Nido42

I had taken several pictures but had to resize and given the amount of space to upload those were the ones I figured would be enough without them being too poor of quality. Im still relatively new to posting in online forums and how certain things work. I do appreciate the response though.

Thank you, John. I was wondering if that was the case. Although everything does fit pretty tight. The tsuba itself has slight play in it. Most of the nihanto I've gotten have been in shirasaya so I haven't dove into much research into koshirae.

Hello, My name is Kevin. I am here in hopes some of you may help with a few questions i have about a wakizashi i have. I'm still fairly new to nihanto so i apologize for any miswording or mispronouncing. I have read as much as i could find online and compare examples. So, if any of you could give me some extra knowledge and perhaps correct me if my own research has not given me enough information. I only have more so assumptions based off what i could find. My first question is about the Tsuka/Tsuba. ive noticed there is a shim that appears to be added more recently (I assume for a more snug fit) and also given the Tsuba has a bit of lateral movement, would it be safe to say that these are not original to the sword? As well it seems the Tsuka Ito had been replaced in more recent times based off its condition. So perhaps it had been restored at some point, i am not sure. My second question is in regards to the Hira Zukuri style. From what i could find online and looking into all types of wakizashi and what periods made which styles, based off what i could find would any of you tell me if this would be early muromachi? Or were hira zukuri wakizashi made in throughout different periods? My third question being more so a shot in the dark is the signature. its very hard to make out. ive tried rubbing a pencil over some thin paper to help read it but the only character i could make out is 家. I am not sure if it is much help but if anyone could possibly interpret what it means and possibly who they may think it could be i would be much appreciated. Thank you

Thank you for the advice! It appears to already have some tape stains. (I'm assuming) but only on one side of the saya. The splits seems to be vertical on both sides. I had added some pictures to another reply on here.

Hi, sorry my name is kevin. I'm still pretty new to the whole forums thing. It does appear to have what looks like some tape marks on it already. So, assuming someone might have done this at some point in the past as well. The tsuka seems to be split on one end and the saya almost runs the full length on both sides. Sorry if I mispronounce anything, I'm still learning.

Would i have to split it open wider too apply it? Probably a silly question i apologize.

Hello. I had just gotten an antique shirasaya wakazashi and the seams seem to be splitting apart. What would be a recommended way as to repairing this? Not sure if any wood glue would be appropriate or not or if it is what would be a good method at applying it into the seams. Thank you.

So if it were shortened wouldn't the groove be further down as well? And it being from a vet who brought it back from ww2 I would think that would make sense as well. Non of the fittings really fit and just slide off. The scabbard seems to be more modern and fits the habaki well but the habaki doesn't really fit the blade. Also the scabbard seems to be made of old cheap wood that was at some point glued together maybe because both sides have come apart and the only thing holding them together really are the 2 metal rings.

Here is a better picture of the signature

Okay thank you. I tried in this forum but it didn't give me any more space to post photos so wasn't sure if it was per account or how it worked

Also, is the blade being so slender at all odd? I think a quarter might even be wider thar it is. I always imagined they were all made with a wide blade

Thank you for the help George! The whole forum thinknin general is all new for me. Do you have recommendations on which pictures would be the most important to share? Aside from the tang? Also, would deleting them from the other post allow for more space? As of this post I have a 2mb limit so I couldn't post any other pictures. The blade has many scratches and some spots of black rust. And some very small black "pits" it looks like. Thank you!

Sorry if this is not allowed. I'm new to this whole thing and appeared to have reached a limit on posting photos. So had to share the link. I do apologize

So, not sure if this is the correct place to ask. I don't know much about these. This was a ww2 bring back I got awhile ago. And sorry in advance I don't know the correct terms for things but I'll try my best to explain. First the handle, and tsuba? Pretty much all the pieces on this sword are lose and don't really fit so I'm assuming they're not original to it. The blade itself is about 58.4 cm long, I also find it a bit odd it's only about 1.5cm wide which seems a little slender compared to what I'd expect it to be. And the handle measures 19cm.