Nazar

So I asked the seller to shoot photos of nakago with habaki removed. Only yesterday I received his answer that he tried, but he failed to remove habaki. He also sent some photos of nakago. One look at those photos was enough to lose all interest in this particular kai-gunto. It became obvious that the blade has nothing to do with the koshirae. And those person or persons who decided to put them together did next: First, they decided to drill a new mekugi-ana. The markings left on nakago clearly state that. I believe that the reason they didn't drill it was that tsuka at that position may have too extensive freeplay. So instead of trying to make some inner liners for tsuka, they just moved munemachi and hamachi forward, ruining the blade completely. To accommodate tsuka, they also cut off nakago-jiri. All these are clearly visible from the photos and it explains why the seller failed ro remove habaki. What has been done to the nakago is clear. I think the hamon also may be artificial. I am very interested in your opinion on the hamon, the balde and my observations.

This part of hamon line made me especially suspicious: This part of the blade also added some weight to my suspicions. Yet couple of photos.

The general photos of the sword:

First, I have to say that I created this topic solely for educational purposes and to share some information (to give you an idea of what one encounters in our neck of the woods). I am not about to buy this sword as I already could see why I should pass on it. So a few days ago I was offered to buy this kai gunto by the seller who had it on commision. The seller sent some photos. I like its koshirae a lot, especially ray skin saya. Hope one day I'll buy a decent kai gunto with such saya. However, a couple of things instantly striked me as weird. For one thing, the blade looks to be buffed, yet the line of hamon is clearly visible. For another, the koshirae looks more or less untouched, yet the habaki have signs to be heavily sandpapered. Some photos of koshirae:

Upper and lower surfaces of tsuka in places where the fuchi sits are not parallel to each other. To solve this issue I simply made holes for bolts larger, so the halves of clamp adjust themselves on tsuka. And as I was bench testing the clamp I found out that I wouldn't be doctoring those cracks at all. Once I got tsuka clamped it became clear to me that if I got cracks fixed, I would instantly get another trouble: the ito would become loose. And as the pieces of samegawa aren't even glued to the wooden core, the ito and same could be shifted along the tsuka. I am glad I bench tested the idea before even making any irreversible decision. My current idea is to leave those cracks alone. However, I put a suitable liner (strip of thin plastic) between the fuchi and tsuka to ensure that the fuchi keeps cracks from further expanding.

Also, it's hard not to notice cracks in the tsuka wooden core. I went through some topics on tsuka repair and rice glue here. I also went through the corresponding section of "Craft of Japanese swords" on archive.org (the paper book hasn't arrived yet). My belief is these cracks couldn't be healed with rice glue. So I considered the option of using Titebond Ultimate wood glue. Yet, setting aside the question of glue, I needed something to keep cracks closed while glue is setting. Sure, there are traditional methods of wrapping, however my idea was to use something that would clamp tsuka frimley and for a long time, like for a week. My thought was that clamping tsuka for a prolonged time may remove some tension in the wood. So I designed a 3D printed clamp that consists of two halves that are to be joined by two M4 allen bolts and nuts. I made it to fit the shape of tsuka perfectly. I even added some space for leather liners so there wouldn't be direct contact of wood and plastic (so in case if plastic turned out to be harder than wood it would not leave any traces on wood).

I found no numbers or any other marks on tsuba, seppa, fuchi or habaki. The inner surface of habaki is quite rough. The only thing that has a mark on it is tsuka. There is a kanji on its inner side. Seems to be 氷.

