Bazza

Dear All, I have just successfully bid on Todd's (goinlower) Japanese Mint Priming Flask. It didn't turn out to be a lot of money as these things go, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing it "in the hand". I've seen very few flasks for teppo, and even then they had been brought from Japan by a local dealer. Todd's looked interesting as it appeared to be complete with stopper, ojime and cordage. I'll report back, not that I know much about matchlock accoutrements. Regards, BaZZa.

Does it depend whether one is buying or selling???!!! BaZZa.

Here in Oz where we take the piss out of everything, this was sung at school as: You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Green Cement... BaZZa..

I appreciate the main thrust of this thread was the Clan history, but FYI I offer a photo of another Onin tsuba that may be of interest. This comes about by (a) the joy of NMB and expanding one's own knowledge, (b) by buying books, in this instance I took advantage of Craig Harris' 50% sale to buy Torigoye's "Tsuba Kanshoki", a book I have wanted for a long time but as a blade man could never justify the price (Thanks Craig - I also bought the "Yasuchika" book, of which more in a much later post), again a NMB pickup, and © the book arrived this morning and trawling through it (Boy, were the juices flowing!) I noticed the tsuba pictured below and immediately recognised the mon - another tribute to NMB. The caption for the tsuba reads: Ôninzôgan tsuba No sig. Iron: Kiku, plum blossoms & wachigai, brass inlay. Marumimi: C. 8 rin. Age: The end of Middle Muromachi Best regards, BaZZa.

A lovely old bloke I know has a tachi koshirae with a rotting "big knot". He would like to have diagrams for tying a new knot, and also to know where he could buy the appropriate braid in Japan. Can anyone assist, please??? Regards, BaZZa.

Brian Plainly, I don't agree and I have a Tokubetsu Hozon katana that passed NBTHK with my cleaning "technique", for want of a better word. Dave Brian is right - you're going too far too fast and I'm seriously concerned you have the bit between your teeth. Rein in, stop and go no further for the present. I was very concerned to see the aggressiveness directed at the last two characters. Remember my watchwords SLOW; CAREFUL; MONTHS OF PATIENT, LOW KEY WORK. Regards, Barry Thomas. PS - I'll post pictures of my Tadahiro nakago when I get my camera batteries recharged... EDIT: I should have added that it took me three or four years to complete the cleaning of my Tadahiro tang. I knew the importance of being slow and careful to preserve it at its best after it had a bad experience in a garage for 30 years before I got it. Think about that Dave, 3 or 4 YEARS...

Yes, NANTO meaning "Southern Capital", Nara I believe. Regards, BaZZa.

A Freudian slip??? BaZZa.

Hello and Welcome PeterD. You might like to read up on many of your fellow NMB members who have introduced themselves here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4483 Best regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.

As a Victorian (Australia) I would be very keen to know if this "double-edged dagger" prohibition fantasy of Governments exists elsewhere in the notionally "free" world. Let's face it, for what the criminally-minded in the world today do on our streets, a double-edged tanto is, in reality, little more dangerous than a similarly proportioned kitchen knife or even a screwdriver - I believe Russia once had a blunt screwdriver-pointed bayonet to better punch through winter clothing!! I think here in Australia this "double-edged dagger" matter would be a very good thesis subject, because I have a niggling feeling it originates in an attempt to curb the stiletto-carrying tendencies of certain ethnic groups migrating to Australia at some point in time. Regards, BaZZa.

The big "crossing the blades" is well worth to reread from time to time... Eric How about "The tossing of the discoids"??? Truly inspiring work Ford, truly. I hope loaves of bread are tumbling to you by the truckload... Bestests, BaZZa.

