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Translation Would Be Appreciated


Huntman

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I have a few swords my Grandpa got in 1940's when he was serving in World War 2,  he told me he was allowed to take them from the ship he was on and the rest were pushed in to the sea before they returned.  These two swords have writing on them that I have frequently wondered what they say.  One I strongly believe is the name of a solider who owned it.  The other, I have no idea it's written on the handle.  I will post them both, thanks in advance for translating these.  I have one other but it was a hand made sword, lucky pick from the pile the local museum said it was around 170 years old  by the name of the sword smith, I forget who it was but next time I have the guts to take the handle appart I'll post it as well. I think I can post a picture of the sword I took a while ago, now it sits in a safety deposit box/cabinet and I only get it out once a year to put choji oil on it. 

 

The long katana is the one I was told was hand crafted, has some kind of lizard skin on the scabbard I think they said it was Iguana in the handle and komodo dragon on the scabbard. I don't remember to tell the truth, but it's not leather, nor plastic it's some kind of thin animal hide, its not glued to the body of the scabbard so it can move a little with finger touch.  Anyway, I'd love to know more about these swords, the close of of the one with the red scabbard and gold lettering I was thinking of sending to have restored, but not sure if I should or who I can trust with it.  These mean a lot to me, my Grandpa is gone now and he gave these to me when I was a child. 

 

 

 

Allan Burchett

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The tsuka (handle) is made to be taken apart but you need to be careful. I know that everyone here will need to see the nakago (tang) to give further info.

 

The bumpy whitish "skin" on the tsuka, under the braided wrap, is usually Same (ray skin) but the tsuka-ito could be snake skin. It's usually silk or cotton tho but there are handles with leather or snake skin. I can't say if it's lizard or snake tho. But it does look different that's for sure.

 

I can't comment on the characters under the hand guard. I'm unfamiliar with that writing. The sword itself has an interesting hamon but you'll need to post some better pics and try to get the handle off. There are some write ups here on how to do it and it's quite easy. I know how you feel about your family sword but they were meant to be taken apart. Just be gentle.

 

I'm sure others with more knowledge can educate you further and help you out. I just wanted to let you know it's ok to take it apart with the proper technique.

 

Good luck ????

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The handle wrap is rayskin. Nothing else.
The scabbard will likely be thin leather. You can ignore what they told you about lizards and Komodos and any of that other stuff. Museums really do come up with nonsense sometimes.
Both look interesting, and the katana looks good so far. Have to see that tang to tell you much more.

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Thank's for the information.  I will be getting these out of the safety deposit box early next month, and I'll see if I can get some better photos.  I'm very novice at the names, and different sword types.  But of these three what did you want to see a photo of in better detail?  I can take some better photos when I'm oiling them.  I've spoken to a number of people as well at the type of oil to use, and some difference of opinion comes to surface, but I have been using Choji oil.  About once per year, my Grandpa lived in a dry area of Colorado and I live in Indiana, so rust bothers me.   The blade has some black marks on it, always have but they are very small and honestly look like splatter marks from something.

 

I have a massive amount of respect for these items, both where they came from and how they came to me. I've taken great care to preserve them and ensure they are maintained properly, I don't know much about how to maintain the leather or natural aspects of these, or if anything needs done other than humidity control (I store them in vac bags with oxygen absorbent packets now) and have been thinking of even nitrogen storage.    

 

Let me know what kind of photos you want and I'll do my best to get them, anyone can show me a good video on how to take apart the handle I'd appreciate it.  I'm grateful for your help in this matter, in return I'm a not a half bad network tech / desktop tech / Active Directory System Admin I'd be glad to offer what advice I can in return.

 

 

Allan Burchett

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