Painted seppa are from the set made for tsuka with chuso, while mine originally was equipped with a leather strap. I wonder if these seppa are original to this sword, or are they a later replacement? Some closer looks at parts:

So, I am back to my swords for some time. Even though I like the process of uchikoing (I found it to be quite a meditative occupation) I decided against further application of uchiko to the blade. The hamon and hataraki are already visible and I doubt that I could get something new and exciting out of this blade by using uchiko. Also, uchiko works indiscriminately which means it works out all the crevices. While working uchiko I felt with my fingers what you may see in the photos of the balde above: unevenness of surface. I doubt that this may be explained by buffing alone. I think it might be the result of inept polishing. I would like to take some new photos of the balde, but the weather sucks and constant precipitation (snow or rain) rules out any kind of outdoor photo shooting. And the indoor lights are insufficient for proper shots. So, let's proceed to koshirae. Original saya has gone, and the saya that came with the sword is of unacceptable quality. I doubt very much that in the foreseeable future I will have time to take a swing on crafting new saya on my own. So the idea is to order saya from a guy dealing in nihonto and swords I met around Christmas. It wouldn't be an original thing, yet at least it would be made to fit this sword. And here is what left from original koshirae:

Hi Lex, If the sword will be available again, please, message me.

The person who crafted the new quillon may have taken that measurement from the original (but likely damaged) quillon. I doubt that this bayonet could be mounted instead of standard type 30 bayonet since the muzzle ring offset is smaller than that of the original one.

@John C, you are absolutely right. It is slightly off-round so diemater varies from 14mm to 14.5mm

Sure. Oiled it and left it in the workshop, so I'll take measurements tomorrow.

This thing will take its place in the "Curiosities" section of my small collection. However, even this "bayonet" turned out to have something of interest. I didn't expect to find such a large number of stamps on the inner sides of wooden grips and on the tang.

Made some search on this thing and even as one may find shortened Arisaka bayonets, this seemed to be a "standalone" thing. Yet, it was cheap and interesting (to me) so I decided to buy it anyway. Here are some photos. As you may see, it was someone's "restoration" project. And this someone put some effort into it. The reason for the blade shortening is unclear, as well as what happened to the original hilt. The facts are as follows: a new hooked quillon was crafted and brass welded to the bayonet, scabbard was shortened and again, two pieces were brass welded together. And even as "cleaning" took all the numbers from pommel, it was made quite accurately. I also shot a couple of photos of this bayonet side by side with standard Type 30 bayonet. One may notice the slight difference between arsenal stamps.

John: I rather believe it's standard Type 30 scabbard but shortened. Look at the point where the leather mount ends. There is a visible step there. It looks like the front part of the scabbard was joined with the rear.

Let me hijack this thread for a bit. Came across this bayonet that looks like a shortened Type 30 bayonet. The scabbard seems to have a visible joint in place where it was shortened. Also, hooked quillon seems to be of untypical configuration. Maybe someone has information on such modifications and what is more interesting, on quillon. @BANGBANGSAN ?

I believe they may get away with more than that since it's kind of a local thing: there is a happy owner and no one to dispute the expertise. It's quite educational, though. Also, it's another demonstration of how people love shiny things:-)

Seems to be Type 30 (Variation B) bayonet. Stamps are early version of Toyoda Jido Shokki Seisakusho (Toyoda Automatic Loom Works)

Thank you! I found this sword on the local Ukrainian website of an expert organization that provides expertise on historical edged weapons, including Japanese swords. Run through the Japanese blade section. The first thing that caught my eye is too many swords called gendaito. In the case of showato I held in my hands they first call it gendaito, then indicate that it's not traditionally made. Shin-gunto in kai-gunto saya called kai-gunto. And so on. And then I came across this shiny thing. Decided that I couldn't sleep well unless I post it here:-) And yea, those flags were indeed red flags:-)

I just couldn't unsee this shininess, so I have to share it. Also curious about crossed flags on habaki. Is this fake?

Went through my photos of sunagashi and found a picture that could be used as a clear example of fingerprints that became permanent. It doesn't look that bad in daylight, yet under the spotlight it became more prominent than shunagashi themselves. Another fingerprint (top right corner). And I like this blade with all its flaws anyway. Not only because it's the first gendaito I scored but because it gave me a lot to think about and to search for. I'll try my best so no further harm comes to it.

Have a dress sword too. Nothing fancy, though. No mon, no markings.