert opinions in here

Im currently *trying* to obtain a good finish lacquer job on a wall mounted katanakake i made from scratch, it is basic looking but... GOD! its hard to have a good lacquer finish... im currently using cashew lacquer (syntetic) before i do any real urushi lacquer job, i do not want to waste any urushi with noob mistakes so its best to waste the cashew one Its very hard to find proper information on how to actually lacquer using urushi, aside from the danger of it, not much information is available online, so i ordered a few books on the subject. i applied 1 drop of urushi on the back of my hand to see if i am sensitive and i have no reaction after 5 days.. Trust me this doesnt mean i will bath on urushi because i think im immune to its dangerous reaction.. it only means that im not *this* sensible to it for now. Anyways, it seems that i drifted away a bit, so ... *ahem* aside from your traditional katanakake i dont see much other options to display your prized nihonto... hmm if you got some cash to invest it would be nice to have one of these "museum" display with glasses, velvet buttom and a small description.. classy to have in your library! oops! Remy

Two mekugi ana might indicate that it is suriage, mayhaps not, but i really dont think this look much of a tanto, imho.

At first glance id say.. ko wakizashi, but i guess it would depend on alot of other factors such as sugata and sori, mainly. Then again, im no expert, just adding my grain of salt to it.

Same for me Daniel, old swords in general always fascinated me but one day i discovered the nihontos ( long ago) and swore that one day i'd own an original one. Got my first one only a few months ago after reading around ten books on nihonto and Japanese swords craft. I made a few mistakes, as i think we all should, but i could have made bigger ones if i werent informed! Remy