Nihonto Chicken

Can "high end" coexist with "low end"? In theory, yes, but in fact, maybe not under the same roof. Though I imagine I have the attention span to appreciate both ends of the spectrum, my pocketbook favors only one. In truth, I don't lust that much for a juyo Nambokucho because, despite being unable to afford it in the first place, I doubt my ability to properly safe guard such an acquisition, and so I'll leave it for someone with a heaver safe, more security, and better climate control. I'm happy enough with my lower end swords. Not that I imagine them to be fine art blades, but they do have redeeming social value, such as, say, the mumei gunto that looks at first to be a bar stocker, but upon very close examination turns out to be muji hada that only shows its extremely fine masame character in the habuchi with perhaps a dozen lines of sunagashi in an eighth of an inch, or another gunto with an original mizukage replete with a floating island of tobiyaki as well as strange dark darts rising off the temper line gunome peaks. I guess I'm easily entertained. :lol:

FWIW, Here is the mei on my example, which I have been told is Yoshiharu: Appears to be the same kanji but in a somewhat different hand than the example given. I note the mekugi ana is in the same position wrt the mei in both cases, chance or not?

Congrats on your habaki. Gives one an appreciation for what's involved. I made one for a shobu zukuri wak, came out rather well if I do say so myself. It was somewhat of a sweat hammer fitting it to the blade and praying the ha machi would survive (it did). Unfortunately, the habaki was responsible for one of the worst cuts I've ever had. I was filing the narrow (blade) side of the michigane when it seized on the fine file, with the result that my thumb slid on the sharp edge, cutting it quite deeply, just like a knife (much deeper than the michigane thickness, given the pressure I was applying). Oh, well, the fun of restoration! Carry on!

The hamon looks different than the ji due to the dissimilar lattice structures, but this needs a decent polish to show up, and there is no black light shortcut of which I know to negate a poor polish. If the blade has been sandpapered or otherwise mistreated by hard grits, then the surface lattice will be "smeared" and little or nothing will show up under any lighting (will look like a mirror). What is said to be the best lighting to view hataraki is a bare, unfrosted low wattage incandescent bulb at the far side of a dark room. That is what I saw at shinsa.

Here's a link to a couple of my posts on this topic, may be of use: search.php?keywords=power+uchiko&terms=all&author=Nihonto+Chicken&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

FWIW, I have a modest mumei yoroi doshi that apparently has a different metal wrapped about it in barber pole style, resulting in a striped yubashiri effect. These misty diagonal bands, about a quarter to half an inch wide, three to a side, are harder than the surrounding metal, as evidenced by the fact that they project slightly from the surface (were not ground down as much during (re-)polishing). The hada within the stripes seems to flow in the direction of the stripes, whereas to either side of each stripe are big, round itame pools. The quality of the blade is not very high, but I just thought I'd mention it since it does appear to have been made from a billet with a harder metal twisted around it, for whatever reason.

It is said that the first thousand dollars you spend on Nihonto is best paid for books. Perhaps an overstatement in amount, but a few hundred dollars is reasonable and appropriate. As far as the blade in the photos, it has not been simply "overpolished", it has been SANDED! Sandpaper and similar Western style grits are very hard and sharp, and as they cut the metal, they also burnish it, resulting in a mirror-like surface that obscures the activity, such as the hamon. This blade needs to be treated to a lot of uchiko, which may reveal some of whatever activity might exist (won't eliminate the scratches, but may still "lift the mirror veil" from the hataraki). Worse than obscuring the activity, the doofus who sanded this sword ROUNDED THE SHINOGI (the ridgelines on the sides of the blade)!!! This is about the worst thing that one can easily do with sandpaper. In order to bring the shinogi back to a sharp ridge, an incredible amount of metal needs to be removed from both faces, many times the amount of metal that was removed in rounding the shinogi in the first place. Run away from this blade. Buy, read and assimilate books, and go to some shows before dropping any large green on Nihonto. JMHO.

Andrew, your blade appears to be of some interest, but unfortunately has apparently been sanded (sandpaper and other hard grit abrasives favored in the West "smear" the metal surface and leave a mirror-like finish, masking much of the activity in Japanese blades). The (very) good news is that whoever sanded the blade didn't round off the shinogi (had this been done, a massive amount of metal would need be removed to bring them back to proper sharpness). In order to bring out your blade's activity, I recommend you get some good uchiko powder or uchiko ball and devote a few hours uchikoing your piece. There are different styles of doing this, and I don't want to start a flame war over how best to go about it. A search here on "uchiko" will likely surface some various opinions. It will seem slow going at first, but after a number of hours, the hamon and other hararaki will come out (the pitting won't, this requires a foundation polish by a professional). Just be sure to uchiko only from the shinogi to the ha, not the shinogi ji, and don't ride over the shinogi itself, again to avoid rounding it. You can do this while, say, watching TV or listening to tunes, just don't get too complacent and slip, you can slice yourself badly if you do. You'll soon get a feel for how many swipes one dusting will last (some people say only to go once, but this isn't appropriate for the "power-uchiko" job I'm recommending here), also, if you do slip and put a fingerprint on the metal (hopefully no blood), you will see how many swipes are necessary to get all the skin oil out of the metal (more than you might think). Good luck with your first Nihonto, and please post some more pics after the activity comes to light!

Anybody? Bueller???

BTW, is this mei the same as that on p.40 of Yumoto? He identifies his mei as Kumemune. I have a gunto with the Yumoto mei as near as I can read it on p.40, also has a deep, bigger than life standard showa stamp, FWIW.

Steve, your blade looks pretty clean, aside from the rust spots at the kissaki. The hamon looks maybe to be nioi deki, and so won't stand out as well as one heavy with nie, and, of course, a sub-standard polish tends to wash out the activity. I recommend that you consider using some good quality uchiko and doing a "Jim Kurrasch Memorial Power Uchiko Job" on the blade. That is, take an hour or so each evening, say while watching American Idle or Dancing With The 'Tards (just kidding), and uchiko the sword. Just be careful not to get distracted or complacent and cut yourself. And replace your paper or cloth periodically (once the sweat on my fingers worked its way through the cloth and contacted the blade, which I put away without re-oiling, as I was going to hit it again early the next day, was greeted by long streaks of technicolor brown on the sword). With five to ten hours or so of uchiko work, a lot of hidden hataraki can become visible. Even mill steel will develop a velvety texture (assuming it was smooth to begin with). There is little likelihood of doing damage using the uchiko, other than partially erasing the yokote, and, given the rust spots, your kissaki needs a rework anyway. (Note, please DON'T consider using finger stones, it is too easy to do some real damage with those.) Just a suggestion, can be a good bonding experience with your new sword. Good fortune! Rick B.