Hagire Repair

[Ray Singer]

I thought this would be of interest. The question has come up occasionally whether a hagire can be repaired. I just received the attached sword as a consignment from a Japanese collector who had a hagire microwelded by Yoshihara Yoshikazu a couple of years ago. The polish (after the weld was done) did not go down to the level of the weld itself, ie. the togishi did not try to disguise the repair but left the slightly recessed weld visible. 

 

[Tanto54]

Dear Ray,

 

Thank you for posting this - very interesting.  Can you (or someone else) tell us about the effectiveness of a microweld?  Has it completely "fixed" the sword from a theoretical "usefulness" perspective?  When I do a good job of welding using normal techniques (not on swords...) the weld will be stronger than other places in the piece, so if stressed, the metal breaks somewhere else (not at the weld).  Is it the same for a good microweld?

 

I really appreciate the honorable approach of not trying to hide the weld, but would you (or someone else) speculate on how visible the weld would have been if the Togi had polished it all the way down?

[Guest]

Hi Ray,

 

When you say microweld, was that using a laser?

 

I ask, as I recently had an important piece of Victorian Opal set jewellery, unfortunately the mounts had suffered from a previous owner's neglect way back in the 1930's.

 

Opals being very tender stones and do not suffer extremes of heat very well, my Jeweller (who has both a rock steady hand and nerve) used a laser welder with spectacular results.

 

I remember at the time thinking that it would be a useful tool for up close and personal Kodogu work, but had not thought anything about working within the Hamon itself.

 

Whatever the method, it serves as yet another example of, the Yoshihara family pushing the envelope of perception of what is possible in Nihon - To.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ray Singer]

These are excellent questions, I unfortunately do not have further details on the welding unit which was used. In terms of how structurally sound the sword is now, the hagire did not penetrate completely through the hamon before and crack has been fully repaired. Usagiya described a similar situation but where the polisher had gone down to the level of the weld and the repair was not very noticeable.

[Blazeaglory]

Looks like it's done very well. I come from a family of welders and something that detailed is not easy.

 

Definitely worth it on a sword like that. And good to know it's possible!

[Ken-Hawaii]

Very interesting, Ray, as it brings up the essence of what a sword is & does. Is a blade still collectable with a thoroughly-repaired hagire? Does visibility matter? Hmm.

[vajo]

We had a thread in which microwelding was discussed. I put some links in for microwelding. The sad is I can't find this thread.

 

Kunitaro said two years ago that microwelding on a hagire sword is possible. I bet you can't see it when a togishi polished it (you get fooled).

 

 

At 0:44 the welding is startet.

 

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[Thekirsh]

Sort of on topic,

I have always wondered if hagire could be repaired using the Japanese art of Kintsugi.

As a weapon it wouldn't pass , but as a work of art?

Gold is used to fill mekugi-ana...so why not hagire?

Simon K

[Brian]

Hagire is considered fatal from a function point of view. The sword cannot be used as designed and therefore is considered "dead"
However, as technology expands, if they can fix it to the point that it no longer is functionally flawed, I wonder if grading considerations will have to change? It is only natural that technology will eventually be able to 100% rectify a hagire. So then does it fail from an aesthetic point of view? Or does it pass?
The future will be interesting.

[PNSSHOGUN]

I do not see the point of this repair from either a martial arts view or collectors view. All I see are nefarious uses down the road.

[Greg F]

Thanks for the very interesting thought provoking topic Ray.

Brian you bring up very interesting questions about the future.

I just wonder how many blades are already out there that have been repaired and polished to the point of disguising the weld. I can see how an owner would want to get hagire fixed but one would hope its not hiden by polish for future owners to know what theyre getting. In the future if it is so well done that its as strong as before the hagire and cant be seen then I suppose its not quite as bad but I would always want to know what im getting. What a complex world Nihonto collecting is huh.

 

Greg

[almeister]

As Brian said,

A fatal flaw is a fatal flaw !

Any serious collector would never buy it as resale value is close to nothing if problem is disclosed as it should be .

If one of the authorities are willing to certify it , than I'm sure it will be noted on the certificate if buyer aware.

Buyer beware may not apply if the blade changes hands several times after original purchase

Yeah sure , there's always the assumption that he's only gona chop down banana trees with it!

Sticky situations are sometimes best avoided before regret

Respectfully , AlanK

[ROKUJURO]

HAGIRE is a stress crack in the HAMON. It shows that there is high tension in the material of the cutting edge which ends up as a crack in the weakest spot. Welding a HAGIRE does not mean that the sword is technically repaired; other HAGIRE may still occur in other locations on the edge.

Welding will always introduce heat into the steel, and the necessary temperatures to fuse the metal will go up considerably above 2.000°C. Microwelding is a good means to reduce the amount of heat introduced into the steel, so that the effects of it are limited to a very small location. Nevertheless, the nearest 'neighbourship' of the microweld will infallibly lose its hardness, and this means the special martensite structure which forms the HAMON will be altered. Also, another steel alloy will be introduced into the HAMON, different from the TAMAHAGANE composition, as the picture shows.

Microwelding may conceal a HAGIRE, if a TOGISHI succeeds in giving the spot the correct metal colour. I don't know if that is possible, but if so, it could open the door to nice 'cosmetic' repairs of precious blades in museums, but also to fraud. 

[vajo]

Well done explanation Jean.