Jon MB Posted November 22, 2017 Report Posted November 22, 2017 If you have a moment, translation assistance would be great! Apologies, the pic keep rotating.. Quote
Ray Singer Posted November 22, 2017 Report Posted November 22, 2017 Appears that the end of the mei is being cut off in the first photo. Quote
Jon MB Posted November 22, 2017 Author Report Posted November 22, 2017 Great, many thanks! Maybe a few Seki smiths of that name, I seem to recall...I'll do some reading-up, thank you. Traditionally made, do you think? Quote
Ray Singer Posted November 22, 2017 Report Posted November 22, 2017 Most often Seki signed this way are not traditionally made. Is there a stamp? Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted November 22, 2017 Report Posted November 22, 2017 Jon, Ray and the Nihonto pro's will need good pics of the blade & tip to even speculate. You don't show the rest of the nakago. Are there any small stamps on it? Sorry Ray! We were typing at the same time. Go ahead, I'll just read along! 1 Quote
Jon MB Posted November 23, 2017 Author Report Posted November 23, 2017 Thanks, pics tomorrow. No stamps. Some marks in red paint. Quote
SteveM Posted November 23, 2017 Report Posted November 23, 2017 Look for Ikkōsai Kanetoshi, and you will find your man. Quote
Jon MB Posted November 23, 2017 Author Report Posted November 23, 2017 Some pictures Note ersatz same Quote
Jon MB Posted November 23, 2017 Author Report Posted November 23, 2017 Ikkōsai Kanetoshi Thank you Steve M, but I didn't find him yet, on the net at least...(poor research skills..) Quote
Jon MB Posted November 24, 2017 Author Report Posted November 24, 2017 Looking at the blade, and had a read of this.. Differences between Oil quench and Water -Chris Bowen -2010 The differences in appearance are difficult to describe but in general, a western steel or non-tamahagane blade that is oil quenched will have very little to no nie, no activity, and usually hard, shiny points or spots in the peaks of the hamon if done in gunome, sanbon sugi, etc. Usually they are done is suguba with a painted on or acid etched look to them. The habuchi is indistinct. The other thing to look for is the hada. If there is no hada then it is not a forged blade. If the blade was not forged it means it was mass produced and not tamahagane. Water quenching takes much more skill than an oil quench and consequently oil was used almost exclusively for mass production.It bears mentioning that there were blades made of steels other than tamahagane that were forged and water quenched. Hayama Enshin, Miyamoto Kanenori, Horii Toshihide, Miyaguchi Kunimori, to a few of the more prominent smiths, are known to have done this. When viewing these blades, one is struck by the absence of activity in the hamon. Usually, a simple suguba with next to nothing going on in the hataraki department....It appears that two ingredients are necessary to create an active ji-ba: tamahagane and a water quench.I have had conversations with modern Western blade smiths who tell me they can get all kinds of activity with western steel and oil quenching but I would attribute this to their deep knowledge of metallurgy and the time to experiment. Both quantities most WWII amateur smiths lacked....There are other things to look for as well if the hamon and hada are not visable, chiefly the presence of the showa, seki, and other stamps (other than the star stamp), the smith's reputation, the quality of the mei and the nakago finishing. Most professional smiths did not make oil quenched mass produced gunto. Jumei Toshi were making blades for the military under contract and provided with tamahagane. These are usually star stamped later in the war. Known smiths with a known teacher-student lineage did not, in general, make oil quenched blades. If the mei is well cut and the nakago well shaped and finished, it is probably a sign that the blade was not mass produced. Most mumei WWII era blades were not made by professional smiths; though there are the rare exceptions, usually it is a mass produced blade or a blade that failed inspection.Again, there are always exceptions, but there general rules will usually get one by.I can not stress enough how important it is to see high quality gendaito by professional smiths to train your eye. It may come as a surprise but a first rate blade by the likes of Horii Toshihide, Tsukamoto Okimasa, Kajiyama Yasunori, Yoshihara Kuniie, etc., looks very much like older work- beautifully active ji-ba with crisp filework and good proportions. If you learn to recognize what quality is you will know, irregardless of period, if it is a blade worth spending time with.... http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5572-visible-differences-between-oil-quench-and-water-quench/ Quote
Jon MB Posted November 24, 2017 Author Report Posted November 24, 2017 Muji hada -hard to say if I think this is a traditionally made blade or not. It's all quite simple, not much activity, but it looks like nie in the hamon. Haven't had a chance to handle this type before. Quote
cisco-san Posted November 24, 2017 Report Posted November 24, 2017 Hi, from Markus book: KANETOSHI (兼俊), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanetoshi” (兼俊), “Ikkōsai Kanetoshi” (粋光斎兼俊), real name Kumazawa Shun´ichi (熊沢俊一), born April 20th 1899, gō Ikkōsai (粋光斎), he worked as guntō smith Quote
Jon MB Posted November 25, 2017 Author Report Posted November 25, 2017 So, yes, after having the chance to sit down and study the blade, it seems traditionally made. Quote
vajo Posted November 30, 2017 Report Posted November 30, 2017 Some pictures Note ersatz same Hi John, no it is not "ersatz" same. It is snake. I had one with shark. Possible is also lizzard or cotton or something else. Quote
Jon MB Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Posted November 30, 2017 Thanks Chris. I thought it might be. I was implying that it was a late war substitute of some type. Quote
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