Bazza

The boushi appears to be intact, but perhaps another photo (take 20 of them!!) with slightly different angles may show more. What I see is that the hamon continues around in kaeri meeting muneyaki. But much more exciting is the seeming appearance of a tobiyaki in the 'round' of the hamon kaeri. Am I wrong?? I have only one reference in my decrepit brain banks of such a feature. Glenn, can you also please do your magic on the other side of the kissaki as well as the hamachi that David has asked for??? Best regards, BaZZa. aka Barry Thomas.

I vividly remember seeing photos of his collection and drooling... BaZZa.

From my failing memory and long ago gun collecting days, boiled linseed oil could be used on gun stocks. Applied by hand and lovingly rubbed into the wood and left to 'dry' between coats. Boiled linseed oil, to some extent like lacquer, polymerises to a tough, water resistant coating. If true that Guido has passed it is indeed a tragedy for his family, wider friendship groups and, of course, the Nihonto community. I wait with bated breath for confirmation or otherwise. BaZZa.

Seconded, thirded, fouthed, fifthed... As a collector with for the most part no interest in martial arts as a practice I found this a more than excellent read. Thank you Peter for bringing us to the 'practice' side of collecting, BaZZa.

It was very common to lacquer iron tsuba and fittings. Decades ago I had a nice Shinshinto koshirae with all-iron fittings. It was plain that the tsuba had been painted with 'something' as I could see the thickening here and there and whorls in the coating. I tried various solvents, but nothing would touch it. I even tried xylene, which is primarily used as a solvent (a liquid that can dissolve other substances) in the printing, rubber, and leather industries. Along with other solvents, xylene is also widely used as a cleaning agent, a thinner for paint, and in varnishes. Of course, I later learned that lacquer was pretty much resistant to all solvents, so Hamfish do re-think this. BaZZa.

Its an aficionado's piece... Gave me one helluva chuckle once I worked out that it wasn't a battlefield scene!! The shtik above also gave me a series of loud chuckles - a stick, a twig, a branch... Wonderful exchange. BaZZa.

Bryce, OTTOMH I recall that kanji is also read SEI 'manufactured', as seen on other tsuba. BaZZa.

Yes Peter. welcome back indeed. What have you been doing while you've 'been away'?? How's Werribee??? BaZZa aka Barry Thomas. (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

G'day Kurt, First item of business to lubricate the discussion is to please show us some good pictures of the sword... Regards from Oz, BaZZa.

I feel your pain! BaZZa.

Aaaaagh, MAAAATE, so sorry to hear of your pain trip. If it helps, a week ago I spent 2 1/2 hours in local dentist's chair having an upper back molar extracted, only to hear her say "I'm sorry, but I'll have to refer you to an oral surgeon". 3/4 hour next day in the oral surgeon's chair... The only 'consolation' is that it was the same oral surgeon who took out my eldest daughter's impacted wisdom tooth. Now, nine days after the surgery, still the slightest pink in the first morning spit!!! Oh, Brian, I grieve for you and I expect the entire NMB populace is wincing in sympathy pain, as we do for all our Brethren who fall foul to Mother Nature's mercies... Get well soon mate... BaZZa.

I have a nidai Tadahiro wakizashi (unpapered) that in the hand just feels as if it is begging to be put to work... Mmmmm, I can imagine a Samurai of yore with the same sword in his hand wondering 'if it would...' BaZZa.

OTTOMH, Chinese... BaZZa.

