bluboxer

James, please do not let a few quiet days keep you from relating your experience with Japan sword shop. Inami-san sounds like a very special person and I enjoy and even relish learning about such people; so please continue. Cheers!

Hey Martin, you are good on the theory but missed the terminology. Yaki-ire is the water(oil,etc.) quench or hardening process and yaki-modoshi is the tempering or stress relieving process. Cheers

Hey Grey, He didn't mention anything about a Chinese fake;so he really didn't use any of the info provided. :D

Hi, I think the majority of the traditional "flux" was a clay slurry with straw added on top. I am amazed they would stray away from the traditional method.Yoshindo Yoshihara uses the clay slurry/straw according to his book.Borax is some messy stuff to work with also.

Hi Randy, as Mr.Hennick stated take a look at this exhibition catalogue from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.It has a lot of eye candy that will impress.Also covers silks,art,lacquer ware and accoutrements that expand on the sword in Japanese history.The kabuto are breathtaking. http://store.metmuseum.org/met-publicat ... catalogue/

No need to apologize Keith.Some of us are hesitant to reply in fear of the same thing! Did you search this board as suggested by MarkC earlier?I think I read that he had a son that took the Kanetoki art name.I am unsure of the chronology;but this may have been made by the son. I do not know if or how many students he may have had either. Also; it is almost impossible to provide a concrete answer with only photos (irregardless of quality).

Perhaps I am only demonstrating my limited knowledge;but the two mei are very different to my eyes.Maybe closer to the son's?

Keith, look closely at the kanji with the arrows.

Hi Marcello, Was the blade polished between the attached photos and the posted photos? Maybe the different lighting but it looks much cleaner in the low light photos. If the persons that suggested it might be shinto were board members chances are good that would be an excellent place to start.I would do as Paul said and hit the books and look for examples of Kuni xxx.Not having the last kanji makes it real difficult unless someone were to recognize a specific feature that may be apparent in your photos. Just another opinion.

Hi Mark, Would you be so kind as to post a pic of the blade? It has such a nicely finished nakago imho.

Thanks for posting Adam. That is a very attractive piece and nicely executed. More on tosu here; http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/nmb/ ... f=1&t=7074

This is kind of like a train wreck and I just can't look away.I try desperately to say something to make it stop but cannot find the words. I agree with Brian. Both of you need to let it go. Mr.Skebo, you knew this would happen one day. Mr.Bowen, what a tall horse you have.

This should serve as a lesson to all.Catalog your collection with photos and accurate descriptions.This would help with insurance as well as recovery of your items should this happen to you.

Hi Ron, yes I see the limitations of wooden menuki.Soft metals are more suited to the purpose. Perhaps if ebony had been available in any quantities earlier than the Bakumatsu times (thanks Rich) we would see more examples. I checked out the set you mentioned Barry.They are in pretty rough shape tho.Carving is not near as good either or they are terribly worn. Thanks for the replies,

Greetings, I have happened upon some unusual ebony menuki. The carving seems to be very clean and symmetric. I thought at first they were made of black plastic until I cleaned them up a little and looked closer.They are 50mm long. A question I have is why do we not see more wooden menuki? Were they too fragile for the application? All comments and insights are most welcome.

Simon, the problem will lie beneath the chrome.The flaws you see in the chrome are just that.My understanding is the hydrogen is just within the surface of the steel and only serves as a propagation site for cracks, therefore a good polish could theoretically restore it's functionality. The question is: did the blade get the proper post heat treat after the chrome (common practice within automotive applications)? Further tempering (in effect) and soaking at the aforementioned temperature will most likely soften or eliminate the hamon and soften the ha. So if the hamon is intact we could infer that the heat treat was skipped and the blade should receive a good polish. A togi might be able to feel the difference and know when he has reached clean steel. I would really like to see the kotetsu if you would be so kind as to post a photo or two. No I do no formal practice but we have many on the forum that are highly skilled swordsmen. Cheers

Hello Simon, as you described the appearance of the plating it may be only a layer of nickel applied to bare steel.The final chromium layer may not have been applied as well as no copper base. I am also aware of "hydrogen embrittlement" issues when hardened steel is chrome plated.If the blade was not heated and soaked at a temp of approximately 190-200 C then hydrogen from the electrolysis will remain within the steel's molecular matrix.This means it will crack and break like glass . I would never use a blade that I knew had been chrome plated!!! Just my op.

Good day all, has anyone read this from another internet source? http://swordforum.com/sfu/primer/oiling.html There are no sources cited so does anyone agree/disagree with any of the statements? I have read the link posted by Curran and find one person agrees with the composition of choji oil.

Another important reason for the oil quench is that the modern steels have higher contents of alloys (manganese,chromium,etc.) along with higher carbon content that increase the ability to harden.They do not have to cool as quickly as a simple steel such as tamahagane to fully harden. Water is the fastest quench and as Paul explained is the most stressful on the steel.

Ushio-Sensei, thank you for sharing.It is a treat to see both types of polish on the same blade.And such beautiful blades at that. I had to google Kancho and,,,well we learn something new every day. As for the tsuba wow! Thanks for pointing out the theme Malcolm. I had an emotional moment after contemplating the relationship with this pair.

Hello Rob, go to the articles section in the board index and go to Junishi, The zodiac animals pdf by Mr.Schiller.That will be a good start.

Hello Ken, this may be a simple barrel key/lock with a projecting tooth off of the end that mates with a hole in the strike plate.The dogleg was often just to prevent the key from fitting other locks and makes no contact with a tumbler pin. If you can see to the bottom of the ring shaped hole (penlight needed) maybe you will spot a hole or other recess on the back inside face.If so you can try to find a length of tubing as Grey suggested and file the end to match. Nice piece!

Take a look at this link Chris.There are 3 tanto that fit yours.The first is described as ken like while the other two are moroha zukuri which I also believe to be correct. http://home.comcast.net/~colhartley/Ori ... dArmor.htm Look at 6,41 and 48 (below).

Yes we have,here; viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10177 Maybe a mod will move it to this thread.

I would not post this except for it's unique ebay provenance (thrice for sale) . I would enjoy taking a close look. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT