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Hi folks, Yesterday , I was reading one of Markus’ Kantei supplement and he was talking about the Sori of a sword and suddenly, a question popped into my mind. Now, being completely self taught about swords and only following books as mentors, I’ve been taught that you measure sori from the mune machi to the kissaki and it gives you both the nagasa and the sori. Of course, it works great for ubu swords, but what about suriage and Ō-suriage swords? I’ve been doing it the same way for years, but wouldn’t it be more accurate to measure the sori not from the mune machi but from where the original mune machi was supposed to be if it can be determined? This way, it would give you a better idea of what the original sori was and also a better way to imagine the original sugata and thus, a sense of the age of the sword. I may be completely wrong here, or on the contrary stating an evidence, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this pointed out in any books I’ve read. So to sum up, should we calculate sori the same way between an ubu sword and a (greatly) shortened sword? Sorry (sori?) for the stupid question

And I seriously doubt any sword made during WW2, Koa Isshin or just the other guy, Isshin, would be considered an important work of art, not at that time anyway!

Gotta be a spelling error for “ichi” and the Ichimonji school who only signed their swords with the number 1

Nice sword!

Not to hijack this thread, but I will never agree with this. I know people do this and that it is advised, but it just doesn't make sense. It's like erasing a part of the swords history, and I think preserving the little we know about a sword history is as important as the sword itself. Once the sword has been recognized Gimei and the papers say so, it's no longer needed to alter it. Now, I know the problem is that future, dishonest sellers may want to pass it for what it's not, but still , that Gimei is integral to the past of that sword. I know most will disgree, but, still, I think it's wrong

Beautiful!

oh! the kinky stuff you must do with uchiko!

True, but who cares if it was made by Morikage or John Doe? It may not be shoshin but whoever made it, it’s still a nice sword. So long as you don’t pay the price for a Morikage, I still think a John Doe sword is worthy of preservation.

... plus it’s a nice sword! :dunno

Morita-San, anything else about Mantetsu or just about those?

However, I don’t see the shame of admitting what we’ve spent. Yes, a lot of people here have a lot of spending power, good for them! I’m not jealous! I wish I were rich but I’m not. That’s the way life is. We’re not equal and, in a way, I’m glad we’re not! So to reply to the OP question, I have one sword for which I spent $7000. The rest of them is below (sometimes well below!) $4000. The cheapest I bought was $400. There we go. In a way, that’s the beauty of that collection. I’ll never have a treasure sword, I can’t afford it and even if I did, I’d feel wrong buying a sword that could get me a car or feed my family. However, there are swords around for almost every kind of wealth. And without people getting low end swords, whatever that is, they would eventually disappear, so no shame at all in only being able to get low end swords!

Bummer I missed number 8!

Well, low end kind of define my collection!

... and his opinions are also often radical on sword appraisal. He emphasizes that appraisal of a mumei sword is an opinion and nothing more.

I’ve never had to deal with that and, to be honest, I don’t see the red rust in your picture. Now, if there is some, my first action would be to try and wash it off with oil and maybe scrape it with a needle and oil again.

Believe it or not, I own a Chinese katana with a juka/ō choji Hamon that actually has a faint utsuri, so temperature and steel are definitely a factor here as most Chinese swords use a lower temperature to avoid cracking the ha during yakiire and their Hamon is Nioi based, never Nie

That’s why I said that! The amount of Zombie Apocalypse swords is huge. Something must be coming! :-) Unless people watch too much TV?

Also, steel changed in the 1600s, becoming more uniform and homogeneous. It probably had an impact on utsuri. However, the art is not lost as modern smiths can produce utsuri. As for the second question, if you have to reshape the kissaki (say, shorten it from a chu kissaki to a ko kissaki, the mune is inevitably shortened too. I imagine that’s what he means. But more knowledgeable people will chime in.

My opinion too. I prefer sword number two but i think they are too expensive for what they are.

Yup, superglue is my go to gu..glue when I have a cut. Works better than band aid! Hey, you have to prepare yourself! You never know. There could be a Zombie outbreak!

My reply is the same for Gendaito or Mantetsu. Preservation is needed. They are the antiques of tomorrow.

Now, that’s a question I’ve often pondered about and am still unsure of. Some twenty years ago, when I just had one blade, I decided to pass it on to somebody I knew would care for it (one of my students. I’ve kept his contact information in that purpose). But now I have about ten swords and if none of them is a national treasure, they still are my treasure (my precious, in Gollum’s voice). So I don’t know yet. I don’t want to sell them. I think they should be passed on, not sold. You don’t sell a soul. Chances are, when and if the time has come and I realize it, I’ll probably contact some members here and give them out to them. The question is when do we feel we are ready?

No,no,no and no! There are plenty of Chinese blades that will do the job and have no artistic value. They are made for tameshigiri and are very good at what they do. Not that the Japanese wouldn’t do the job, but I have (almost) no reservation about breaking a Chinese $400 blade. A Japanese Blade is made to be preserved and cared for. Using it, even if you don’t harm it, will cause scratches, maybe a nail catcher or two. A polish will be necessary and thus, you’ll bring this blade closer to its own death as metal will be lost. So... No, no, no and no! And to quote Yojimbo (Sanjuro actually): “the best blades are kept in their sheath!”

With you guys, this topic is making giant’s leap progress all of a sudden! You guys and you Bruce should go done in history!

I don’t like flashy things, so not to my taste. Still, I think for those who like, it looks great. Looks almost as if a kozuka had been inserted in the ji