Fire/Smoke Damage on eBay Auction

[SwordGuyJoe]

All,

I have read through the post on a fire damaged tsuba (viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6069) and it sounds like there may be some hope. What are your thoughts around a katana? I know a lot of purists will say not to worry about it since it is a showa blade, but I am a big fan of nagamitsu and the price to restore would be worth it for me. Take a look at the eBay auction and let me know what you think - can it be restored with a good polish or no?

 

Auction site: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0356143662

 

Thanks

[nihonto1001]

I's say you'd be better off giving your money to charity. A sword fire damaged this bad has probably lost it's temper line and thus, is almost worthless for collecting.

 

Jon

[huntershooter]

Absolutely no way to know without blade in hand.

 

Smart money is on "it's ruined".

[SwordGuyJoe]

The hamon was what I was most curious about. Thank you Jon and Todd.

[loiner1965]

The hamon was what I was most curious about. Thank you Jon and Todd.

joe it might polish but if the heat was fiece and hot enough then like its been said the yakiba will be lost....ask him if they is any cloudiness near the tang

[Ted Tenold]

Before you click on that "bid now" button; what are we *really* talking about here?

 

Even if it's not yakemi (fire damaged), what is it in the end? An unpolished gendaito.....and a risky one at that because although Nagamitsu works can be nice, I've seen some originals that were pretty lackluster in their original condition. So who wants to pony up for the polish and shirasaya on it at $2000+ dollars to find out it is hajimi, nioigiri, or worse?? This is one of those smiths folks get all whipped up into a frenzy over the mei (i.e. the maker, even though the record is sketchy about *who* really made them anyways :| ) but don't have enough exposure to many of his works to understand that there are clearly some really crappy ones among the decent ones.

 

I'm not saying it's undoubtedly damaged, but I am saying it's undoubtedly a gamble that someone will either end up with a fatally damaged wall hanger, or a project that will require yet another (and more significant) infusion of cash, or worse yet....both.

 

If you must spend, spend wisely.

[Marius]

Joe,

 

I would steer clear of this auction, whatever the sword. Let me present my sentiments:

 

a. I hate auctions with pictures that disclose virtually nothing.

 

b. I distrust the soot on the blade - I simply can't imagine the sword was sitting in someones closet for more than 60 years without having ever been wiped. The soot ("smoke damage") looks like an attempt to hide something.

 

c. I don't like this excessive advertising and this seemingly naive quoting of those mysterious " two great ebayers who obviously have more knowledge" than the seller.

 

d. I don't trust sellers who pretend not to know anything about the object they are selling.

 

e. I don't trust people who describe swords like this: "You can close your eyes and run your finger down the edge of the blade (lightly of course) and it feels like it was made yesterday." This is the "the blade is razor sharp"-trick.

 

All of this makes me think of someone who is addressing the less knowledgeable part of the eBay audience in order to make a quick buck out of something which could be a piece of anything, a ruined showa-to at best.