Hada Pictures & Help Understanding Them

[FletchSan]

Hi All,

 

I was curious about the hada (or lack thereof) on my swords so decided to buy a cheap magnifier on ebay and used the iPhone to take a few pics. They came out surprisingly well.

What is interesting is how different the sword grains are, particularly between the two Guntos.

 

I'm just a beginner - so not sure what I'm actually looking at, though thought I would share any see what others thought. Maybe this will become a standard tool for people photographing their blades

 

If interested, this was the magnifier I purchased.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Multifunctional-Mini-Monocular-Telescope-w-Magnifier-Microscope-3-in-1-red-coat-/171915625453?hash=item2806f843ed

 

The first 2 photos are a Kai Gunto, next 3 a Shin Gunto and the last 3 is a late 17C Wakizashi. Both Guntos have Seki stamps and can be seen in my other posts.

The yokote is also far more pronounced on the Wakizashi & Kai Gunto vs. the Shin Gunto.​

 

cheers,

 

Ben

[Fuuten]

Pretty interesting:) Thank you for sharing Ben.

 

There're also quite cheap digital microscopes for sale (via usb, and very easy to use), i have one at work, and also manual analoge microscopes but i prefer the digital one for a steady shot.

 

I might just try this if i can borrow it for a weekend or something

[FletchSan]

No probs. A digital microscope would be nice, though I thought I'd try the $17 option first

 

To my untrained eye - is the Shin Gunto possibly hand forged and Kai Gunto machine made based on the photos ?

[Brian]

I don't think macro photos help with hada at all. When magnified, all you are going to see is clear scratches, bumps and any other damage. Hada is best looked at in the proper light with a small light source running over the blade.

What this kind of macro photography will help with, is spotting nie and nioi and hataraki. You can clearly see masses of nie in the wakizashi. The other 2 seem to me to show nioi based hamon, with little other activity, and look more like arsenal blades to me.