loiner1965

reading your reply chris about the kanetoshi may be traditionally made and assuming they are no more smiths from a different era using the same mei lol, i will post a pic of mine up to see if the same. mine is hand made as it as a beautiful suguhu hamon and ko-itame grain but also as the seki stamp just checked on mr steins exellent site and here is the mei in question also with a seki stamp. http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/kanetos3.jpg will check mine tonight as not at home yet

obviously chris is correct in financial terms but if you like the sword and wish it to look like it should then go for it as long as feasible

i can post a pic of the mei from my katana tomorrow if you wish as its by kumazawa kanetoshi or it may be in the achives here if you look

lol.....many thanks my friend. saw this advertised on a martini henry rifle site and thought it looked dodgy. you just comfirmed my suspicions

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/803/sworda.jpg/ just curious what this mei is please

hi bruno.... when he polished my sword he told me he was 100% certain it was hand made....will not be traditionally made as that means it have to be tamahagne steel... he doesnt use hadori unless i presume someone asks for it....mine was done the old fashion way sashikomi ( spelling)

i have a katana by kanetoshi which is seki stamped but it as a beautiful suguhu hamon which is water quenched and a ko-itame grain too....it is not traditionally made as the steel will not be tamahagane but it is handmade. ... see post...viewtopic.php?f=50&t=6813&p=53880&hilit=kanetoshi#p53880 also shows an identical sword to mine advertised as gendaito too

seen too late too but belated birthday wishes......

you can see it in the details pic too.....uppermost picture

few good members here in the uk but why not get in touch with billy tagg of liverpool he owns a good shop and may give you his opinion...he is also at the northern arms fairs which are held frequently all round the country

more than likely gemei but even then some of them are fine swords too

i think like stephen that this sword is a shrine piece....unfortunately the nakago looks strange as its been highly buffed to remove all file marks and makes the mei look amaturist.....also the blade as been highly buffed too possibly on a buffing machine

take your pick......http://www.nihonto.com/abtartyasutsugu.html http://yakiba.com/article_yasutsugu.htm

told him that already but i think he just wants to know some basic info....but thanks for replying

friend of mine from a gun forum as questions about this sword which he likes to know but i am not knowlegeble to answer any ....here is a link...http://www.flickr.com/photos/31228487@N ... 361072200/ i know its probably edo with o-mokume hada and suguhu with choji hamon

i think its a naginata as it broadens near the yokote

joe is correct to a degree...you may not see hada as its out of polish and to have it polished costs alot of money. i have a katana which i had polished and its beautiful. not saying it increased its value but to me it was worth it and it was signed by a known smith...also they was an identical sword in one of the big Japanese shops online so i knew it was hand made. even so i sent it to a local polisher here in the uk so was the price was very reasonable. with a mumei katana showing no hada you are taking a chance to be honest.....does it look oil or water quenched....

sorry to say but its a fake...please look up mr rich stein excellent site on swords which is a wealth of knowledge to newbies

unfortunately they isnt.....i had a beautiful 16th century kiyomitsu polished which wasnt bad but i wanted to see more....in the polish we saw a couple of umeganes which remained intacted throughtout the foundation polish but pulled out during the final polish....shame really as to the collector it is worthless now but i still treasure it....you have to ask yourself is it worth it . personally i would polish it as i am not in it for profit but i just love seeing them in their glory.

http://www.artswords.com/a_nice_imperial_japanese_gunto_mounted_katana_011208.htm here is one

can we hazard a guess which period was the smith from...shinto or koto as they have been a few. which auction house is this blade at please....any links

well done brian......i bet you were on tender hooks waiting for it to arrive in case the seller retracted your bid. its nice to hear too that a wartime period sword created so much joy and happiness for you as well as being a keeper too....it will look stunning when or if you decide to get it polished

all you can do is use lots of oil and gently try and tap it with a wooden type chisel...keep moving it backwards and forwards etc and it will work itself loose

interesting replies........just proves that top notch swords do not necessary create the most responces

my feelings are its a poorly made nco machine made blade...purely on the basis of the sharpness stopping 2 inches from the habiki