A follow up on this old post and a question below - perhaps a bit heretical but I thought I'd ask.
I brought this wakizashi to the Chicago sword show in April (and my compliments Mark Jones on what looked like a great event even from a layman's perspective!). Consensus from the 3-4 people who looked at it was it was likely genuine, Osaka shinto (someone said "Period 4"?) and worth polishing and submitting to a shinsa, so I got Woody Hall's contact info at the show and he agreed to look at it / polish it.
He also felt it was a genuine Yoshimichi but unfortunately he discovered a hagiri on the blade (pictures). From his comments and searching this forum I understand what that means and that the blade won't be papered or have collector value. We'll still keep it in the family and as a piece of history.
From my searches in this forum I probably should have asked Mr. Hall to make a window on the blade to bring out the hamon, but I didn't think of it while he had the sword. I do understand that in its condition it's not worth bothering an expert polisher not to mention not worth $100 and up an inch. It still would be nice to have it in better condition.
Are there "polishers-in-training" that practice on swords that won't get papered, or a different polishing option that I could look at? I completely understand why those aren't usually good options, but the sword is no longer "in that market" and not a candidate any longer for the top experts so I'm looking for other options to restore it to a better condition.