bluboxer

Happy Holidays everyone, I have just finished reading two very interesting research papers dealing with the characteristics of swords produced from tamahagane.Both articles are fresh this year and are available at the indicated links.In a nutshell;the first article examines the steel structure with optical microscopes and with a scanning electron microscope.A 2nd generation Muramasa blade was sampled along with newer blade steel. The 2nd article repeats the investigation with similar materials i.e.,tamahagane. What they have found is truly significant (especially for those of us that are clouded by science) as they have revealed both metallic and non-metallic inclusions fairly evenly distributed within the steel matrix.The interesting part for me is that these inclusions (particularly Titanium oxides) are between 5 and 25 micrometers.That is 0.000005 - 0.000025 meters.For perspective;a single human blood cell is approx. 6-8 micrometers in diameter. This helps me to visualize what the texture is all about especially with swords produced with local iron sands -Koto. http://www.esomat.org/index.php?option= ... _07018.pdf http://www.esomat.org/index.php?option= ... _02024.pdf Cheers, Alan

:lol: Actually there is no such thing as "stainless steel".This was a convention."Rust resistant" would be the more honest term.This steel has several alloys or metallic elements added to it during the manufacture.The main alloying element for rust resistant steel is chromium in excess of approximately 11%. Alan

Ah,I see now!Much handier to carry around in your pocket instead of the little hammer.No puns please. Thanks John Alan

Hello John, I also have been doing some investigations on tatara smelting and have a couple of very enlightening PDF's. One is titled Smelting to Steel by the Japanese Tatara Process written in 1989 in the journal Archeomaterials. The other paper is brand new(just a few months ago) and deals with analyzing the slags from old tatara to determine conditions. I believe all three products are present in the kera.Cast on the bottom, steel in the center and wrought on the top. I also have an article titled History of iron sand smelting that I am trying to find someone to translate from Japanese. If you pm me I will email you the pdf's. Alan

Can someone please explain what these are used for. Thanks Alan

On page 17 of the Metropolitan museum catalog (Art of the Samurai) is an image with a line-up of tanto demonstrating periodic changes in blade shape.Tanto lettered "c" has very similar bohi.Described as Nanbokucho period. Alan

Yes,I understand now.Just as we learn on an individual basis;we also learn collectively tho.Collectively we all should know by now not to use practices (i.e. the Engineer Commander's recommendations) that would alter the patina of an art object or antique.And even tho our knowledge base is larger and more accurate we should still maintain a certain level of skepticism towards the printed word.Modern students of human history understand that there are many "versions" of history depending upon who wrote it. I would therefore hazard to say that even within the Japanese scholarly works we would encounter similar instances albeit fewer in number.Thanks for your insights Reinhard. I am relatively new to nihonto and some of the finer points that more knowledgeable members discuss here are way beyond my level of practice.That is one of the reasons I hang around! Jean,your point eludes me,can you explain further please. Alan

Reinhard,I must ask about Hawley's then.I have the 2-vol paperback set and a book of shinto oshigata to accompany it.Can you explain what information that is presented in the book may be considered suspect? What are your thoughts about the Nihonto Koza translations from H.Watson? Also;what is your preferred source? Alan

Thanks everyone for their input.I went ahead and have a copy on the way. Reinhard,do you know if their is a list of these blades or will I have to find them on my own?This may be a good exercise as my Nihonto Koza vol has a special section on gimei signatures. Were there any signed fittings pictured?And if so,were any of these found to be gimei also? I will keep all of this in mind as I go through the book. Thanks again all, Alan

Greetings, I was wondering if anyone had information on a book titled "The arts of the Japanese sword" by B.W.Robinson? :D There is one for sale that I am considering. Thanks for any input, Alan

Thanks for the help John.From what little I have read the Aizu Shoami is not held in high regard.Noted for mediocre work and much copying. This tsuba looks like it was hurried towards the end with the brown coating.The only reference to a Naomasa was Nagai Naomasa who became a monk after retirement. Interestingly enough;the tsuka and fittings that were mated to this tsuba were of higher quality (imho).They may actually be earlier shoami work?Any impressions/thoughts are encouraged! Alan

