b.hennick

All the lines in this blade appear rounded. I can't see the yokote line at all. There is pitting and some rust + the mentioned blister. The blade might take a polish but I do not think the restorations costs will ever be recovered. The tang certainly points to Kaga. I do not think that there is much to be learned from the blade in its present condition. Check the blades for sale on messageboard. I have seen some very well priced good blades.

I too have been very happy with John's shirasaya.

OTH I gave a sword to Brian Tschernaga who arranged for the polish while he made the habaki and shirasaya. Paul Martin can coordinate all that in Japan as could several others.

Hi Gary: Do you have any photos? They should be interesting.

Welcome Greg and Walter got have come to a great place to learn about Nihonto.

Try Mark Jones. He has a dealer section on the forum.

Thanks so much! You have an amazing work ethic!👍👍

Hi John Good to see you on nmb. We had tables near each other a few years ago - withe in Tampa, Chicago or if a long time ago in San Francisco.

EBay is strange. My login name and associated email and my 300+ positives disappeared. When I contacted them, they said that I hadn't used the account for more than two years. I provided #s of items purchased, or emails to me from them, etc. They have done nothing. I stopped using ebay.

Happy New Year and welcome to NMB. Once you into this hobby you will find it addictive. Go slowly and do not try to improve the blade as you will end up with sad results.

The blade appears to be on a blue towel. When enlarged the thing that you see appears to be part of the towel. Consider that if you own the blade, it will always have discussions like this.

When I tried to download the photo, it was part of a long strip of images. I cut it out of the strip so that I could post it here. As for shinae I have only seen a group of creases caused by bending the blade never a single crease if that is what it is. Everyone has different tolerances for flaws. This is one that I would not accept. Others will have different opinions.

This bothers me. Maybe that is why it is so inexpensive.

Welcome John. There is a sword club in New York. You should look them up and once meetings happen go to one.

Ray always steps forward with a helping hand. His descriptions are great and his buyers are happy with their purchases. I have known Ray for years and respect him and his approach to swords and life - a fine gentleman indeed.

Missed you Rick - good to have the nihonto chicken back with us.

Mark Jones and family run my favourite sword show. I have over the years purchased many things from Mark - tsuba, fittings, swords etc. Mark is a Director of the JSSUS and its treasurer. Mark and Grey make a great team. They are honest, hard working folks who always bring new material for the collector to see, enjoy and buy. I count Mark among my friends. Mark and Grey both stepped up to support Nihontomessageboard.

I have purchased many books from Grey, he is my go to guy for books. I purchased many tsuba from Grey, including my best tsuba. His descriptions are honest ones. They usually are exceeded by the item in hand - better than expected. As a Director of the JSSUS, Grey coordinates our publications and at sword shows gives a talk on sword handling and etiquette. I am happy to count him among my friends. I see Grey often offering to help newbies. I encourage you to check out what he has to offer, I did today, I did yesterday and will tomorrow.

I'm not sure about the blade. I do like the box!

On first sight it seemed to be cast to me as well.

If you touch the nakago with gloves on, you may pick something up that you can transfer to the blade. It doesn't take much to scratch a blade. I don't use gloves on the nakago.

Thanks!👍👍

Make sure not to use a newer copper coin as it is too hard. I use an old large British penny that I received from Arnold Frenzel, a person that many of us miss.

The menuki make me think of art deco. Please show the backs of the menuki.

Hi Yurie I think that you need to add a small piece on how to remove the tsuka when it appears to be stuck.