Okan

I was also a bit obsessed about this some time ago. Tried different microfiber and different white shirts on different blades..Ended up using a quality Vinyl cleaning cloth..And bought a couple meters of Flannel cloth from a fabric shop..made little pieces for oiling the blade.. So my cleaning routine is: Using %97 alcohol with face cleaning cotton patch..microfiber to clean leftover %3 water..very light choji with flannel cotton..and 3 times kleenex.. Samurai is leaving the castle and heading back to his house under a heavy rain..all his cloths and his daisho are soaking wet..When he's home, he gives his swords to his wife..she dries the saya with a (probably dirty) cloth..They eat dinner...Then he decides to clean his blades....according to some old documents, what he actually did was to clean the blades with cotton cloth patch, one round of Uchiko, and same cotton cloth again.next to a gas lamp so it was pretty dark...(I'm sure they would only use microfiber instead of uchiko if they had one) and of course, no oiling as they were literally using these blades..choji was used by swordsmiths on summer times and only for the blades in shirasaya..and of course, after polish.. These are antiques now and some of us have four-five figure blades..but why do we have to clean them so often..You can oil the blades in shirasaya once a year(maybe 2 if you live in India or some very humid place)... and use a piece of kleenex after appreciation..We are doing more harm than good if we clean/oil them too often..Just leave them in peace..they won't get rusted..

Thank you @Bruce Pennington!! I already did but seems like he never used saku at the end.

First time seeing this thought I should share it. Made by Gassan Sadakazu. https://www.rct.uk/collection/62630/field-marshals-sword-gensuito-scabbard-and-case

Will appreciate if you can take a look. Thanks a lot!

Inside the hole lacquerware seems pretty damaged..so it must have been used but for what

@Grevedk By auction house you mean ebay? Isn't this the same sword with different papers? (Photoshopped I presume) https://www.ebay.nl/itm/185399711684?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11051.m43.l1123&mkcid=26&ch=osgood&euid=eae051632503471a80e8ed622a4cddd1&bu=45209607582&osub=-1~1&crd=20220501030930&segname=11051&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

Yeah Jean, it sadly does..

I was wondering if anyone saw anything like this before..I'm sure there must be a reason for this ugliness but I couldn't come up with anything...

Hmm..

Sword is not papered so I wanted to ask for your opinion if you think it's gimei or not. Thank you!

Thank you!!!

Hello, Can you please help me out on this. (Don't ask about the condition of the tang, not my blade..but someone cleaned it good and tried to re-rust maybe? ) Thank you!

Wow. Great info. What a history..Thanks a lot Ian!

Made using an early 17th century German Solingen blade, re-shaped and re-tempered in Japan in the Japanese style. The scabbard is encased in colourful Dutch leather (goudleer), while a golden mon (Japanese heraldic crest) embellishes the surface. This three-circle motif was associated with the powerful Matsura clan. They governed the island of Hirado, which provided a base for the Dutch East India Company (VOC) until 1641. This blade may have been gifted to the Matsura family by Dutch traders seeking their good will. Indeed, the goudleer on the scabbard might be an indication that the VOC commissioned the whole weapon as a novelty presentation piece, combining Japanese and Dutch elements. Alternatively, a Solingen sword may have been independently acquired and adapted to suit Japanese taste, with the goudleer serving to emphasise its unusual nature.

Enjoy.

@Bruce Pennington - No sorry Bruce, I've checked but the link is expired..I'm uploading 4 more that I had. How did I miss this blade...

Probably that and the price of tamahagane. Also you wouldn't want to create a new section on watches Then we would all be seeing posts like "How to oil your watch" or "Never clean the back of your watch"

I found this piece of ad in a book that I bought from second hand book market. Don't know if you saw this before but I wanted to share it. March 5th 1984.

+1

No they need a miracle Just kidding, they just need some time as I need some knowledge and experience.

Here are some books on tsuba making and design. I put them on my google drive as it makes it's easier to download. They are all free and available on archive.org https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OGmr5k-KD_srD2j2R4FmNvImNi-sgVdj?usp=sharing

One more saved!

Not yet I'll try that in a couple of weeks where I'll have a garden to do it. I didn't want to try that inside the house.

I've been trying to find out an answer to that same question...9 or 10 of the tsuba in the collection is mixed up with the wreck as there is no sign of salt corrosion on them. But the rest were eaten out and I had removed small sea shells from their nakago ana..(funny story: couple of days ago I removed another small sea shell, turned out it was copper decoration, covered with rust) Maybe they were found after a tsunami..don't know...but the deceased owner's daughter says it was a shipwreck.

Hmm interesting.