raynor

I've had some very bad experiences with local usps but 59 volumes and resending the empty box? Horrible, hopefully it works out.

In case I didnt mention it, were I to mount the Edo tsuba in question it would be by paying a professional, my ham hands wont come near it save for yearly choji applications. I might be a novice in these things but I dare say I am not a babbling idiot ???? Thanks for all the input so far.

That does make sense but does the (secret?) Shosoin collections include the imperial swords? Either way to be in care of such works he has to have some credibility, regardless of any internet rumors I think. I would be comfortable knowing someone like that was on the Shinsa bench. Am I wrong in assuming the percieved nbthk vs nthk "rivalry" is something created mainly by (western) collectors online, in light of buying and selling swords?

Is not this the guy who takes care of the imperial collection? Sounds like he would be someones who's judgement should be solid.

Hi Pete, I'm submitting the blade to Shinsa in a couple months with his help since I cant attend the session myself, I plan to run it by him then.

Hi Steven, Thanks for your input. In this case there is no tsuka, I acquired the bare blade in shirasaya with only its habaki, the tsuba would have to be filed to fit the blades nakago as the blade is slightly larger in all directions. Obviously I will leave it to professionals to do both any destructive work as well as creative, like new tsuka and saya etc. I'm interested in peoples view from a philosophical point I recon, as even tho in my case the tsuba in question is no lost treasure it is still an antique with the potential to once again fulfill its purpose and be part of a koshirae versus staying a standalone unaltered piece.

Greetings all, In general what do you think about pairing loose antique fittings with loose antique blades to (re)make koshirae? I am asking mainly about making actual changes to fittings to for example a tsuba to make it fit on a beefier blade, but I am also curious about peoples opinions on this. From a pure preservation standpoint it is obviously a no go but so one could argue regarding the additions of new mekugi-ana or shortening of tangs in days past when these things were tools of war. I have a Kaga shinshinto blade in shirasaya with its copper habaki intact and a tsunagi, as well as a Edo tsuba I think could be a nice starting point for a full mount. The tsuba in question I do not think hold much value, I would obviously not use say a well preserved, papered and signed work for this. Attaching a photo of it.

Love the baleen, if that is what that is. When did the production to sell to westerners start? I assume closely following the 1868 Meiji restoration?

To me art is subjective, but one pillar for me to consider something proper art is that it has been made by a certain level of skill. Then, another pillar is beauty, which is also subjective. This is where most art lands. Then a third pillar is practicality. Nihonto for me posess all three of these qualities, which is the reason why I am on this board and got some blades in my house.

Thanks for the info, WD40 never stays on more then half a minute, I never let it dry on the metal and did it just to rule out stuck dirt spots versus pitting. Will do the qtip trick asap!

Merry Christmas, I was going to apply oil to my nihonto and upon taking it out of its shirasaya I discovered several fresh spots of needlepoint sized pitting on the blade. The shirasaya was starting to split this week so I did the warm water on fingertips trick to close it back up, worked like a charm. My mistake here was leaving the blade unsheathed about a quarter of an inch for no more then three days for the shirasaya to solidify back up before closing it up again. I have gently once wiped the spots with a microfiber cloth soaked in WD40, then applied and wiped off with choji oil several times. Is there anything else I can do to stop the process? As can be seen in one of the photos, there is red reflected from the pitts, which means active rust

Memory is a little foggy now in the Christmas prep haze, but the blade in question here has three lines on the right side and two on the left side of mune. Under habaki there is a lot, nine or even eleven sounds about right. If anyone wishes to guess or such I can put up photos past the holidays, I am not sure who did the polish but I have an idea who it might have been.

There is indeed similar marks under the habaki. Sending the blade to shinsa come March, should be interesting!

So that is what it is. Clever way to sign the polish! Thank you both.

Greetings all, I was looking at this shinshinto blade and discovered something appearing when the light hits it at a certain angle. The top section of the mune towards kissaki has a clear section of steel compared to the rest of the blade, you can clearly see where it starts to differ from the rest of the blade, with three thin lines of darker steel layered into the clear section gradually tapering off towards the kissaki. Am I correct guessing this is part of a lamination process or possible modification to the sword? Would be interesting to know more if anyone has any information to share. The sword is a "last man out of the gate" so to speak, as it is signed early 1868, mere months before the Meiji restoration.

I wonder if there are any types of hamon that is preferable over others from a mere functional point of view, like blade integrity or flexibility? I've also read that in general the brighter a genuine hamon is, the better the workmanship, or can these things be "faked" during polish?

George, That might be it, looking (even) closer those are indeed marks and not more inlay. I wonder if its intentional as they seem rather symmetric. The Japanese likes to not give up control of a process, or maybe this one was rushed out to someone running off to war

Magnifying lens, Myopia and lack of Roman noses considered, the work is still impressive

Hopefully not too much time has passed so that I am not necroposting here, but I will permit myself to sneak in another question or two. Am I correct assuming that some parts of the inlay used for the first tsuba's leaf motif here is what one could call ten zogan, or raised dot inlay? I'm also perplexed how whoever made this managed to add the tiny hairs visible on the stems without a microscope or modern tools, does anyone in the know care to share how this was done?

Is that a one or two finger grip? Tachikaze must without a doubt be amazing

As a genuine beginner the bump of this thread made me aware of this book, thanks for that. Just scored a used copy in good condition of the 1st edition for $34 from a Texas bookstore with the black Friday coupons flying around.

Amazing hamon, with a light source reflecting off the blade it is eerily similar to the sun peeking through a cover of flowing clouds.

I am such a novice in all things nihonto yet that I feel like I should wave a rattle around as a warning before my posts but I would not cut anything but air with that thing, not even that if it's a rat tail.. I dont like flying pieces of metal. I bet it would not cut the "certificate" if you tried. As for European and Chinese copies I have good experiences with those that dont pretend to be a nihonto but are well made non folded, differentially hardened tool steel swords made for tameshigiri. Cue actual t10 hamon om a most likely Chinese made sword gifted to me, quite different from the fraud OP is rightly exposing. I'm no metal expert but I think t10 steel is high speed tool steel with a bit of tungsten added.

Hi Jean, Do you have an ebay account? If so all you have to do is select "contact seller" under the persons profile.

Someone paid a thousand for that.. ouch. I am a complete novice in these things and can tell that tsuba is not genuine, as in a reproduction without seeing the original first. For me, sloppy finish gave it away, it just does not look appealing even with "expert" endorsements. A very expensive lesson.