0Takeda0

I've been keeping a close eye on katana-boutique. They seem reputable. Daimyo54 also seems to have blades in the same price point, most of them are out of polish though.

Some 370 usd. Probably could have found something in the same price, but completely without mounts from komonjo. This had a habaki that was old, but I'm not it sure was original, a modern tsuba, and a tsuka, which seems original. The handle is intact, but could be better. The yokote, and shinogi near the monouchi especially, are both worn, kind of like what flintz polish would do from my experience with reproduction swords. The shinogi lower on the blade seems fine.

Maybe I should have said "it could have been worse for my first nihonto". No doubt, you are right, not much to be appreciated in this piece. I am not seasoned and I am too timid to jump into buying a higher quality/premium blade until I am informed enough.

I know what you mean. Many can't help but touch the blade the first chance they get. Even though it's not a very happy sword, I probably wouldn't let someone clumsy handle it, that's what a Hanwei is for

I will definitely make sure to check out the sales section here regularly. I didn't even know there was one until you mentioned it

They thought it was an older reproduction sword. I got it very cheap because of it.

I guess I'll find some spare parts to replace those which are missing and call it done. What looks like the hamon in pictures I think is part of the original polish. In natural light, I can see the full real hamon. I'm still not going to take the risk of getting it polished. I paid very little for it, because the seller didn't know how old it really was. Not too bad for my first nihonto.

That was exactly what I needed to hear, thanks

So we can be pretty sure that this is a nihonto, But I am getting mixed responses to weather or not it is saveable. If it is not worth sending off to a professional polisher, what should I do with it? If it is worth getting restored, how would I be able to tell?the nakago and Machi are in poor shape, but the blade itself seems mostly alright to me.

You said it. I bought it off of eBay. In the pictures, the person had the blade resting directly on the ground, on concrete, outside. These people disgust me to say the least.

But wait, there's more... In person there is a yokote, but I can barely see it. Given the ridges aren't very crisp, especially near the kissaki, I think someone put a modern metal polish like flintz on the blade, or worse, sanded it. Regardless of the piss-poor shape, does anyone have any guesses of what it could be? I will include close ups of the nakago, as even though it has been tampered with, I can at least see some of the filing

Yeah, it seemed a little sketchy such an old looking blade would have a nakago with so little rust, especially with the rust being dark. I can see the file markings though. I think the same person who put a modern tsuba on it altered the nakago.

I bought this recently. It has an antique tsuka. The saya and fuchi are missing, and the original tsuba and seppa had been replaced with some modern ones. The hamon is hard to see at most angles but I can see almost all of it. It looks to me like it had a proper polish at one point, but it is not in great shape given the sheath is missing. I have done nothing to the blade except oil it, and use a little uchiko powder. I'm wanting to know what it could be, (nihonto, showato, etc), and how old it is. Thanks

I didn't lose too much on it, and if nothing else, it still makes for a decent cutter. Since the last pictures I uploaded, Using uchiko powder alone, I managed to reveal the hamon on the omote side (which is very close to the edge), and what looks like the boshi on both sides. On the ura side, the boshi seems to have a break in the hamon (which is to be expected with most of the tip gone), but to my surprise the boshi on the omote side seems intact. If I find it worthwhile, I might upload a few more pictures. Thanks for all the help, everyone

The more I look at it the more it looks like a kyo yakidashi