Ooitame

Best of luck to all bidders, maybe the winner will be among the NMB.

Hi Bruce, thanks for the explanation, its on a Nagamitsu Saku. If TO is for Tokyo, are you familiar with what the katakana 'i' inspection mark stands for? That is quite the noble project. My best wishes to your success.

Thanks George and Bruce, three more questions... What is the 313 for? I have seen conflicting information stating stocking number or possibly contract number. Can this number and or saka stamp be used to narrow down a date range of forging or group assigned to? Last question, why stamp some as this one is and paint numbers on others?

I will paraphrase my understanding of the issue. The shinsa team neither said gimei or authentic. Rather, more study would be required. I would have been happy to have them holding onto it and coming to a concluison of authentic or not. The next parts are pure speculation - given others and myself have searched far and wide for examples of this Mei to no avail, it is possible this shinsa team has not run across the mei or didnt have a reference handy. Furthermore what I beleive may have happened given the date of the sword being ~1yr from DOD, it is possible the smith could still wheel a hammer but not a smaller chisle and his student signed... Just speculation at this point though. I beleive this smith is fujisjiro rated, hawley and the other big one which escapes my mind at this point. So there must be an oshigata or picture somewhere. Even with the unknown... Not a bad price and still beautiful Hada, with the goodies that were added a decent package. I was going to wait until the auction was done to see what some thought about kantei assuming the mei was removed...

Thank you everyone, it is much appreciated.

Thanks Rayhan, exactly what I was looking for.

Hello everyone, looking to replace a mekugi pin. Is anyone aware of where I can buy pre shaped susudake rods/dowels?

Good thread, I remember AutoCAD from my HS engineering classes and the CNC we used for our designs. I would imagine the groves if done correctly would reduce torsion stress from an off angled slice and promote flexibility by reducing rigidity. As far as not affecting actual strength, I would doubt it. Rarely does removing metal not effect strength. However, flat pieces of metal where ovals or circles are cut completly through, can increase strength at the cost of flexibility and sometimes durability. Of course those HS classes were a long time ago and somewhat basic, so I could be wrong. I would be curious as to how much affect the shingane to kawagane and tempereing proportion would have on strength, flexibilty, and durability...

This was quite a ride. But, since this thread started I would like to think I have learned much and narrowed my preferences down. I have asked for a refund and will try to practice patience and keep watching.

Hello all, I was not given any specifics at first and had to ask what the shinsa team wrote. I received an answer, however I asked in such a manner "for my education only what was written by the shinsa team?" that he may have interpreted to mean in private and told me in confidence. So I am somewhat hesitant to write more. To remain neutral just in case I will say that it did not fail for fatal flaws. He has offered a refund on the sword and was kind enough to offer a refund for the kankyuto I puchased to fill the koshirae. I am not quite sure how to proceed. He already has my money and I could ask him if there is something he can recommend (and both parties can be happy). As I am sure he is just as upset about the result as I am and maybe he has something in the back or will offer a discount on another item. Not sure if asking him about this would be offensive or not. Or I can keep the kankyuto as it is nice and has a hamon, have not seen many with a hamon (not an expert though). Only issue there is if I purchase a sword later that has everything then that in my eyes will be somewhat wasted money that could go towards getting a nicer sword.

To my suprise not even hozon.

I received an update today and well... the sword did not pass.

Well put together, congratulations

Hi George, this is on a Nagamitsu, mei is Nagamitsu Saku, with the two strokes in Naga. It is on a sword brought down for inspection for a family friend. This sword looks gendaito, judging by the hamon and hada.

Very nice, congratulations.

Hi Bruce, yes it is on the nakago mune. Hi George, thanks for the info.

A little help on this one?

Gentlemen, thank you for your thoughts.

What are your thoughts? Second question, why would they suriage right through the writting?

My thanks to the following people: Bob Elder, for putting this together; Mike Yamasaki, for speaking and offering his experience, wisdom, and nice tosogu for examination; a gentleman who I am not sure if it would be okay to be named, for being generous in bringing very fine blades for us to study during the lecture. The Norishige, was beautiful and is my favorite smith, quite the experience, best of luck during shinsa. When I first arrived the tameshigiri exhibition was just getting setup. This lead to most people not being in the show room. Which was nice to be able to move freely about, but left some tables empty. After walking about for a little bit the show started. I tried to watch, but this was limited in space, so I returned to the show room. At this point I had yet to speak to anyone... as it is a little intimidating for a beginner. As I became more comfortable I started asking questions and was pleased to be meet with generous responses; along with a few stories and tips. If one table did not have what I was looking for I was directed to a table where I might find the item. After about an hour or so of walking the show room the lecture began. A good lecture in a open forum that was adaptable to all knowledge levels. A good topic covered that I think should be available at all shows is about shinsa and papers, understating the differences and ways to verify if they are real. Another interesting topic covered was polishes. After the lecture and a long lunch, I returned to the show room to find all tables open and more people than before. The later I stayed the more people appeared to be attending. There was a good mix of old, young, those in between, quite a diverse group. Just as diverse as the crowd were the items offered swords, art, clothing, tosogu, millitary items WW2 AND WW1, sword accessories like bags etc.. A good show and a good experience, frielndly people, was never told no I could not examine an item (always asked politely), lecture was full of topics I learned from, and a wide variety of items. Not the greatest photographer, but here are the few shots that were captured.

And here I am.

And awayyyy we go

Interesting choice Stephen, I just added it to my playlist for the ride. Hi Salvatori, thats some dedication . Enjoy the show Hello Michael, that sounds good, looking forward to seeing all that is being offered.

Hi Jeremiah, I too am quite suprised. But, c'est la vie. I am still looking forward to my first show of this type. Hopefully, a few gems to look at and learn from... and possibly bring home.

Not looking good so far...