Polish Window And Boshi Test

[Surfson]

Hi All.   I have a couple of Kamakura/Nambokucho swords that I am considering sending to Japan for full restoration and want to tap your collective wisdom as to who you would recommend to send them to in order to have a window made and evaluate the health of the boshi.   I'm looking for somebody in the US who can help make a solid decision about the sword's worthiness, can be trusted to not damage these old blades and would have a reasonably good turnaround time.   Thanks in advance for your feedback. 

[RobertM]

Bob Benson would be a good choice, never used him but i hear good things

[nagamaki - Franco]

My choice would be Jimmy Hayashi; 1) best polisher in U.S. 2) his window turn around times are fairly short 3) his windows are complete so you will get an actual sense of the end result. 4) if there is a problem I would like to have/know his opinion/advice on it.

[Stephen]

just be aware windows do not tell all. there is a great a great chance kizu will show later on

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello, if there is a kizu, yes, there is in fact a better than great chance it will show up  . Until the entire foundation polish is complete there could be a surprise including the dreaded hagiri. Further, the importance of choosing an excellent polisher even for a window is that you do not want any of the foundation work having to be redone when it is sent for complete polish, which means that much more unnecessary metal having to be removed.