John C

Lance: Kanemune was the smith who made the sword. And I agree with Conway that the blade is not worthless. At the very least, it has historical value as a war relic. The small bits of paper (newspaper, flyers, etc.) were used to align the ito as they wrapped the tsuka. John C.

At some point, when your N is large enough, I think you will be able to cross-reference all of your charts and make a decent guess at which workshops used which methods and had which smiths working for them. This would make for an interesting and valuable booklet in terms of gunto research. John C.

@Bruce Pennington Not sure if you have seen this one yet. A kai gunto with mei, stamped numbers, and a mini-kao. https://www.ebay.com/itm/186415047172? John C

As a leather worker, I think it was probably formed at that time. But maybe a repaired gunzoku sword? The leaf design reminds me of the leaf gunzoku tsuba. John C.

Brian: The small seki stamp is correct for this blade. If you look closely, you should also find one on the nakago mune. John C.

Travis: Hello! Some additional information. The stamp above the mei is the Sho stamp and indicates the blade is most likely an oil quenched showato. It also appears the tang may be bent at the machi?? Could be the camera angle. Fittings seem nice, however. John C.

Victor: To answer this part of your question, yes. This is common and would not necessarily be an indicator of blade quality. I have seen everything from soldier blades to a Gassan Sadakatsu with wood habaki. John C

@Bruce Pennington Bruce - did you notice the hand painted "kao" on the nakago jiri? Looks like a hand or headdress. John C.

I would also take his "zero" feedback into consideration. John C.

Family mon on the menuki as well. John C.

One more consideration - it appears in these pics that the hamon runs off the edge (the boshi does not turn back). If this is the case, it would be a fatal flaw and would not be worth the two grand, in my opinion. But as is often the case, I could be wrong. Added up, I would pass. John C.

Roger that. John C.

@Bruce Pennington Not sure if you have these: #61 here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/355626335708?itmmeta=01HWDZ4SM3J35D7WBAK1TN4ZFY&hash=item52ccfb3ddc:g:PbUAAOSwY6FmGDa4&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwGUqlbhW2iGXAVOW0M%2B6%2BLPRYzYfiJ9W1XDD96PQBSCm8vQmlkXKhMb818%2FXpZ0qbEMdFxTZrA76gFeDR869ZA23oPnk1fZFopoVgm5oFlvoC9Vo9%2BB24EEBnhsZGAJM%2BLcWmukBHFvGYur%2F2B1jcndRFjAAMRkZzAMFLFhgG4UcUxRpmKKjrMeY%2BZE85nD6P2ctkMCqNVko3Paqt1fyViiRQEGbMG6TYYXKGo%2FM7PlgvT5F4TbHZ8evJmjykV%2BZrQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5Sak7_jYw ...and #68 here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126447386646?itmmeta=01HWDZ4SM3JZSCKZA90DXW7KZS&hash=item1d70da0016:g:JIgAAOSwZ4BmKErL&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwNZohbQjHWexkFFHeCFQoifhS0qz%2FFoYCVc0Cj5hlDK9He3P%2B2Fs2q6SdX6Q71IeKdsfl8wEuL1yUCqbkMBxW9fUjd5mddcmjWp8zClx2Wgj52%2F5%2BcvLEqgB9DWr96YGbqOlvi7wZ70dY7qj%2F1Pfiz7C4TuLR5ZnF394pX%2FEhFs21Np8pkkMsSDBYlenYLtDNQlHA291wYBr0kw4%2FlG4evQDcs5FhvqokAndMThqKyUFyqmp8yZdvcp5WH7BTjaSdg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5Sak7_jYw John C.

Curious that the screw slot has been hand punched. John C.

Hello: I'm hoping for a confirmation on the "Taka" in Takamichi. The character does not appear to have the "leg" strokes so I'm not sure. Thank you, John C.

Phill: Are there any similar notches on the end of the habaki? Sometimes we see this as roman numeral assembly marks. John C.

My wife recently bought me a 4" miniature sword keychain as a gag gift. It too was held up in customs for a month. John C.

Wow! John C.

Adam: There are companies that make decent replicas and sold as such (Swords of Northshire, Cult of Athena, etc.). I believe this is one of those (the tassel is a modern copy for sure.). John C.

I believe it means hilt (in order?). Here's an example of another one. John C.

Hello: Trying to confirm this as Takamichi?? Thank you, John C.

Not a translation, however I think it may be in katakana if you want to research. A name then one yen on the left side????? John C.

I think that one had the Dairen stamp as well. Badly struck, it could be mistaken for a seki stamp. Maybe that's why it went so cheaply. John C.

Henry: I'm not sure what was used in this case, however just about anything can be used to create texture. A sealer is applied to the wood or metal (I use shellac) then a layer of guilders size (adhesive). Once tacky, the texture is applied and allowed to dry. It can be lacquered or painted at this point. After one coat, it can be rubbed down to expose more of the texture then lacquered, if desired. That's the basic process, anyway. John C.

He was selling a mantetsu at the same time that I believe also went for over 2500. The market seems strong at the moment. John C.