O-wakizashi/Ko-katana translation help please

[obiwanknabbe]

Hi everyone,

 

A while back i picked up a rusty short(ish) sword in war mounts at a gun-show here on long island (NY). The Nagasa is 21 3/4 inches long and the nagako is just under 6 inches. hard to tell in the picture but the hamon is irregular midare and it appears to have Itame hada. It is signed, and appears to be pretty old (judging by the black rust). Do any of you recognize this signature?

 

Now there is another part to this question. Sadly, when i did the polish on this blade, a Hagire surfaced. It was under a rust spot three quarters of the way up on the cutting edge and was not visible until after foundation polishing. Fortunately I got it cheep. So here is the second part of the question. What is the etiquette regrading O-Suriage cutting the blade into a tanto and inserting Gaku Mei? I'm not sure if I will actually do it, but I am more interested in what the common consensus is among those of you with more knowledge and experience regarding such things.

 

Pics inserted below

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Kurt

[Stephen]

Kurt you talk the lingo, how about posting mei up not on its side, quick tilt looks Kanemitsu..

[Brian]

Kurt,

Have to warn you in advance that the biggest no-no on this forum is amateur polishing. Hope you have a flame retardent suit....this will not end well

No debating on the merits or otherwise. We don't advocate or tolerate it. Just advising in advance.

As for your question, if the shortening work was done by anyone besides a trained smith, I expect it would become a curio and not really in the Nihonto collecting realm anymore. A hagire is bad enough, but further alteration makes it just a Western custom knife I expect.

 

Brian

[obiwanknabbe]

Thanks for your feedback guys. I thought Kane was part of it, but I have seen how additional kanji can change the pronunciation.

 

As for the polishing. I can assure you Brian, I wont work on anything I think could be valuable. What you could not see in the picture was the other side of the blade, MASSIVE kitae Kizu and blistering, and warping of the mune. Mostly when I do work it is on one of my own blades. I have been smithing for about 15 years. Thanks again guys.

 

Kurt

[ROKUJURO]

Kurt,

 

I won't comment your polishing attempts, but I want to mention that the cross section and the SUGATA of most TANTO are quite different from what you have got. As Brian wrote, you would end up with an American TANTO. If you are experienced in forging, why not make one yourself and leave the WAKIZASHI alone?

[Lance]

Agreed about not altering the wakizashi for all the reasons stated, and to add: even though a hagiri is considered a fatal flaw it's still an xxx-hundred year old piece of history. Since you do smithing, maybe a more interesting exercise might be for you to recreate a "copy" of this sword; matching shape and hamon (and hada if you forge the steel itself as well) Would make for a nice display AND a good sales pitch if and when it came time to sell as a pair.

Regards,

Lance

 

 

 

Regards,

Lance

[cabowen]

.... I wont work on anything I think could be valuable.

 

 

This is usually where even the best intentions end up astray and bad things often happen.....

[obiwanknabbe]

Lance..

 

I like your idea. I have about 4 blades to finish before I can start something new, but its an interesting angle. Thanks. As for the Wakizashi, she will stay as she is. Like I said, i don't really plan on doing anything more with it. The blade looks good as a display and study piece (the original reason I purchased it) as it stands. I just wanted learned opinions. These are the types of conversations which are not generally covered in books.

 

 

Kurt