My kai-gunto: some photos & questions.

[Nazar]

However, I had to admit that the nakago-anas of the whole set are definitely too big for the nakago of this sword.

 

 

Once I finished with tsuba and seppas cleaning (though some additional cleaning may be done later) I turned my mind to the issue of excessive lateral  freeplay.  It turned out that a simple flat bar of certain dimensions makes tsuba and seppast to fit the nakago pretty snug. I took some dimensions using a caliper, made a simple model and 3D printed bar. Then I made some adjustments and added a couple of ridges to the edges of the bar. These ridges are pretty thin, their thickness is around 0.5-0.6mm, but they keep the bar centered on the nakago. However, the fit of tsuba and seppas are tight even when the bar has no ridges.  Here how it looks:

 

 

 

[Nazar]

The thing is barely visible from outside when the sword is assembled.

 

 

 

And as I was working on this "wedge" of mine I just remembered one thing. While I was cleaning the nakago from the fresh rast, I noticed a streak of golden colour on the hamachi side of the nakago. I took a close look and it was like a brass spot on the surface. Alas, I failed to document it. It was small but its location corresponded to the place where the tsuba touches the nakago once the adjusting bar is installed. It makes me think that at some point tsuba may have some prolonged friction with nakago. Now I wonder if it could be that some kind of wedge similar to mine was installed earlier, before the nakago got fresh rust?

 

[Nazar]

 

Well, 3D printing is great technology and I utilize a lot of it these days. Yet, I somehow wasn't satisfied with the 3D printed wedge. My thought was that a brass wedge  would suit this old sword better. It's not a big dial to find a suitable piece of brass like a brass bolt (or its head), however my belief was it has to be war brass. For me, there is some symbolism in using brass from the war that already took three years of my life for the sword from WWII. 

 

I  found a suitable piece of brass in a fuse for an 81mm mortar shell. This fuse is made mostly of brass. So I dismantled this fuse and used initiator housing as a source of material for my wedge. Don't worry about the mortar shell. It (as many before) will be used with more precision than any 81mm mortar could achieve. 

 

 

 

 

[Nazar]

I already had all dimensions, so it took only a couple of hours of work to shape a new brass wedge. I used simple tools like vises,  a small hacksaw, a set of small files and a couple round sheets of automotive sandpaper from the local market. Another hour I spent making final adjustments, filing edges and sandpapering the wedge. I recreated all features of my original design, including tiny ridges that keep the wedge centered on the nakago. 

 

 

The foremost seppa has the smallest nakago-ana, so it has to be installed before the wedge. Then the wedge fixes it in the proper position. 

 

 

Then all other seppas and tsuba may be installed. 

 

 

[Nazar]

The fitt is nice and tight. As you may see, there is a little space for the rearmost seppa.  The wedge is just long enough to accommodate a whole package of seppas and tsuba. Thus, with tsuka installed, the whole set has the minimum freeplays. 

 

 

 

After I finished the wedge, I decided to make it look less new and shiny. Here is the result. not the best, but still fair enough for a 20min job. 

 

 

 

[Nazar]

And last but not least. At the end of the process my foure pawed helper became mighty tired, so she went for a nap at her favorite spot. 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Excellent work Nazar.  It is a good feeling, isn’t it, when you are able to restore an old war blade back to a condition that is more like it’s original.  It looks like you are a natural craftsman!

[Nazar]

Thank you Bruce! 

 

Yeah, that's a great feeling.  Used to have such feelings back then when I was working in my workshop on my projects.  Also I like the process itself.

 

I have some skills and I am used to working with metals. And even as these skills are far from Japanese edged weapons, they serve me right especially when it comes  to the "what not to do" area. :-)

 

Also my son was always very interested in history, especially during the Great War period. His specific interest is the Austro-Hungarian Empire. So we started to collect belt buckles and kappenabzeichen-s (cap badges). And as the Eastern Front went right through Ukraine one could find some WWI relics here. When it comes to belt buckles that are present on local auctions, they are usually metal detected and dug on the sites of battlefields. So most of them are bent and corroded. Not long before the war I started to buy them and experiment with restoration. I worked out my methods. I cast lead weights of different configurations and used them for hammers, while rubber plates served me for anvil.  In this way I straightened brass buckles without scratching them. I learned a bit about how to clean brass and how corrosion eats it. I believe I got a bit of understanding of what to do and what is more important - what not to do with old brass. 

[Nazar]

Lately I visited a local home improvement hypermarket to buy some tools and supplies. In the tools section I came across some magnifying glasses. The ones with handles and  plastic frames. Bought me a glass  marked X4 with a 75mm lens. Cost me $4. Turned out to be a nice thing to take a closer look at my sword and dirks. Pretty soon I found I could shoot closeup photos through it. Like this photo of ito with hishigami visible through the gap or another one with hamon. 

 

 

 

In no time I dismantled the magnifying glass and left only the lens with the inner parts of the frame (they are glued to the lens anyway). Then it was time for the caliper, thread gauge and some 3D modeling. one I finished designing, I 3D printed an adapter that encased the lens from magnifying glass and could be screwed to my camera lens in place of a filter. 

 

 

 

[Nazar]

With this setup I could shoot some nice closeups of the sword.  Here are some photos I took just for sake of the aesthetic of things. 

 

 

 

 

[Nazar]

 

 

 

[Nazar]

If take into account that I shoot photos in RAW format, this setup gives me the opportunity to get some real close looks at things. I found the light of setting sun to be the best for catching photos of hamon. Also such a light in combination with closeup photos remind me that  I still have  a lot of oiling ahead.  Those spots of rust  don't look that active to the naked eye.

 

 

And there is this one particular fragment of hamon that looked peculiar to me. With a magnifier I managed to catch in photos what I mean. At most angled it looks mostly like all other parts of the hamon line. 

 

 

[Nazar]

But at some angles it looks different. Like there is a secondary line. So I wonder what I see here? Is this effect caused by polishing? 

 

 

[Brian]

Awesome pics, well done. 

[Nazar]

Thank you, Brian!

[jawob]

Really nice work. Your photos are amazing!

[ROKUJURO]

The HAMON looks strange to me. I am not sure if it is traditionally made or artificially applied. The NAKAGO seems very evenly corroded which is unusual for such a young blade.

Loose parts like a rattling TSUBA can be fixed with traditional Japanese methods.

[Bazza]

Nazar,

 

Very well done indeed, thanks for your considerable efforts.  The line closest to the edge is the true hamon, the next 'line' away is from the hadori stone used by the polisher.  Pointing the blade toward a light source and rotating it just oh-so slightly back and forth should make this clear to you.  I agree with JC that the nakago looks unnaturally corroded - perhaps a salt water environment had something to do with it.  Don't be temped to clean it in any way until you've done a lot of research.  I would suggest a gentle - and slow - 'boning', with lots of oil and wiping with a cotton cloth, but do read the Board for other opinions.

 

 Is the nakago not signed??  A good photo of both sides with the habaki off might be informative.

 

Best regards,

BaZZa.

[Nazar]

Thank you Jeff!

 

 

 

Jean, thank you for your input! To me this hamon looks like it's genuine and (from what I learned on this very board) may be water quenched. It may look strange because the blade was buffed to look shiny. However, I have not much of experience with hamon. 

 

Yes, corrosion of nakago is a kind of mystery to me too. The only thing I could say about it: at some stage something was leaking from nakago down on seppas and tsuba, gradually corroding zinc from copper-zinc alloy.. Maybe it was condensation that was formed under the tsuka. There is some corrosion ob front part of nagasa too. May be some improper storage was involved. 

 

Tsuba had only insignificant "axial" freeplay but a lot of "lateral"  freeplay. I fabricated a wedge because to me it was the most obvious way to solve the issue of "lateral" freeplay while keeping all parts of kai-gunto untouched. Partly it was inspired by the disproportion between mune-machi  and ha-machi. 

[Nazar]

Thank you Barry for your good words and information!  On my own I guesed (and you confirmed that my guess is right) it is result of polishingm, however I decided that it is other way round: upper line is a true line of hamon and lower caused by polisher. I inspected blade and found another place with same occurrence. 

 

I posted some photos of nakago earlier: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/52488-my-kai-gunto-some-photos-questions/#findComment-547852

 

I dared only to remove most superficial rust. I went through some topics here earlier and my impression was that nakago shouldn't be oiled. So I stopped after I removed most pr red powdery layer of rust. I found no markings on nakago except "2" stamped on the right side.

