kusunokimasahige

hiya all... here is a photo of my replica Daisho set I just completed... I use it for re-enactment, since I obviousely wont take a Nihonto into a mock-battle! I just got the nice wakizashi, but I have a strange feeling its size is more a tanto size than a wakizashi.. in short, I thought wakizashis were longer...... the size of this one is about 55 cm... so my question is really... what sizes of wakizashi were used? in what size comparison does a tanto differ from a wakizashi... or are there also vast differences in wakizashi size.....? KM (ps... since the old kurikata of my katana saya broke off, i constructed a new one, still have to paint it...... LoL )

Nice to hear Richard! well about the Franklin Mint...... its not true...... there were a LOT made..... however, they come in a slightly higher price range since the steel of the blade is Toledo, and quite hard....... however the price ranges they mention to you are ludicrous.... IMHO at least...... KM

Hiya Richard, is your Franklin mint sword the Tachi mounted one with the aluminum saya, Tokugawa Mon, brown/metallic and blue golden tsuba? Please post some pics, I myslf know a litle bit about buffing modern pieces and replica swords.... and do shre some of your other swords with us, it is always nice to see.. anout WWII swords, you have both forged and waltzed blades (machine made stuff) generally you could say that most NCO swords with total metal hilt are machine made and most officers swords either forged or proper gendaito, which means forged and folded many times according to the ancient way. a giveaway can be the missing of real hamon, stamps etcetera, however there were also smiths working for arsenals.. also there is a difference in oil-quenched swords with hamon, etched hamon, and water queched swords with hamon. an etched hamon generally is not a real hamon...... try to read up as much as you can on this site.. http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm it helps a lot! KM

NOPE!!! hahahahahahahahahahahaha KM

wow! that indeed might be another piece of another sword in there!! KM

how does that always happen to you?? nice blade indeed! could do with a polish but well........ tell us more about how you came across it please! love those stories! KM

I think it all depends on the Tsuka size Samurai preferred...... since it was almost always comissioned work..... KM

good examples of MON! very useable as masks!!! and ten put them onto whatever you like of course!! KM

I do use silver polish (silvo) on my gendai habaki however i use a minimum, and i believe you can dilute it too... KM

must have had a rim... it looks sawed off...... btw if it didnt have had a rim i would not like it on my katana hahahaha drawing fast will become very dangerous in front of an opponent...... getting entangled...... yaikes! :lol: KM

so this is a gendai i presume.......? according to the photos it looks lovely! KM

of course a lot of bigger collectors/dealers want this stuff since you never know wether or not there is a jewel behind the rust....... so it should easily fetch 700 US$ KM

true, i should give him a call really..... LoL KM

he has not e-mailed me back so i am inclined to think its a scam....... KM

too low and in the wrong place... hahaha wouldnt try to swing that one.... if it comes loose, the gravity will tip the blade right in your leg! KM

so, i guess that if you personally take a sword to shinsa you get the paper the same day, and if you send it takes much longer? KM

real... and very interesting! dammit........ i want to bid but me no have money! KM

yeah i just read the full article......... my bad....... GOMEN NASAI!!!!!! KM ill delete the link!

Here is a guy selling a wakizashi on Marktplaats wanting people to bid from 1000 Euros onwards... now i do not know whether this guy or even his sword is legit, or whether its a scam.. he has asked to be e-mailed for a scan of the Japanese registration papers so i e-mailed him.... if you go to http://www.marktplaats.nl you will see a white rectangle in the top right corner with a button with the word ZOEK next to it.... paste in this number: 10265282713 and click on the ZOEK button you will go to the page.. now what strikes me is that he has a text on this Dutch site in English, which looks like a straight copied text of an auction somewhere... here is the text: Hira-zukuri Wakizashi Nagasa: 36 cm. Jihada: Ko-itame ni ko mokume. Hamon: straight, ending in notare at one side and o-notare ending in notare on the other in a mixture of nie and nioi. Hataraki: lots of activity, such as ji-nie, kinsuji, chikei and sunagashi. boshi: Jizo with a long kaeri. Mune-hikushi with tobiyaki. (ubu) Nakago: Hitsu-ana, Mumei ending in kata-yamagata Yasurime: Kosujichigai (or Katte-sagari). Zilveren Habaki. personally I think 1000 Euros is a bit over the top for this mumei wak.... he also states its about 200 years old... maybe one of you recognises it... KM

WOOOOOPSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! KM

True brian, and that was exactly my question... how do you patina anything? KM

*edited for silliness* - Brian it is like the cannisters of pure oxygen they started selling in Tokyo some years back....... i like the Japanese for their outrageous and sometimes right out nutty ideas!!!! KM

Hiya, I would try and ask the seller for close-up photos of the tang, the tip, the cutting edge, the back and the habaki section before i would bid...... KM

Ah okay Mark, didnt know that hahahahaha so Andrea how do you get rust back then? is it a chemical process? or do you just dip the nakago in sea water? i am interested in knowing about rusting techniques since i dont know squat about rust and how it actually works...... i only know it has something to do with oxidisation...... LoL KM (who once had a stainless steel survival knive and went diving in the sea with it after which it definetely was not stainless nor rust-protected anymore LoL)

well............ its his loss if the shinsa masters or valuers value the sword less because of the clean nakago.... indeed not a wise thing to have done..... i myself got very angry when some wd 40 spilled on my nakago and as i wiped it off VERY carefully, a millimeter of the upworked metal rim of one of the Mei characters got shiny...... KM