b.hennick

Hi Jason: To echo Grey I too used warm water and a soft toothbrush. I also bought some kids soap that comes out of the bottle as a foam. It is a pure product that I put on the brush and use to remove dirt. I have had no problems with this approach. Gentle does it. It is better to go easy and repeat things if necessary. After I do my initial cleaning I use a hand lens to see areas I need to go over again. BTW the f/k look fine and Bori is always a pleasure to deal with.

Amazing trailer --- I can hardly wait for the DVD

Micha PM sent.

Hello: I have had my dentist X-ray a tsuka that could not be removed. The blade was hidden in a fan. It turned out to have one hole and a reasonable shape. So if you can get access to an X-ray machine that is the way to go.

Hello: Here is a scan of an oshigata of a fifth generation Hizen Masahiro. I collect Masahiro and may have other oshigata that might interest you.

Here is another tsuba that has had extensive work done so that it would fit a scabbard. I bought the tsuba mainly because of the additions that were interesting. Some one must have really liked this tsuba in order to have a person go to so much work on it.

The instructions I received from the polisher of my blade was to oil it and change the oil every week for a couple of months and then to oil it monthly. I put on as little oil as I can so that the blade is covered. By looking at the blade in the proper light one can see the oil and fill in any missed spots. I have never had a blade rust after polish. Blades deserve the best care we can provide - fresh polish if necessary, new shirasaya always after polish, new habaki if necessary. For the last blade I had polished, I kept the old habaki for the tsunagi and had a new habaki - identical style - for the blade. Both blade and koshirae rest in sword bags.

I have two little tags that are made of sea shell - think pearl button - with the mei in lacquer. Those are for special swords. I also have some small wooden (Cedar) tags with caligraphy. I recently bought a group of credit card size wood cards that I intend to use as tags. These are thin as veneer and the person who sold them to me used a whole punch for paper to make a hole for string. In the past I have used copper tags that were originally made for plants. Before starting this search for the "right thing" I used paper tags purchased from an office supply company. As your collection grows you need something to easily identify a blade without opening bags.

Hi Darcy: I am prepared to pre-pay for the book if that helps. I did the same for Harry when he did translations. I am sure that you could pre-sell a significant number.

I was at the same session. I waited 9 years to get to the top of that polisher's list and he had the blade for 5 years 8 months. I got the blade back last week in San Francisco. Although the wait was exceptionally long the polish is outstanding! If you have a great sword you want a great polisher. I have had other blades polished in the last few years. All received good polishes but this one is a great polish. You need to see the swords in hand to recognize the differences among them. Looking good from far is soemtimes far from looking good.

I can confirm that an article in the JSSUS Newsletter by Francisco Couthino was about the use of nanban tetsu in Hizento. I can also confirm that Tsuruta San of Aoi Arts also mentioned this idea (before being picked up and expanded upon by Francisco Couthino).

HELP NEEDED: I am still trying to find someone with the expertise to make this program something that can be put up on a web-site and used from there. The way it is currently setup one needs to have it resident on a computer where one can choose which database to use. I think that if all databases were combined the program may work hosted on the JSSUS web-site. If you think that you can do this sort of thing and are willing to offer your time and expertise to the sword community your hep would be appreciated. Unfortunately I do not have funding for this project so I and the JSSUS are looking for help. Please contact me at barry@hennick.ca

At the San Francisco show Ted Tenold had a set of tangs that had been polished where cut. That was done to show the construction of the blade. Ted gave a talk on these last year. His set was about $3k so tangs do have value if polished....

Thanks Chris!

At the recent shinsa, a tanto was papered to Horii Taneaki from Hokkaido made circa taisho (1912). I thought that the blade was by Hayama Enshin ... then what do I know. If you can provide any information on this smith please let me know. Thanks!

Thanks for the effort. I am sure that it will be useful. I like the fact that as a pdf file I can search for a particular smith.

I usually write a report on sword shows for the JSSUS Newsletter. You could give the JSSUS a try - our Newsletters are a continuing source of information. Grey Doffin gives a talk on sword etiquette and handling at shows. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Not mean at all. My friend Grey tells the truth always! At least I have a good tan from a summer mostly spent at the cottage.

I'm packing up for the trip to San Francisco. Please drop by my table and say hello. It will be nice to put face to names on the messageboard. I feel as if I know some of you from your posts. My avitar is me so I should be easily recognized.

Hi: I have a blade by Hayama Enshin that is signed ichi i.e. one character. It is an unokubi tsukuri tanto. He sometimes signed ichi choensai hayama enshin. Small blade - just ichi.

The leaves are wrong for poppies. I thought something called a pepperbox. It actually shoots seeds out of the pepper box. I can't find a photo of the leaves. I checked. It has been over 40 years since my last botany course.

Thanks for the speedy reply!

All assistance will be appreciated. Thanks!

There is a good section on shimada blades in the sue koto translation done for the JSSUS. The 2 volume set is inexepensive and available on-line on the JSSUS web.-site. Go to http://www.jssus.org and click onsupplies. Scroll down the page ...$60.

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