Lareon

I've spoken to Paul at the To-Ken society, he graciously gave me a call and some advice on where to take the sword for an appraisal and then potentially a polish in the future. most likely will not be doing anything until the new year with it but will post updates when and if there are any.

Hi Robert, The cutting edge is 33.38" / 84.8cm I had the measurement slightly off before

any tips on who i should contact and in what order would be great (I'm in the UK) I'm currently writing an email to the to-ken society of GB to get advice but would love some guidance on who to talk to from the forum. Tony

yes I was going to do a charcoal rubbing

here's the best i could do with my current location and phone camera at the weekend i'll have my DSLR so will be able to take some better more detailed photos instead of with my phone (this is also just one side of the blade flipped instead of both sides) added a straightened image

Since the post last night i have only taken photos and now just oiled the blade lightly for storage. I wont do anything else

I tried in many light conditions and two cameras to try and pick up as much as i could on the blade. It's oiled and put away for now as i will be travelling soon but at the weekend i can take photos if more are wanted.

Thank you Franco, How would I go about Contacting Mr Tanobe? Yes I really like it, when i bought the sword the blade was unseen as it only had a single zoomed out picture, i couldn't even see the detail properly on the koshirae. When i took it out for inspection the kirikomi was to me a lovely addition. Brian yes the hada very much looks to be ayasugi, i've waited until it was daylight in the uk to try and take a few more pictures to pick it up clearer which i shall post after this post. I will take it to a professional. There was the recommendation of a Mr Tanobe who i shall track down Also i did receive and offer to buy it, almost instantly after I posted but I mostly want to study it and get the pleasure of slowly watching the craftmanship come back to life. Even the lowliest beat up gunto i own that I threaten to sell every time i take it out to check on it gets a fond pat and put back in it's place once I'm done. Coming up Thanks for all the responses

yeah I like it, it's got quite a lot of character. will try and take a rubbing of the nakago to pick up any of the mei that remains but i can't really see anything it picking anything else up

The Blade itself is 32" quite the handful

Here's a Handachi I picked up recently. underneath the neglect on the blade I can see the hamon but found it really difficult to pick up in a photo in the light conditions I have at the moment. I can also see the hada which I've also tried the capture but again is hard to photo through the damage to the blade. It has a solid nick in the blade towards the kissaki, I like to imagine this from another blade but who knows. The Blade is 83cm (or 32.67 inches) whatever was written on the mei is lost / beyond my ability to record. I'm not even sure if it isn't just damage of some kind and the sword is unsigned.

where did it head to? no chance of getting it back? seems a shame since you obviously hold it dear

I agree with Chris, keep it as an heirloom - it's part of your family history now. Or someone here will most likely take it off your hands for a fair price.

I bid but went a bit higher than I wanted. Good find though. Thanks Bruce

Thanks. I shall do

I actually picked up a second sword from the same auction and now I'm questioning it If I could get your opinions on this one too that would be great. Thanks guys

Thanks everyone. What language is the mei on the tang? Chinese? There was a translation with it. I may cancel the purchase now since I haven't paid yet

Gareth I think i bought a few from the same auction as you. I love the hamon on that blade it really speaks to me.

I bought this interesting Tachi today and thought I'd share it with you all. Haven't picked it up yet so can't get any more photos than these but will update when I collect Would love to hear everyone's opinion on it

Every gunto I see I'm checking for numbers to report back to you Bruce haha

can you see the remnants of any signature in kanji on the rusted tang, it might be very hard to see in that condition. As Chris says, the fact it has three mekugi-ana most likely means it's been refitted at least once into new fititngs so is most likely an older blade. I like the sword in general, it's one I'd pick up myself. The Tsuka (handle) looks long as does the blade. Nice Sword

Hi Malcom. I agree with Mark and try the for sale section. I'd be interested in seeing photos for sure even if you don't sell it here. and yes if you don't know the value of the blade you could get a consensus on the forum first? Best of luck passing the blade along to it's future custodian.

What a Beautiful piece. A collectors dream