Utopianarian

I attended a sword meeting Nanka Token Kai in Gardena Ca a while back and Mike Yamasaki quickly looked at this sword and said looked like Bingo Mihara but I don’t know what era it may be from. It was also in WW2 gunto fittings. What era would you guess?

Yes that does make sense thank you Ray

Ray that does sound like the best cost effective way to go about it. The thing that baffles me is I keep looking at the shape and it sort of does have an atypical shape depending on the angle and how it was cut maybe has an effect as well. The pics have a hard time for some reason of the sori appearance in pics. What do you think if it was in fire with the state of the Nakago fire versus somebody treating the Nakago with chemical trying to peel off layers of patina and rust trying to reveal a signature that wasn’t there. I would think if in a fire would also deplete or erase or greatly deform Hamon to some degree. Have you ever seen in your experience something that might explain what might be the case with this sword

Appears like most of the activity in the Hamon is in the monouchi area

Another pic

The small chance that it works out and the polish reveals something surprising like an Ichimonji I would pursue umegane.

I am still am on a list for David Hofhine from a little less than 2 years ago maybe I should have him look at the sword and see what he thinks. If it is later than Nanbokucho and not worth it especially due to potential fire damage and the large fukure or large area that may need umagane on the non polished side. I did send him pics in the past and he did say it does appear to look like an early blade and he may be able to remove some of the nicks if I wish to preserve most of the sword otherwise it would be a tired if he removed all of the nicks it would be a tired sword that would greatly depreciate value. As far as that area that would need umegane he said if I wished to pursue that would require work of a skilled sword smith. It does puzzle me why somebody would just decide to polish half of the sword then stop. It doesn’t look like a bubba job though where it was sand blasted with a belt sander. It looks like the geometry and lines are there. It does have a lot of niku or meat in the center that kind of rounds out to the edge. Maybe they were just looking to see what the potential was then decided it wasn’t worth it after a amateur polish job. Maybe chemicals were used or an attempt to remove rust and some of the patina off the Nakago hoping to find a signature. I would think if it was in a fire would affect the Hamon to some degree which at least on the polished side appears like the Hamon is all there.

Thank you Ray, I think I will send it to him and hope for the best

Did you guys see on yahoo buyee the Japanese overseas auction the first generation Fujishima tachi with kiji momo gata from late Kamakura with papers

I have another blade that has been shortened with Hamon running into Nakago and it is tricky because the end of the Nakago was nicely redone which if you don’t look close enough looks ubu or not shortened

Yes the Bohi runs off the Nakago because it was greatly shortened. I can even see a faint Hamon that keeps running into Nakago then obscured by rust and oxidation confirming that it was shortened from the bottom

I flip back and forth over the last week or so. One day I think money pit not worth it. Then I get hopeful with imagination and reading too much about masterworks which I can’t in reality afford

I think to my own disadvantage is if you want to believe something is there you will look and find anything to believe it. Could be I have an overactive imagination and too hopeful

Or something to do with the style at that time it was made

The groove does advance well into the Kissaki but not sure with the Kissaki being so small if that was intended or not

Yes. It is hard to tell though if the Kissaki was ground down or reshaped. My eyes and experience isn’t much or it may be my imagination but it appears like there is a Boshi with a maru that doesn’t run off the blade. I’m sure an experienced polisher might be able to tell

I will check that out. Thank you Alex

It is very difficult to see but looks like very tiny little streaks of highly reflective silver occasionally in the Hada and Hamon some areas have tiny crescent shaped areas of Hamon doubled just over the top edge of the Hamon that repeat. Some bright tiny silver specs of I guess nie but highly reflective in a few spots but not much

Yes prob like 50 or so which vary in severity length and depth. There are even a few on the mune

It appears like there may be a lot of activity in there but not sure. I know it’s in bad shape but what do you guys think

I tried my best with the pics to get a good view of the Hamon. Believe it or not the nicks come close in some areas but do not go thru the Hamon. I also note the Hamon does run the entire blade even though in some pics may not appear so.

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try. Thank you for the advice

Yes definitely I bet the sword has some stories to tell

Thank you Grey, I am just happy I have many knowledgeable people such as you guys and a communication board to talk to others. Thank you very much for the wealth of information and knowledge that take years to acquire. I have the highest respect for you guys.

Thank you Ray, yes I think you are right. I will just chalk this one up to lesson learned. Glad I didn’t spend much on it. It definitely fits the bill for an interesting study piece.