Jon

Hi I’m trying to find someone who makes shirasaya in the U.K. I have my sword on a list for a polish ( in about two years) but need a shirasaya, any thoughts ?

I don’t really know much about Gunto blades, but I like the koshirae on this and it looks like a bit of fun ( it cheap ). could anyone give me a bit of information on what I’m looking at apart form an arsenal stamped blade obviously.

That looks like a really nice find, time to get studying that blade I would say. If someone sold that as a arsenal made gunto they made a big error.

With the sword that has this damage you would have had a nasty accident as the fittings are not secured to the tang so anyone taking a swing would have launched the blade off in an impressive arc......☄️

This blade has a lot of damage not saying it’s all battle damage:

Mark, using Maslow in regards to sword collecting, I love it. You just definitely hit the being needs with that one, thankyou.

Cheers Ray, the Kaifu school is not something I have looked at yet, I will note them down to look up.

Cheers for that Alex thankyou for that confirmation, even to my very inexperienced eye ( I’ve just started studying) something seems off about this blade.

I’ve seen this blade for sale, but the shape seems a bit off to me. As a learning exercise ( I’m trust trying to improve my eye on place shape) what are others thoughts. Its also for sale for £650 which seems a touch over priced for the state of the blade and fittings.

Hi Chris it came for a aunt who’s dad was an American soldier in WW11, she spent a lot of time in the states and all over the place, bringing it back with her. It’s been in that condition since and been hanging on a wall, since I inherited it 6 months ago I’ve regularly oiled the blade and will see if one of the better U.K. polishers can give it some love. I know it’s unlikely to be economic but the blade was free so I don’t mind spending a reasonable amount to bring back a bit of its glory and make it a better study piece ( at the moment it’s a study in how not to treat a Japanese sword).

Last are what remains of the tang file marks.

The swords fittings

A nice bit of damage on the back ridge

Some interesting flaws and damage at high magnification for interest.

This is a hagire at very high magnification x12 to x20. Its not visible to the eye at all and is only 1.2 mm long, the temper line at that point is about 6 mm, so if it’s not even a quarter of the temper line, therefore can it be polished out ?. It really only is that long as I’ve magnified so much.

The first picture is the size of the curve at its deepest point mid blade.

Now for pictures showing some measurements of the blade.

The next are close ups of the blade.

Lots of pictures I’m going to group them The first are of the blade showing the temper line.

Hi David interestingly the chips although extensive are actually real shallow, the deepest is only 1 mm. From the Hamon that’s there the temper line is actually pretty high averaging around 9mm so they are not looking like they come anywhere near the edge of the Hamon.

Thanks guys that’s helpful. I was wondering if you could trace the grain pattern through a sword. My swords ridge back grain seems to be in a different direction to the surface and upper surface grain, so it would be nice to try and trace the grain inside a blade ( I’ve got some very high magnification equipment) so I can see how it works. jonathan

I just realised I want a broken blade so I can examine the cross section. Going to start hunting for one. jonathan

I would say the only safe way to go here is to the authority that controls the import of swords with the pictures and dimensions and ask. Making sure you have an official written response. As you said this is criminal legal matter, it’s best not to try and interpret or find a clever loop hole as a prosecuting service will not care and the cost of getting this wrong is not a bit of a pain paying to get it out of customs.

Cheers. Jimmy I will see if I can get some decent pictures, unfortunately I’ve not got a proper camera, just my IPad, so I may need to borrow one. The window polish seems like a great idea, thankyou for that. happy Christmas and new year.