MHC

6 years or 10 years, matters not, I seriously do not have the required patience for that art form, or years left in this aging body (just turned 62 and retired), nor do I speak Japanese so....... Just a old man playing with cheap Southeast Asian steel, no harm or foul possible. Mark

Oh nooooo...no elusions of that falderal, and I'm too old and impatient to do a 6 year apprenticeship in Japan. Furthermore, I could never sit in the proper Japanese polishing position for more than about 2 seconds, hell I can't even sit in the lotus position at all. Me and sport bikes had too many arguments over the years, 3 plates, 16 screws and 8 surgeries later, precludes sitting in just about any position for long, let alone a contorted one! Mark

I'm super curious about polishing, I want to try my hand with it on Thai/Burmese DHA swords, but I do not know what effect the different stones have on sword steels. I think having a broken/cut section of real folded steel to practice on, would yield better education than starting with a total unknown steel type and guessing which stone(s) do what. DHA swords in Thailand run about $30-$100 US dollars, so no real worries about screwing up something that is actually worth money and should not be touched by an un-trained rookie. Anyway, just a future hobby to pursue in retirement. Mark

Thanks for the lead, but I'm looking for folded steel actual blade section(s), not nakago alone. Mark

Ok, fair enough...I was interested in the whole sword, but thought that was a stretch to separate it from you. So how about a offer with a a profit then...$50+ shipping for the whole kit-n-caboodle? Yeh. yeh, I'm guessing that I know what you are going to say, but nothing ventured, nothing gained right? Mark

Or you could sell 1/2 of it to me for $20 and break even :}. Mark

Hello all, I've seen a few of these chopped/cut swords for sale out of Japan, but none so far that would actually ship to the USA. The examples that I've seen seem to go for between $13 US dollar's to $40 US dollars, some are single pieces, some are a full sword that's cut up. I would really like to get my hands on 1 or 2 decent length examples, for experimenting on. Any leads on where I might be able to buy 1 or 2 would be greatly appreciated. Mark

Well rats!!! I'd of bought that in a heart beat....please make me #3 if the other 2 in line fall short. Mark

Well decisions, decisions..... The current price vs the condition of the "polish" seems about right for a fixer-upper Mumie blade. However there are 3 things holding me back, 1.) I'm not a fan of Bohi (personal visual appeal thing). 2.) The Koshirae is not really my taste (WWII gunto style), tsuba is tired but has merit. 3.) The tip of the Kissaki is broken off ...just enough...to require a fare amount of metal removal by a polisher to bring it back...maybe too much?? So it all comes down to cost vs equity vs desire. I guess I'll wait to see your other possible offerings? Just to add more decisions to the mix, yeh that'll help the situation..... Mark

The more times I went back and looked at everything that was available, the less I saw anything worth the guess work and gamble. One odd note, I saw 1 Katana in Shirasaya that was in rough shape, but looked promising, but by the third time I looked at the site....it had been removed from the auction....hummm. Mark

I have been viewing the various sword sites and such from Thailand and South east Asia as of late. I have seen several Tsuba's that appear to be the identical style to that one shown, with the lotus blossom piercing pattern. Is this a pattern that may have been copied by the Thai. from a Japanese style? Mark

What I saw in the pictures were a whole bunch of what appears to be Franken-swords, all mix-n-match Fuchi, Kashira, Tsuba, Seppa. Some blades look old and promising while others looked questionable, some with tired Koshirae with blade condition that does not match, or nicer Koshirae with very poor condition blades. Some of the Tsuba's look amateurish as well, plus weird shaped Nakago's on others with poorly chiseled Mie's. Just a lot that looked off to me...but probably just my lack of knowledge and poor pictures to gage from??? Mark

Hello all, Not sure if adding a link is ok on this forum, so delete this post if I'm off base here, no worries. I found an auction that is going to happen in Texas on the 29th of august. There is a link noted below. I looked at most of the swords, but since I'm a rank amateur here, I wanted others opinions. What I looked at, by and large seemed mostly "off", some looked maybe ok-ish, but the warning hairs stood up on the back of my neck for the most part. sofedesignauctions.com Mark

All else set aside, "My Grandfather got this katana back in World War 2 somewhere around the 1960s" . That would be a nice hat trick.......since that war ended in 1945...... just throwing it out there. Mark

i offered up for viewing the Wak in the Nihonto section, under "New members 1st Nihonto acquisition" dated June 3rd.

