Mark S.

Best advice I can give is assume all the PM offers you get will be lower than what you should ask.

I have to disagree with this statement, and I have found quite the exact opposite. I would say most are kind, friendly, and patient. This is a great place with great people. Once in a while there is an issue and I guess those always stand out… but the day to day interactions here are normal helpful, informative and done in a friendly (or at least a professional) manner.

May the family and friends find Peace in the days ahead…

Not sure why anyone has an issue with exact ages, but each to their own. Me: 57 I do believe the above statement is a huge reason for the older average age of collectors, but not necessarily the average age of those who are interested in the subject though. While I have been interested for a long time, it has only been the last few years I have been able to afford some nicer quality items and also have a few items polished and restored.

Look… I understand you being a prickly character with me because of our political disagreements in another thread, but taking it out on others is in poor form.

I have always operated under the assumption (right or wrong) that the polisher gave me the blade in exactly the condition they meant for it to be in… and there is nothing I can do to make it better and a hell of a lot I can do to make it worse. I’ve never understood the concept that the polisher expected me to ‘finish’ his polish with uchiko? I thought that’s what I paid him to do. Kind of like going to Nobu and asking for extra dipping sauces for a piece of sushi the chef just handed to you. Nope… he gave it to you EXACTLY the way he wanted you to enjoy it.

Yes, other side is: Eisho 7 Nengo (year) 2 Gattsu (month) Hi (day) Roughly, “A day in February in the 7th year of Eisho”.

First thing I thought of was some peening marks on an old WW2 rifle of mine. Originally used (in this specific case) to tighten up a rear sight installed in a dovetail. Of course there are many other applications in the machining world.

My apologies…

General bohi related discussion… If you take the attached chart of sword construction and draw semi-circles indicating bohi in the mune area of each one, you can see how quickly you get into core steel of each one. Blades were made in certain ways without the concern of the addition of bohi. I think there was a general acceptance that the lightness and strength added by the addition of bohi was more important than the flaws brought out by them. If not structurally unsound, minor flaws in the bohi aren’t a huge concern as long as the rest of the blade is sound, at least in my opinion… I assume I am pretty much looking at core steel in any bohi. A good polisher can probably burnish away minor core steel flaws, but core steel is still core steel. Not sure if it has been discussed, but should we expect the same level of ‘perfection’ when core steel is observed in the bohi? What should high quality core steel look like? We are usually looking at high quality outer steel and only condemn core steel because it is exposed from repeated polish. But should it be condemned as a ‘flaw’ when a bohi cuts deeply into it? Interested in the discussion.

Will be interesting to see the Hozon paper to see if it specifies a time period or narrows things a bit. Ko-Mihara vs Sue-Mihara vs Kai-Mihara, etc.

Google “jibata back strap loom”. This menuki would only be a couple parts of it, but maybe???

Seal and watermarks

Just adding (pretty much same info), here are marks from a May 2023 Hozon.

I hope the LARGE stack of pink papers on the table at the top of the pics wasn’t a bad sign!

No one willing to give details about their Shinsa results?

Would love the see results. Maybe give use the basics like: 1) Item: KATANA/WAKIZASHI/TANTO/ ETC. 2) Mei or attribution if mumei 3) # of points. 4) Interesting notes or anecdotes. Did you think it would pass? Did it match your expectations? What did you like about it? Etc., etc.

As has been mentioned before, many scratches and swirl marks are added when the uchiko ‘cloth ball’ smacks along the surface of the blade by an over-eager applicator. In the rare cases I use uchiko, I angle the blade and tap the ball along the mune and allow uchiko to fall along surface of blade and then turn blade to other angle and tap down mune again to get uchiko on both sides. I probably waste uchiko, but it’s a small price to pay vs. having ‘Sun-burst’ scratch marks all over my blade.

And, of course, the tissue paper (I also use plain toilet paper as well) should be free of all oils, scents, moisturizers, etc, etc.

Of course this is my personal opinion… but I don’t always discount old papers. I think it was submitted for Hozon just to re-confirm the mei and it probably wasn’t worth the added expense to reconfirm the Tokubetsu rank. I just don’t believe EVERY old paper is ‘wortheless’ or that ALL the old Shinsa panels had no idea what they were doing or were corrupt. But, each to their own. I guess it comes down to: 1) Do you like the blade? 2) Are you OK if it is ‘only’ a Hozon level blade?

Albatross

What did you like about this blade? Why did you buy it? The best advice I can pass on to you right now is to take some time and study more. Many of the questions you ask are ones you should know BEFORE you make any more purchases.

Ooooohhhhhh….

Suriage and then damaged (hagire) afterward? Not quite sure what you are asking? Ray answered at same time

It would have to be signed: “Bizen ju Kiyomitsu” Without digging through my books and looking through all Kiyomitsu, I am not sure if any Kiyomitsu signed this way. Usually there is a Kuni or Koku and Osafune included in one form or another, but I don’t remember ever seeing just “Bizen ju”. If I squint and stare real hard, I ‘think’ I can see the following strokes (in red) of “mitsu”. Unless I could find a mei example that was just “Bizen ju Kiyomitsu” I would assume gimei.