Grey, ...So with these caveats of care, caution and infinite patience I don't see why you should not attempt this yourself. Nobody you know in your country can do it better than yourself because it is your sword. Regards, BaZZa. Dave, You wrote: > When you use the term "crushing" the active crusty rust with a plastic hammer, > do you mean "banging" the rust off and using the hammer like it was designed to be used? Yes, I mean "banging". Red rust is very hard stuff, especially when a lump is bonded to the base metal and not "loose and crusty". > OR do you mean "crushing" the rust off by "grinding" it gently > and "working the rust off" with a plastic hammer? The hammer is to "crush" or "knock off" the more "crusty" and therefore easily removed encrustations. The "grinding" - more like careful and gentle abrading - is done with the bone/antler/ivory and oil, alternating between the two as experience dictates. Periodically during "boning" I clean the oil and rust off with a cotton cloth to check progress. > What shape plastic hammer? Round nosed I assume? I think flat is better. The idea is to try and use a small area to attack the rust, so I use a flat hammer slightly canted so a small contact area on the periphery/edge of the plastic contacts the encrusted red rust. This delivers a more concentrated force than using an entire flat area, or even the area of a round-nose hammer. > Lastly, why use the bone from a roast leg of lamb? How is this > different from just using a plastic hammer, and what technique > do I use with this leg of lamb? Seems very strange...interesting, > but strange. What other tool could be used in case? I think Stephen has addressed this in a PM to you. The hammer is used to break up friable rust encrustations, and when the hammer can do no more the bone/antler/ivory is used to gently work away at the remaining rust. I MUST EMPHASISE HERE that this is the most delicate and time consuming phase of the cleaning, because it is most important NOT to work through the rust layer to the bright iron underneath. BAD, BAD, BAD. It is better to stop a little sooner than go toO far. I might also add that you can expect this work to take months - months - of careful and gentle work. > I will be careful of course...I don't know how a plastic hammer > and some mineral oil is going to damage the steel "chisel pillow" > of the characters though...How would this happen? Just so I > understand how I can avoid it. Well, plastic is of course most unlikely to damage an iron chisel pillow. The danger, as I have mentioned above, is to NOT 'break through' the rust to the bright iron underneath. However, the chisel pillow of a character is a very, very small contact area and it is VERY easy to work through the rust in this sharply defined area and turn it to bright iron. Very undesirable. Now here is a confession from a seasoned campaigner. I sometimes use a small, cross-pane hammer with a brass head - this is a hand-formed head. Again, I use it slightly canted to deliver more force to a small area. The disadvantage of brass is that it can leave a yellow coating on the rust, but the gentle abrading of bone/horn/ivory with oil will remove this. While I was working on my Tadahiro tang our polisher visited from Japan and was most adamant that NO METAL be used in this rust removal. He emphasised the danger to the chisel pillow, but I do use the small brass hammer judiciously on areas away from any characters, areas where there is a particularly stubborn agglomeration of red rust - in some circumstances red rust approaches glass-hardness. So, for the those who have gone glass-eyed reading thus far, how do we clean the characters. Generally speaking, cleaning grot etc out of characters on an otherwise good condition tang is undesirable and can cost you dearly at Shinsa. However, Dave's tang is so - er - knackered I don't think it is a concern. In my experience, I believe you may be surprised at how much of the characters will have survived under the dreadful rust. I hope some expert can prove me wrong here, but somewhere I read that rust occupies five times the volume of the parent metal, so in short it looks worse than it is. The first issue is to remove the pustulent rust then see what is left of the characters. Apart from my Tokubetsu Hozon Hizen Tadahiro, I have performed the above on a dated Chikuzen Nobukuni katana where the tang was so badly rusted nothing could be read. Of course I worked on the katana mei first to determine the smith. That turned out to be a date, so I turned to the tachi mei. I could read it all after a lot of work, but there is a huge amount of work still waiting. I doubt the blade is worth polishing, but there is the experience FWIW. I think this is probably more than enough... Regards, BazZa.

David, I believe the Japanese consider some swords made even after 1876 to be Shinshinto. The Shinshinto Taikan illustrates such swords made well into the 20th century. I'm guessing (because I can't read Japanese fluently) that that is why they are included in the Taikan??? Regards, BaZZa.

Grey, Having done this on my very rusty Hizen Tadahiro tang as bad or worse than Dave's sword I don't entirely agree, more so as the sword got a Tokubetsu Hozon from the NBTHK after polish, so I must have done something right. The active, crusty red rust can - and should - be removed by crushing with a PLASTIC hammer on a wooden block. Needless to say this must be done with care. Dave, you don't need to take your sword to anybody else as you can do this yourself - BUT, BIG BUT - the process must be done with great care and caution and it is likely to take you many, many hours. You need bright light, magnifier head set, cloth to hold the bare blade (yes, do it with the blade bare) and tackle a small area at a time. Alternate plastic hammer strikes with "boning" - use the bone out of a roast leg of lamb end on and rub with oil on the rust spot, alternating these two techniques. The watchword is SLOW. You are working to remove the red, active rust. A most important point to observe (check this with your magnifier) is to not damage or crush the "chisel pillow" of the characters and strokes that are clear and unrusted. As Ford Hallam has said elsewhere on NMB, the chisels used to produce a signature on a Japanese sword tang displace metal, not remove it. So with these caveats of care, caution and infinite patience I don't see why you should not attempt this yourself. Nobody you know in your country can do it better than yourself because it is your sword. Regards, BaZZa.

OLD GEEZER - AARRGH - dagger to me heart... I certainly resemble that remark!! Does anybody remember the katana-size tanto is the Ashmolean Exhibition of (ahem, coff coff) 40-ish years ago??? Perfectly proportioned, gold-lacquered saya, far too big to wear. A devotional piece?? A tour-de-force for an artisan group?? BaZZa.

Oh, very nice. This is the dragon fish, is it not??? BaZZa.