Really wish I didn't have to do it, but since I'm retiring to Thailand at the end of the year (Covid-19 rules dependent) and bringing Ivory into Thailand is somewhat frowned upon. Here is a glance at what I parted with and ended up with a sword instead.

It looks like the fireplace hood is adjustable in height by the offset balance of the cannon balls on chains, interesting smoke control. Mark

DHL delivered my Shirasaya wood no problem...same size package as a sword..... I was quoted 4 months by sea mail to the west coast of USA as current time frame prediction, much patience needed there. Mark

Usagiya Sword shop and Namikawa Heibei supplies both have told me that I need to wait until Japan Post re-opens before they can ship, even then no control on delivery time. For what that's worth. I have asked them about EMS, UPS, DHL, Sea freight and Japan ground freight......the answer has been the same for all. I have sent both of them an email request to use FedEx, we will see what they have to say. Mark

I just tried to buy 2 items from Japan yesterday, from 2 separate places....both told me that the Japan Post airmail is essentially closed (I verified this as such on line as well, current info as of 7/3/2020). Very limited airmail, to very limited countries, with long and unreliable ship dates. The backlog of parcels needing to leave Japan is apparently very large, causing further delays and adding to the uncertainty. Even sea freight shipping, they claim 1-4 months delivery time depending on destination.....ouch! Exact same info from both parties, so it would appear we all get to wait for Japan Post to re-open service, then clear the backlog, then maybe they'll get back on an even keel. Mark

Hello JT, This may or may not be helpful to you. I recently purchased a sword product (Shirasaya wood) from a seller in Japan, he also told me about the postal system freeze. However, he shipped my purchase via DHL airmail, shipped on 6-19-2020 and arrived at my house in the US on 6-23-2020 without a hitch. Any attempted use of the Japanese Postal service will be a guaranty of it being halted for the foreseeable future, maybe see if AOI will try to use DHL. Worth a shot! Mark

No Andrew not upset at all, sorry it came across that way to you. My comment was simply based on a learned historical observation, from 45 years of collecting knives, guns, classic cars and antique furniture. It has been my experience that old things past down thru the families over the years usually fall into 2 categories, 1. Cherished and coveted and eagerly eyed by each new generation {few and far between}. 2. Casually left by the wayside by the original owner, until someone in the family tree finally comes into possession of it, and thinks it has value to sell {most cases}. However, I hope you fall into a more obscure category, of the one that never knew of the object, and is now fascinated enough to cherish and protect it for the next generation to come. For what it's worth, beware of "past down family stories" most prove to be somewhat elaborated upon, hints around the edges of facts maybe, but that's generally as close as they get. Mark

I don't think $2000 would even scratch(no pun intended) the surface for the needed restoration cost that this particular sword needs. It could probably be saved from it's current condition, but not for much longer. I humbly offered to purchase the sword as big gamble "work-in-progress" project sword....but never heard a peep from the gentleman. So unfortunately I'm afraid this sword will be put away in a box/closet/attic and forgotten about until it deteriorates to the point of being hopeless and valueless. It's a shame really, I would at least have given it some much needed attention. Mark :{

Love to see complete pictures of the entire sword and Koshirae, really cool kashira. The damage to the Tsuba has distinct correlational to bullet/shell rifling marks but just a WAG, so.....? Mark

Hello all, It seems to me that the signature/cutting test should have the same amount of aged rust accumulation as the rest of the Nakago, but it distinctly looks like it was chiseled over top of existing aged rust? Maybe just the lighting in the pictures, but the edges of the signature/cutting test seem way too crisp compared to the surrounding area. Maybe dust accumulated in the actual signature/cutting test chisel marks is throwing off my perspective? Mark