To quote my 5yo grandson "I want to say something", but I'm not sure what to say without writing a huge essay. To me, the interviews were stunning and I cast my entire collecting 'career' against the yardstick of Robert Haynes' life experience and dedication and almost think I should have given up before I started! I recall a letter contact with Robert some 50 years or so ago asking about a seemingly nondescript tsuba I should have kept, as I had a 'feeling' about it, but there you go!! I'm deeply grateful to Peter for bringing these interviews to our collective notice and I'll be watching them numerous times. Much to say, but the first 'takeout' for me was that (if I remember correctly) Robert wasn't interested in anything made after 1700. Well, for mine that's debatable on a number of levels, but I hear what Robert says. Needless to say, there is MUCH more at play here than the workmanship of late Edo tosogu and the gamut has been run on that in lots of enjoyable threads here on our wonderful NMB. Here I'm running out of inspiration which can lead to 'running on'... Rabbiting on??!! To bring this to some sort of conclusion, keeping Robert Haynes in mind I'll continue on my merry way enjoying the arts of the Japanese sword and the wonderful friendships I've made around the world over the last 60 years. To Peter Reusch, thanks again mate. Bestests, BaZZa.

How do we see the earlier parts 1 to 4?? BaZZa.

A far from tranquil scene!! I'm somewhat surprised to not see any marks?? And a question - is the body solid silver, do you think?? BaZZa.

Dale, surely not a clunker??? BaZZa.

Interesting last tsuba. Ko-Kinko??? I would give it house room... BaZZa.

Rivkin commented "The mounts are early generation Komai work. " KOMAI: https://japanesegall...about-antiques-komai It is a stunning technique. BaZZa.

Robert, very interesting, thank you. Though I use facial tissue first to remove oil and then microfibre to remove any remaining fine film of oil, I've often nonetheless wondered about the tissues. I do gently 'roughen' the tissue and vigorously shake it before applying it to a blade to minimise any chance of scratching. So I searched kimwipes and found this phrase from one of the suppliers: KimWipes are a type of cleaning tissue commonly used in laboratories. KimWipes are composed of paper, silicon, and other substances. As a result of the silicon, the paper is somewhat rough feeling. KimWipes are used to wipe a variety of items, including slides and pipettes. They are sometimes used to clean lenses as well, but using lens tissue instead is often recommended, as KimWipes can scratch optical surfaces. And perhaps 'optically perfect' Ninontou??? Many years ago (decades?) someone in England (in The Token Society of Great Britain's "Programme") did a comprehensive analysis of various types of tissue, facial, top-end toilet paper etc etc, with various tests including burning/calcining to measure ash content as an indicator of abrasiveness. As I remember, better quality facial tissues were found to be adequate for our purposes. BaZZa.

Lewis et al, to my eye the boshi looks more hakkikake than kaen??? I'm sure I've read that 'somewhere' and I'll try to find the reference. BaZZa.

Francis, do have this sword checked out very, very carefully. At least one Kamakura period sword I have seen had bohi finishing short like this. If I remember correctly it was a Go Yoshihiro... BaZZa.

Looks good to me Dale, but why are these bones considered 'lucky'?? They look eminently suited to getting stuck in your throat and inviting whacks on your back!!! Here is my Akasaka Tadatoki V, with thanks to Justin O for selling it to me. Here is part of Justin's writeup for general knowledge on the Akasaka group: Hikojuro Tadatoki V was the 8th and last master of the Akasaka school. From the 6th master onwards the guards continue to be influenced by the style of the 4th master period and are in Higo school. This guard in particular is very reminiscent of Higo Nishgaki work. Tadatoki V prepared a genealogy of the entire Akasaka group that is reliable and provides much of the information that we know about this school today. BaZZa.

Notice also the gold-foiled habaki. One doesn't usually find those on clunkers. It's shape suggests a ni ju (2-piece) habaki, quite difficult to make. It also suggests the blade resides in a shirasaya and may have been submitted to shinsa sometime in its recent life. BaZZa.

If I might suggest, the present scabbard/saya is sufficient to preserve the blade with a light coating of oil until you decide to (or not) to proceed further with polish etc etc. Clean the oil off every once in a while and renew it. IMHO a new shirasaya is an expense better put towards future restoration costs. Think long and hard about this and consult widely as there are many pitfalls in the polish path. Best regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.