Blazeaglory

I stumbled across this earlier today and find it quite interesting. I imagine it as a last ditch effort to either escape from or deal the final blow to your enemy? Or used by kidnappers for the element of surprise? Its called a Suna-Teppo and works by filling it with blinding powders then blowing through it into an enemies face/eyes https://samurai-world.com/suna-teppo-secret-samurai-weapon/

I have both of those books you've linked and they have been very informative!

Wow! I enjoyed reading this thread tho

Some Shira saya have beautiful grain/tiger stripes on the wood but as far as craftsmanship goes, I would say proper fit of the blade and proportion relevant to the shaping and finish of the wood.

The hada is AMAZING!!

Very good info!

Looks straight to me

haha there is a very smart comment who basically schools everyone as to why its not a Rai Kunitoshi but yet people continue to believe

Haha yah I kinda thought that same thing. Notice how they said "due to time constraints, we could not examine the sword properly" Afraid to open a can o' worms I guess

The interesting thing is that they were brought back/purchased pre WW1. I would really love to know who made the sword in the "court" fittings as she put it https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ars10.socst.wh.globalage.jaswo/three-Japanese-swords/

It doesn't look like there is much underneath it and you might be left with rotting wood that will disintegrate after you unwrap it or something else that will disintegrate after unwrapping it. Just go slow and if things start to look bad halfway through, just stop. Its a decent sword and if you plan on making a new saya for it, then go ahead and unwrap it but who knows what condition its in underneath

Yeah true. And I would think the pre flood schools would have less swords available but I am curious as well to see which schools actually produced the most swords. Or when there were the most schools active over a certain number of centuries, the schools with the highest average of swords produced in comparison to each other or something like that

I still dont understand how they get such a crazy beautiful Hamon from clay and quenching. I mean, I understand the basic principals and metallurgy but I still dont get it...Its ghost like I guess that is why this style of Nihonto is sought after

Actually I see quite a bit of Mino or Mino influence

Great offer! Free Tsuka removal service and we get to check out the show as well!

If its really stuck on there, you can use a wooden splint that can be made out of most pieces of wood. There are quite a few "how to's" out there and you can find them pre-made for cheap. Which is basically what 16k was saying above. Stay away from steam as it can cause rust and make the glue holding the tsuka/saya together come apart

The mall sounds really weird...

I can attest to the fact that I refer to this book constantly! Its one of the few that I keep off the shelf and in arms reach!

Very stout looking blade!

I would invest in a Mekugi nuki (small brass hammer made for removing the bamboo peg, etc) Just go slow and follow sword handling protocol and you should be ok. Even tho these Nihonto are old, they are still fairly solid for the most part. Just dont use any abrasive substances on the blade or try to clean it. They are not "brittle" in the manner which you are thinking of. Eventually the blade will come out of the Tsuka Other than the bad carving and a little over polish with some minor blemish, the sword overall isn't too bad for a first sword if the price was good. I would agree that it looks to be a Shinto blade, early to mid Edo possibly? I've seen it before... through Daimyo54 right?

Yah, I don't see any similarities. I just like it for its depiction of Bushi

That's pretty cool! I know its from Burma but it would be cool if those teeth turned out to be really old black bear teeth from the north of Japan from an old samurai family

Darn, was hoping it was older. The detail is interesting tho. Each one has different Koshirae for Tachi but many of them have the same style Tanto. You can notice all the different family Mon as well and some pretty sweet beards/ mustache combos!

I love how they're all flexing the different colors on their right arms. You think it's contemporary? https://www.ebay.com/itm/293372969746

Expensive...????????