Seth

I will see what I can capture if anything! No restoration in the cards for this guy but it would be nice to see what's under the destruction.

@mdiddy Thanks for the response I did notice the difference in the nakago between the two. Everything else I own is shinto or older so beyond the forums I can not compare in hand. The other in military mounts I believe to be a koto blade so side by side they are pointless. I agree that the nakago is much cleaner than the typical Chinese examples that I have seen. I also wish it had been signed but was unable to remove the tsuka before purchasing. If the price wasn't so good I likely would have passed on it, but since I never see them at estate sells or yard sales I rolled the dice. Is there anything else you would like to see on it specifically or any additional pictures? I guess the big question now would be does it just get locked in the safe or would it be worth a window out of curiosity? In the current state, it is very hard to pick any details out on the blade. Top-notch grinder workmanship...

Ok, I was able to get it out this morning and take a good close look at it. I compared it to another in military mounts and it does seem off or of much lower quality. What my untrained eyes compared it against.

Interestingly enough this type 98 also does not have the sarute hole. It is also in question on authenticity.

I noticed that on the tsuka as well, definitely no hole there. The saya is metal also for what that's worth. Anything else I should look for on it or grab pictures of that would help? Thanks for taking a look at it.

I will admit that this particular area has not been where I have been focusing my learning but I came across this piece at an estate sale for a very reasonable price and decided to take it home. It seems that at some point in its life it was used as a brush removal tool due to the grinder polish and the s bend. No identifying marks on the nakago or anywhere else. I haven't had a chance to sit down and take a good long look at it and I apologize for the rushed pics. At the very least it now has some oil on it. Any thoughts on this? I have not seen file marks on the nakago like are shown in the 5th picture before (not that I have had any number of these in my hand either).

I understand the bug all too well. JakeNYC makes great sword pillows. He has a thread going, just search sword pillows and it will pop up.

You can check out the cleaning kit on Mr. Bensons site below, I believe the ones they actually produce are sold out most of the time. I keep checking but no luck yet. The kit he sells is nicer than the Chinese kits primarily found on the web. I use it for my abused blades. I am in the no uchiko camp for blades in polish. Supplies (bushidojapaneseswords.com) Seth

Just took mine for a test drive, works great and looks great. Thanks Jake.

Are any of these still available? Thank you,