Well, it's Big Blade Time... I remember an O-tanto a friend had over 35 years ago. It had a horimono of a snake, and the opinion at the time was that it was cut by a mirror maker rather than a horimono-shi. This blade was copiously signed and I think made by a member of the Tokugawa family as a hobby piece. I have an oshigata somewhere... A friend currently has a HUGE (well, quite larger than usual) hirazukuri kowakizashi signed DOI SHINRYO. The koshirae is of "workman-like" standard with plain iron tosogu (hamidashi tsuba) with gomokuzogan decoration all with a black-lacquered saya. It came with the story that it was a Sumo wrestler's sword, giving credence to Ian's story above. This DOI is a magnificent piece of workmanship, in superb condition (needs another polish though) and gives a real thrill just to hold it. Another friend has a HUGE - and here I mean BIG - katana by MUSASHI TARO YASUKUNI. It is a presentation sword to a temple with gilt mon - a HOTO, I think. Ah well, enough from an Old Bloke for one day... Bestests, BaZZa.

Jacques, I think he means 27 inches overall, not nagasa. This reminds me of an 'eviscerator' Suketaka kowakizashi a friend of mine has. It would seem to support the notion that Suketaka occasionally produced "outlandish" blades (for want of a better name). I have some pictures somewhere, I think?? I'll have a look and put them up for the sake of the discussion. Bestests, BaZZa.

John, Right now I don't have time to respond more fully (I'm in editor mode knocking out an antique arms collectors magazine), but for the sake of the discussion can I refer those stalwart souls still interested in this thread to here, a discussion on Magoroku Kanemoto: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3448 I'm interested in this (current) thread because I do have a very nice ca 1600 Kanemoto katana, and "in care" for a friend I'm holding a mumei suriage katana (may never have been signed) with takanoha yasurime that the Sydney Shinsa called to Owari Seki. I'm beginning to think that the subject sword is a genuine Mino "something, somewhere" with a gimei. Regards, Barry Thomas aka BaZZa.

Gentle Folk, If I might suggest, this is not a Jizo boshi. The boshi is midareba and it appears Jizo-like by the gonome peak returning 'down' to a maru to return to the mune. The midare boshi with takanoha yasurime indicate Koto Mino. I agree the KANEMOTO kanji are decidely "off", but we must remember there are many Kanemoto lines in Mino, not only Magoroku - as Dr Malcolm Cox's compenduim reminds us. I have the MINOTO TAIKAN and will have a trawl for this kind of mei. Dunno when I can do it as our neighbour has just had a fall due to his replacement hip joint collapsing. He is in hospital for we don't know what, and my wife and I are "on call" to help his wife and kids wherever we can. Anybody else free to trawl the MINOTO TAIKAN??? Best regards, BazZa.

I've been out for an appointment and while driving thought about this problem facing "galsmark". We have been so concerned for him that we collectively forgot to read him a prime rule of the Board - PLEASE SIGN YOUR NAME... So, this Euro125 tanto is about $200 Australian. Dear "galsmark", I assure you if you stay collecting Japanese swords this is a mere drop in a bucket. A few days ago I bought a book from Craig Harris' generous 50% off sale for $290 Australian dollars. A BOOK!!! The only thing sharp about that deal was my wife's tongue for throwing more money into my bottomless pit of collecting... This so that I might be able to learn something about my three (THREE) fuchi signed YASUCHIKA. I guess my library over the decades of collecting has cost me at least $20,000 Aussie dollars. To look at your issue another way, you have bought a book for Euro125. It said "This is a gimei/not real tanto". This knowledge is priceless as you have bought through experience, and it will continue to do so, but better to buy real books first. I said to a beginning collector recently "spend your first $2,000 on books". I also commented that collecting Japanese swords is sure to cost you grief and money!!! But O, the joy of a good find, and the fabulous friends one makes on the journey. My Dear "galsmark" san, you have joined the club... Best regards for your future endeavors, Barry Thomas.

No doubt whatsoever it is a fake. I didn't have the heart to be the first cab off the rank with what is undoubtedly extremely disappointing news for you. Buy books, look around a lot - Shows, Museums, other collectors, join clubs and groups - and save your money until you know a lot more. I doubt there isn't a person on this Board who hasn't bought unwisely early in his or her collecting life. If I could say just this - don't beat yourself up over it if there were otherwise no guarantees in the description and familiarise yourself with the Latin phrase caveat emptor... Regards, BaZZa.

Ahhh, what is a "true" daisho... Many words have been written on this topic and our Moderator Brian may be able to fish the topic out of the archive disk I sent him. If not (BRIAN!!) I'll dig it out myself. Suffice to say, there are many variations... Regards, BaZZa.

HAHAHAHAHAHA - I once had a tired Koto mumei katana in Shingunto koshirae and a Showa clunker katana in Kaigunto koshirae, then I bought a cheap book and since then it has cost me many thousands too... BTW - I like your tsuba. And I thought your tsuba was pictured as worn on a tachi... Best regards, BaZZa.