Nicolas Maestre

I was just in the market for a new read, and I see your post 😊. Just got myself a copy from Amazon France 👍. I'll try and report back when I have read it 😜.

Thanks a lot, very much appreciated 🙏

Thanks!! That's the thing, me neither... So I wonder if this design is historically accurate or not... Thanks again for looking into it 😉

Hi all, This is from a brand new koshirae. At first I felt that something was off with these shitodome... Didn't know why. Now I realize that it's because I have never seen a rectangular shape shitodome on antique/Japanese made koshirae! Have you?

My non expert eyes tell me that it's very recent, as there is some very active rust here, and even no rust at all... I don't see yasurime, and by the shape of it I think it could be non-Japanese. But again, no expert, I could be totally wrong 😁

Thanks for your input. Indeed, the ito used is thin, making for smaller diamonds. I personally like it this way though. But anyways, since this thread has gone way off topic, this is my last comment on this one.

Agree regarding the forging. But regarding new koshirae, I thought and still do, that he has all the legitimacy to do that. The guy has spent almost 20 years learning on his own, from books and trials and errors, and has achieved very good quality of craftsmanship. Woodworking, lacquering, and tsukamaki is all I was talking about here, and on the post where I show my new koshirae for my Unokubi Zukuri Sukesada blade. Come on, no need to say that...

Agree with you Jean, impeccable 😁. Not easy to do, but here is a view of the sword, full-length.

Has to be distortion due to the smartphone lens... I can assure you that he's done an awesome job in that regard. Don't understand why you are being so harsh on Michaël. I have had in hand several swords from him and they were of top quality... And I couldn't be happier with my koshirae. I think I am nitpicking with this question around menuki's animal faces. As a matter of fact, a 10min search on Aoi or other websites got me several instances where faces would not be entirely visible under the ito (and those were made by Japanese skilled craftsman I assume). Go check here and please tell me what is so bad with his work:

Forgot to tell that everything is super tight, seamless, and blade fits in saya to a point that I have never felt before with the several iaïto that I have owned...

Was able to take some decent pictures of my new koshirae, so I'm posting them here. Just in case someone is interested, it was made by French smith Michaël Sabatier. Very, very pleased with it... He did it all, just keeping original kanagu, minus the seppa because they were crappy... so those copper seppa are made by him. Love them 😍.

Oh ok. And based on your experience, is the topic of this thread considered a 'fault'? Or is it down to preference, necessity during wrapping because of proportion, etc.?

Michaël Sabatier 😉. The koshirae is just amazing in my opinion... (Will post pictures when I can get decent lighting). Was just wondering about that detail. What do you think?

Hi all, Very quick question regarding one "rule" that I have read about, on menuki. I just got a new koshirae made for my nihonto, and there is one thing I'm not 100% satisfied with, it's the fact that the "face" of the dragon is partly hidden by the ito... I like that the menuki is well centered across the diamonds, and that we can see it across its entire length. But is the face being hidden an absolute "no" in your mind? Is this considered a fault from the craftsman? Or is it something more of a personal preference? I think the craftsman did it because on the other (ura) side, menuki is well centered, full length is visible, and face is also visible. So both of them are positioned the exact same way, which is nice when you look at the tsuka as a whole. Could also be because he made the dragon's pearl being visible a priority over the face? 🤔 Anyways, what do you guys think? 🤔

I'd say it's precisely the nioiguchi, which is named like that since it's almost always made of nioi particles, even in nie deki.