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bluboxer

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  1. bluboxer

    Help on tanto

    Beautiful gift! That pushes all my buttons.
  2. Hi Chris o, that does look strange and would agree with Peter about removing it. There may also be room for some kanji beneath the folded over jacket portion. You might also see a better representation of the base metal once the habaki is gone.
  3. Somewhat similar to the Swedish broad axe used for squaring timbers. They are commonly offset to protect the users knuckles. I vote for a tool.
  4. The yasurime looks so uniform and perfect. Were they machined or by hand?
  5. I agree with Dave R and think it is a gunto with homogeneous steel. If it were truly kobuse construction you might be able to see it in the mune. Just my opinion.
  6. Thank you kind gentlemen for the insights and links. I have added an image of the other side and from the old shadow left from the missing menuki it appears to have been as all have suggested. ("enlightened" smiley here) Now I am searching for my missing ox. Very Zen like Stephen.Are we reminiscing of warmer days in the field? Cheers!
  7. Okay, I can see that. I will have to contemplate why that did not occur to me.
  8. Thanks Brian! What a great sticky. I have a sleeping swordsman(?) on a tanto that needs a mate. 22mm x 18mm.
  9. If top craftsman were commissioned; perhaps "Utsushi" rather than just a reproduction.
  10. Oh, the famous koshigiri (with fingerprints)
  11. 1) Kanbun shinto 2) Azuchi-momoyama 3) Nambokucho shortened 4) Shinshinto (copy of kamakura) This is a fun exercise, thanks Paul.
  12. Good day everyone, I just wanted to bring up a couple of points regarding steel composition and hardening. I would prefer to describe tamahagane as a "simple" steel rather than "pure" in that the two significant elements are iron and carbon with some other elements as impurities existing in insignificant amounts (hopefully).Modern steels have a higher degree of purity in a sense. As we add alloying elements like manganese,molybdenum and chromium (just to name a few) the nose of the TTT moves further away in time so we can cool at a slower and safer rate while still obtaining sufficient martensite. With respect to the "hard spots" observed in gunto; I feel this is an artifact of the steel composition rather than the method of quenching. I also think that nie is not an indicator of the quenching medium but of how the steel was smelted,forged and heat treated. The reason that smiths chose fresh water as a quenchant was because it perfectly matched the time constraints with simple steels. If they used saltwater or seawater, as I'm sure many tried, the blade did not survive the thermal shock and if they used animal fat or vegetable oils the blades did not get hard. Now on top of all that you can through some clay on the blade to make the ridge and spine cool even slower so there is little chance of martensite forming elsewhere (differential hardening).I have heard it postulated that the thin layer of clay on the ha reduces the effect of the vapor barrier that is formed and increases the local cooling rate even further. Cheers
  13. Thanks for that link Barry.Have one on the way. I thought the first book was immensely informative and took the mystery out of the process. Thanks for the heads up Clive.
  14. These should make the "required reading" list. Thanks John.
  15. I did not see it stated as to the theme so I am guessing a school of koi (or other fish) and an oar.Yay or nay? Very delicate appearing and in such nice condition too. Thanks for the heads up Christian.
  16. Well I won't have them in hand again until February.The owner wants to know and there is only one way to find out. I think a 100 bucks is a small price to know exactly what you have. Am also looking forward to meeting other board members. Cheers
  17. Good day all, I plan on bringing 2 blades for shinsa and have a question about condition. See this link for the older blade and notice some chips and a small de-lamination. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8125 The other blade has a slight double bend but has no other defects. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8185 So my question is; can these blades still be examined by the team and possibly papered? If the consensus is positive then I will reserve a spot pronto. Thank you, (and Merry Christmas)
  18. FYI http://www.yamakawadojo.com/Tamahagane% ... 20Slag.pdf
  19. Good day Adrian, I complement you on your initiative and look forward to more of this research. I do however have some notions of my own concerning the conclusions made. Firstly; I disagree with placing a point on the tamahagane timeline from the appearance of the kera-oshi method.The tatara has evolved from a cylindrical stack of various heights into a rectangular shape with a proportional height;what we now call the kera-oshi tatara.Semantics aside; iron sand (a mixture of iron oxides) must be reduced to iron and then carburized to obtain steel. The smelting operations carried out in ancient times gave a variety of products ranging from wrought iron-steel-cast (pig) iron and was dependent on many factors.Most notably the atmosphere within the stack (variable within the stack column), the temperature and the tuyere placement. The "bloom" or the lump of metal left in the bottom was usually a mixture of the three. Even the kera-oshi method produced a mixture but was designed and run to produce more "tamahagane" and less wrought and cast. Secondly; perhaps a better indicator of modern steel would be the manganese content.This element was easily picked up within the slag and carried off as waste. Addition of Mn was a modern convention to strengthen the steel and was present in very low concentration in the bloom or kera. Here is an excerpt from a book titled "Mining in Japan Past and Present" from 1909. “The iron produced there (Chugoku region,sic) is usually classified into the varieties of 1. pig iron, 2.“Kera,” 3.steel and, 4.wrought iron. An analysis of “Kera” was made by the Geological Survey of Japan with the following results: carbon 3.94; iron 95.18; phosphorous 0.35; manganese 0.05; silicon 0.11.” Looking forward to more discussion.
  20. Well Yitzy, what was done to DP (dull butcher knife I believe) cannot compare and was conducted in such a way as to inflict maximum pain and suffering.I cannot even imagine that in my worst nightmares. Having your head removed by a skilled cutter and a righteous katana takes but a brief instant and is meant to end any suffering.
  21. That's a pretty hip piece.I have never seen a dragon curled up all sleepy/happy like this either. David, you mentioned a twin kamon.Is the dragon considered a kamon?
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