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The bisen threads are course and you should be able to loosen it with some thin penetrating oil as Piers mentioned, if his method does not work you could wrap the bisen head with some cloth and try to unscrew it very lightly with a wrench, they are fairly thick and strong.

Auction link. http://www.auctionzip.com/aflive.html?m ... WSJXL7CSQA A lot of very bad and inaccurate descriptions., a few interesting items. Katana, gold menuki, 42", 30" long blade. 10 kt. gold ring on handle and 10 kt. gold Menuki on both sides of handle. Estimated Price: $1000 - $50000

Peter do you have any pictures? There is a reference by Don Cunningham as to blades being made dull on purpose for use by samurai police as a non lethal weapon.

Ian your right, it should be criminal, here is what the same dealer is selling now, I havent taken a close look but probably another complete armor being sold in pieces. Last week it looked like he took apart two matching saddles and sold the parts. I cant understand why he will not offer complete armors for sale first before taking them apart and destroying so much history. https://www.jauce.com/view.php?seturl=h ... rofuji2005

The recent discussion of Peter's armor reminded me of an unusual armor recently sold in Japan, I have never seen another one like this, I would call it a tatami sendai dou gusoku. This complete matching armor was broken up and sold as individual pieces by an unscrupulous dealer.

Here is another one, this type of kabuto seems to be made from thick metal.

Piers, I saw the kiseru but missed the anchor and I thought that what Malcolm is calling a kiseruzutsu was a tiller for the boat, the anchor clasp makes me wonder if people picked these clasps purposely for a specific theme rather than a random decoration that came on a tabako-ire. Malcolm, good information as usual.

Thanks Ian, so the time period of construction and who the armor maker was may explain these differences. Peter, nice armor, its not often that you can see the details of the uchidashi so close, if you have any more pictures of your armor I would like to see the other panels.

Ian, I have seen several dou labeled as sendai/yukinoshita with more than three holes for the shoulder cords and with multiple front plates??? The Manufacture of Armour and Helmets in 16th century Japan shows a three plate one between p.96 and p.98, it looks like this one which I would have labeled as a one also, are there variances or are these being mislabeled

By chance I happened to run into this print, part of The 53 stations of the Tokaido in pairs, a series of woodcuts composed by Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada and issued around 1845 by different publishers, notice the compass which seems to be used as a directional device as the prints description states that "a pirate steers his boat". From http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... _95573.jpg

Jan, I own several chochin kabuto, and I have a lot of pictures of them but yours is the only one I have seen that is not laced. I have seen one similar kabuto to yours which sold on Ebay a while back. This one while not a chochin was constructed in the same manner, the only difference seems to be that the plates were riveted to each other and like yours it had a very old feeling to it.

Fernando, it is not the policy of the forum to encourage the polishing of any nihonto by anyone who is not a professionally trained nihonto polisher with years of experience. the standard recommendation would be to buy a sword that does not need polishing. If you would look in the "for sale" section here you will find very reasonably prices swords from other forum members or you can post a "wanted" add asking to purchase a sword, in addition, there is a link section at the top of the forum listing many good sword dealers.

Ron, glad (and surprised) I was able to find something you did not already read.

"Guaranty genuine & authentic", but also, "No returns or exchanges"......but then, "item is covered by eBay Buyer Protection".

I found this print of an o-zutsu on a carriage, I do not remember seeing it posted before but in case it has please delete it.

Even if you could bid most Japanese yahoo sellers only ship within Japan, use a third party bidding company as suggested or if you want personal service with someone who speaks English and lives in Japan there is Kelly Schmidt at schmidt_araki@yahoo.co.jp I have purchased a few items with his help, he will bid for you up to a predetermined price and if you win he will ship the item to you with a small additional charge payable with Paypal.

I just read some interesting information on the casting of iron cannon in Japan using the first western style blast furnaces in the 1850's, here are links to the books. Technology and the Culture of Progress in Meiji Japan, By David G. Wittne http://books.google.com/books?id=9p3HpmImvZwC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=cast+iron+samurai+cannon&source=bl&ots=vedS29ofdq&sig=YbmokDT_eod6FoohW1vhad-ytAA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=a0fRT7HoNIim8QSCwKTIAw&ved=0CIABEOgBMAY#v=onepage&q=cast%20iron%20samurai%20cannon&f=false The Technological Transformation of Japan: From the Seventeenth to the Twenty-first century, By Tessa Morris-Suzuki, http://books.google.com/books?id=XaK_xAYmbfsC&pg=PA57&dq=cast+iron+samurai+cannon&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kEzRT8WCKoGk8gSQ_MywAw&ved=0CGAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=cast%20iron%20samurai%20cannon&f=false

Piers, I have a compass that is a lot like one of yours, it is enclosed in a wooden case, supposedly Edo period but I have never seen the use of compasses in Japan mentioned in any history books, any idea of how far back compasses were used? I have seen them being called "rashinban" occasionally when being sold, is this name correct?

Thomas, thanks for the information and pictures, (just in case you were wondering if anyone was watching).

So Ron, you mean this print was a slight exaggeration?

Thanks Richard, will photography be allowed at the exhibit?

Jan, do you have a link to that info?

Photos would be appreciated by forum members for their historical value as photos are hard to find.

I recently was contacted by the American Museum of Natural History NY asking if I was able to provide a replacement samurai saddle tree (kurabane) for one that was promised for loan to an up coming exhibit but was no longer available, I was able to talk the Traveling Exhibitions Coordinator, Jennifer Donato into using a more complete saddle for the exhibit which will be in San Diego Ca. Here is a preview of the saddle and the mount that was made for it and a link to the exhibit, I am not sure if it will be in any other cities yet but if you are interested in horses and in the area it looks like an interesting exhibit. http://www.sdnhm.org/exhibitions/upcomi ... /the-horse