Greetings all, I am attempting to identify a tsuba that my brother acquired and am having a little trouble with the mei.What I believe it to be is Naomasa.However this mei does not match another mei I found on the web for this artist. 68mmx59mmx3mm. Any info or help is greatly appreciated. Alan

Good day, Interesting topic and thanks for bringing it Bruno.The question of differentiating tamahagane from other steels seems to be a recurring issue and from reading many posts in this forum I naturally assumed that this was relatively easy by a knowledgeable nihontophile. Since I have handled so few actual nihonto I would respectfully ask Mr.Trotter what sources he was referring to?

Greetings, it is my understanding that what makes a Mantetsu unique is not necessarily where the steel comes from (although this steel was very low in alloys and/or impurities)but the construction.A core is inserted into a high carbon steel pipe and forge welded.Below is a good article. http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~j-gunto/gunto_149.htm I think there are many Mantetsu fans that would argue as to the purported quality but I do agree with Grey that if it is not signed as Mantetsu then it is not. Alan

Here is the mei. Alan Picture Siz12.doc Picture Siz12.doc

Well,I for one enjoyed the slide show.This vid demonstrates initiative.Thanks for posting. Alan

Perhaps a cart wheel with 8 spokes embodies more than what is merely practical. It may also be more aerodynamic at higher rpm's! Alan

Ah yes,I understand now.My bad. Thanks for the clarification.I had thought that the kera would have some amount of essentially pure iron (less than 0.2% carbon) that could be used to make tsuba and other fittings and some actually used steel of higher carbon content (>o.2%) for high toughness. Similar to using temper/re-temper vs. hardening/heat treatment of a sword blade. So the distinction lies between steel (iron/carbon alloy) vs softer (non-ferrous) metals such as brass,copper,etc.?Adding decoration such as this is difficult enough without the additional hardness of the material. Very nice tsuba. Alan

I think the distinction was between steel (iron + carbon) and softer iron (small amount or no carbon)?Both are magnetic.The only way to tell the difference would be to check the hardness by physical test which would mar the surface. Alan

After thinking about the extra side slots in this tsuba I recalled some Spanish pikes and spontoons (a smaller pike for higher ranks and as a signalling device) having langets or tines that extended downwards from the head.These were used to secure a pole grooved to accept the langet on either side.Some of the spontoons were quite ornate.Then I googled and came up with this.Hanwei even sells them; http://www.kultofathena.com/product~ite ... r+Head.htm Alan

Good day,how is this Ford? 1873 Toledo rapier.Extra support for the guard to protect a slender hilt/tsuka(ivory or bone) from stress. Alan

For those in the area this sounds interesting.Select items from the Hosokawa family collection. http://www.asianart.org/Samurai.htm Alan

I see the melon and dragonfly,what are the holes?Could they be flower buds?Perhaps the mantis lies in wait behind the hole! I like it very much. Alan

Good day all,came across this on another forum and was stunned by the amount of stresses that a blade is subjected to during yaki-ire (the quench).The initial nose dive and re-curve is dramatic as seen through this clear quench tank. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4A2JJmWi6Y Swordsmith is Komiya Kuniharu. Alan

Good day all, just wanted to clarify a few things about this pdf.These images were taken with a Canon 12+ mpixel camera which allows for some extremely large and detailed images.I was impressed as to the quality of the original image process from 1914.I am not familiar with the printing process used on this book but it must have been the finest for it's time. The extra large tsuba images at the end of the pdf are demonstrative of the image size and resolution attainable and; if there are any particularly significant pieces that anyone would like to see this size (to analyze the mei for instance) I can make another trip to the library and shoot some more pictures. When I first came across this book a few years ago it was in the general oversize collections and was all scattered with no cover or box.It has since been moved to our special collections and is now getting some proper care.Subsequently there may be some missing pages.Perhaps someone may be able to discern and/or provide an image of any missing nihonto related sheets.There are many more pages to this book that I did not include (textiles,ceramics and artwork) as I only wanted to document the nihonto related pages. I hope these prove useful in our shared quest for knowledge, respectfully,Alan.