loiner1965

I agree Chris I think its handmade and folded but not traditionally made with tamahagne I read on another forum years ago and it showed you stamped guntos That displayed hada ( not as nice as mine though) lol and it explained some were water and oil quenched. As Brian said these were exceptions to the rules All I wanted to explain to the poster was gendaito means different meaning to each forum / organisation We here refer it to traditionally made where some top sellers and nihonto forums see it as era This conflict must be really confusing to newcomers One day I will have to get another gunto polished as he is another smith who produced low to medium grade swords but occasionally made top quality.... Kanemune

sorry brian for any misunderstandings i may have caused. as we know nothing is set in stone in nihonto and they are always exception to the rules as my kanetoshi katana shows. but as you say gendaito as we understand it means traditionally / handmade rather than era. it must be so confusing for newcomers.. merry christmas to you all

this is most confusing to newbies as this is what they find on the internet http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/showato.htm i have a seki stamped katana by kanetoshi and its definately hand made as it as lovely itame grain in it and they was another katana with the same specs as mine by him on the internet sales described as gendaito. i have also a showa stamped katana by kanemune who as ade gendaito blades as well but its out of polish to determine wether hand made or not....both blades carry tang kaos

And can I say a special Christmas to Brian and all of the moderators who work hard and give up their free time to run this forum so efficiently.. Merry xmas

Merry Xmas and a safe new year to both of you and to all fellow members

Very nice...what's with the kanji under the habiki?

Interesting thread. Do we have pics of the blade after polishing?

First thing I would do is learn how to look after it I can see finger prints so buy a cleaning kit. Uchiko powder / clean lint free cloth / sewing machine oil Do not remove rust on the tang by machine , you can gently scrape away loose rust carefully and just dab some oil on

Christ how will you remove the rust? Use a bone to take off any flaky bits if any? Rub carefully the area with oil and bone ?

My take on this little tanto..... The owner likes it a lot and for a little outlay it could look a real nice piece, I would re-wrap the handle and give the blade to a polisher to tidy it up. I had 2 blades polished in the past..... A gunto by kanetoshi which shows off a beautiful itame nada and it's suguhu Hamon very well even though this sword being hand made as a seki stamp The other is a nice wakizashi by kiyomitsu but during the final polishing stage an umegame was disturbed and pulled out so to speak but I still love the blade as to me I am preserving history and keeping blades which otherwise be discarded etc. I do not wish to profit from my swords as I intend to keep as long as I can

thank you gentlemen ...much appreciated

sorry for the double thread but i can now post better pics etc...the tanto is in a sorry state but non the less me its a piece of Japanese history and warrants research...

thank you .... the blade is very old and signed nagamitsu or yoshimitsu as i recently asked in the tanslation section

Can understand ageing the habiki but why do it on the blade, surely it would be safer off

saved this little tanto and awaiting arrival. its an old koto period blade signed nagamitsu or yoshimitsu but will require polishing if worth it. here is a pic of the fuchi....can anyone tell me anything about it , wether its original to the blade... sorry not much to go on until i receive it but i am grateful for any comments good or bad

sorry john i was in a bit of a rush when i posted kanji...... many thanks john and Koichi Moriyama san for your speedy and much welcomed replies. i will now try and pursue the suggested smiths edit....tanto not here with me yet but i will post pics when it arrives....its out of polish but i cannot let these blades disappear or abandoned lol. looks like yoshimitsu but i will certainly know more soon. its an old blade for sure....poss muromachi period

any help would be grateful please as sometimes i think the kanji are not Japanese but just random scribbles is this kiyo mitsu?

seconded,,,, george like many others have always gone out of their way to help others esp me lol many thanks george

my kanetoshi katana as a seki stamp and although not traditionally made it is hand made and water quenched

i have a naginata by kiyomitsu but it as a umegame when it was polished . still treasure it even though to some its worthless pics before polish...viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3998

cheers george, cannot find much info on this smith

thank you

hope everyone had a wonderful christmas... can one of our learned members please comfirm this mei as watanabe masanobu or if i got it wrong...any info on this seki smith

think you are correct.....if you look closely after i cleaned the blade up abit you can see traces of what looks like chrome in the blood groove ( opologies for calling it this as my brain as had a malfunction at the min and the real term escapes me lol) whatever been used was effective in removing 99% of the finish....the blade is upright at the min as i left oil to trickle inside the habiki as its stuck solid etc....do not think they will be chrome underneath but its a shame to damage fittings by neglect

this site is valuable in its experience members who will help you but look at the links at top of the page as loads of info there