New guy with questions.

[Jim M]

First off, I'd like to say hi.

I found a sword last weekend and decided to get a crash course on swords.

What I found is a sword that has a blade of 28 3/8 long, over all its 37.5 tip to end of tang. There is no signature and the sori is about 1/4 inch (curvature?). The Tsuba is iron with bamboo on geese on one side and bamboo on the other and its 2 5/8 inches in diameter.

Ive posted this question on craigslist in hawaii, california, tokyo. Ive been getting some great advice, but figure it can never hurt to ask.

Thanks for your time. Jim M

[Brian]

Hi Jim,

 

There isn't too much that can be said without a decent polish so that the hamon and hada can be seen. What does strike me is that the curve makes it appear to be a kanbun shinto which would date it around the mid to late 1600's.

It is of course shortened quite a bit, and may have lost its signature then. With the current length, it much have been quite a monster of a blade originally. Tsuba looks ok, but needs some tlc by a professional.

The tip can be repaired by a professional, but of course a decent polish is going to run you around $2000, so you would need to decide if you are just going to keep it as it, or go for the restoration. It would need a shirasaya too.

A nice original blade that needs some tlc but with no major problems that I can see besides the tip.

Of course a polish may turn up other flaws like hagire, so you should probably get it to one of the various sword shows so that someone can look at it in hand.

 

Regards,

Brian

[Jim M]

Thanks for the information Brian.

Your the second person that mention the kanbum shinto era. Is there a listing of when sword shows tour the country? Im in tucson arizona, we have gun shows about every three weeks, but Ive never heard of any type of sword shows in my area.

If this turns out to be genuine, can you tell me what a blade in this type of condition sells for? To tell the truth, my hobbies are muscle cars, we own a 71 camaro, 71 el camino, 68 el camino and a 70 SS 454 chevelle clone. This blade and tsuba was actually purchased at a yard sale, and the only reason I bought it was that I thought for the price, it would make great wall art for my garage. Jim

[Stephen]

Jim

 

id hate to see it just sit on your wall, maybe put it up for sale here so it will go into the Nihonto community, not that there's any thing wrong with it there but I'm sure you hate to see a 69 camo just sit in someone's back yard if you know what I mean. here is a scan from the connoisseurs book. it may have been a kinnoto or Royalist sword. I really like the subtlest of the tsuba and with some boning and oil it would come back. nice find..no handle just blade a tsuba?

[Jim M]

I really understand what you mean about it just sitting when someone could apprecitate it. Believe me, Ive seen a few camaros, chevelles just rotting in peoples back yards, with "Im going to fix it someday" mentality. I'm trying to get a realistic value to the thing, I may post it on the local craigslist and see if I can find another car nut that would be interested in trading for some car parts or something. I hate to sell anything long distance. Pictures dont show tell the whole story and the parts/item usually looks worse when it shows up in the mail.

The only thing that came with it was the black scabbard you see next to my cat, the tsuba, and the silver looking collar.

Again, thanks for any information that you can share. jim

[Stephen]

hard to tell from the pix, may be bizen, trading is good if you can find it, cash buys you parts.

[Jim M]

I threw it on craigslist in tucson and phoenix. Im looking for a used car trailer to haul my bracket car. Hopefully someone may have one. I missed out on a trailer last year, guy just wanted it out of his yard! So im sure theres deals to be had out there. Jim

[Gabriel L]

Hi Jim,

 

If you are selling the sword you might as well post it here in the classifieds, and perhaps at some other sites such as Sword Forum International and myArmoury. That way you know you will get as fair a price as can be expected and more importantly the odds of it going to someone who actually knows how to properly care for and appreciate it go up as well.

 

It 100% genuine, btw, I don't know if that was entirely clear from previous posts. Appraising its monetary value is more difficult without seeing it in hand, especially out of polish as it is; likewise, getting a strong indication of provenance is more difficult although the shape is textbook Kanbun Shinto as has been mentioned already.

[Jim M]

Gabriel, I'm hoping some enthusiast responds to my ad. I did get a offer im sure is more than fair from a member here. I just hate to sell stuff long distance.

Im definetly going to do some more reading up on it as for storing it, and what not to do. I did wipe it with WD 40 when I first got it home to wipe the rust off the blade, I almost hit the tang with a wire wheel. but fortunately I couldnt get to it easily and its only about 110* in the garage. So I came in and started reading up on swords, and found out about not cleaning the tang. Im going to pick up some machine oil for the blade to clean any fingerprints. Is there anything else I can do to care for the blade? thanks again. Jim

[Grey Doffin]

Jim,

You should wipe off the WD-40 if you haven't already. Unscented, white facial tissue or even toilet paper works well and won't damage the blade. If you've put anything on the tang be sure to wipe that off as well as you can, and as you've discovered, don't try to clean the tang in any way.

You can wipe on some light machine oil, although it probably isn't necessary in Arizona (dry climate). 2 or 3 drops on a folded facial tissue, wipe gently over the blade but not the tang, and then wipe it off with a dry tissue. The tiny bit of oil left on the blade is all that's necessary.

Otherwise, there's nothing more you can do to help and a whole lot more you could try that would risk damage; best to leave it alone. Someday a trained polisher can make it right.

Grey