 

Requesting photos is dangarouse in my case, because I am trigger happy photo-shooter :-)). So I shot some additional photos of nakago under different light. Here is left side:

 

 

 

 

[Nazar]

And here is right side:

 

 

 

[Nazar]

And here are some addition closeupd. Mune-machi side of nakago might be of interest because it has not ony file marks but also marks of what I believe was some kind of rotary tool. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gerry]

20 hours ago, ROKUJURO said:

The HAMON looks strange to me. I am not sure if it is traditionally made or artificially applied. The NAKAGO seems very evenly corroded which is unusual for such a young blade.

Loose parts like a rattling TSUBA can be fixed with traditional Japanese methods.

It looks like an iaito hamon to me.

 

Here's an example.

https://tozandoshop.com/collections/iaito/products/tozando-full-custom-iaito

[Nazar]

If you mean that hamon is media blasted (glass beads blasted or sandblasted), here is my opinion. In my "previous" life I subcontracted a lot of glass beads blasting and sandblasting. I used glass beads blasting on aluminum and steel. I used to oversee and control the blasting process to achieve the best possible result.  I polished some parts after. So I believe I have some expertise in this sphere. And as a person that holds blade in hands and studies it through magnifying glass, I believe that hamon wasn't the result of media blasting. 

 

The  blade though has a lot of history imprinted in scratches, corrosion and "polishing". The blade was buffed and likely some polish compound for metals was involved. After this buffing hamon area is more shiny than other areas of the blade, which still maintain some blurity. And again, I have some experience in polishing metals,  so to me the fact that hamon is shining brighter means that steel is harder in its area. Which is exactly what hamon is, the area of blade where steel was hardened. 

 

 

 

[ROKUJURO]

Nazar,

you may be an expert in sandblasting. But what about Japanese sword blades? Do you see something like HABUCHI, NIOI, or NIE on your blade?
I do not know what you have there, but I miss HATARAKI or any other typical signs of what you could expect on a Japanese sword blade, even if it was a SHOWA TO.   

[Nazar]

Jean,

I have never even pretended to be an expert on Japanese blades. However, being expert on other subjects gives me some advantage as a noob in blades. The main advantage is that being noob in a new field  isn't that uncomfortable after you have mastered some other subjects. The recent example: I not only survived three years of war in which we kept and at some point repelled a full scale  invasion planned and carried on  by a country that is much bigger than ours and which has much more resources, I became an expert on some certain subjects. Many men that tried to master the same things are dead.  I didn't come  unscathed , but I still keep things going with great success.  

 

After such an experience, mastering the subject of Japanese swords is a pure pleasure and a kind of safety valve for me. Blades don't kill you until you  point a sharp point or edge on yourself and do some stupid thing. So I am grateful to you and other nice patient  people that participate in this very topic of mine. I understand how many blades you guys have seen here. And I understand that another blade like mine and another noob like me is quite boring for you. However, I am trying  my best:

 

- I try to figure things out

- I try to memorize correct names for things

- I search for information

- I ask questions

- I work out the theories that were articulated here 

 

Couple of examples:

 

I noticed that mune-machi is too deep and disproportionate to ha-machi.  I ran a search through this very board and through websites that sell Japanese swords. I found some examples when ha-machi is cut deeper than mune-machi and I found one case similar to mine. This led me to believe that a situation like this is uncommon, but it happens. So not a red flag. 

 

When you, Jean, pointed out to me that nakago has to taper  from mune to nakago-jiri, I took a caliper and measured nakago at nakago-shinogi and at edges that run from mune-machi to nakago-jiri. Turned out that nakago tapers all right. 

 

When you told me about a test with tsuka holding the weight of a blade without mekugi and I performed it. To my delight, it worked. So thank you again!

 

As you pointed to the possibility of hamon being media blasted, I checked the thing and in my humble opinion it's not. 

 

I am grateful for your participation in the subject of my sword. I appreciate your inputs since they make me think and research further and further. 

 

 

[Nazar]

I believe I  see nioiguchi  and nioi-deki. Only today I figured out how to take photos of it. Found suitable light and had to wait till nightfall. Experimented a bit with angle of light and angle of shooting. Background is not the best. Later on I'll find something more suitable and continue experimenting.  Also, the blade has to be properly  polished to visualise all hamon activities. In my case polish is far from even acceptable. I oil the blade regularly, but oil and microfibre could only get me so far. I am considering using uchiko powder on it, as I found a local shop that sells it, but I believe it is the best I could do to this blade. 

 

 Meanwhile, would you be so kind and point out what other signs you miss?

 

 

[Nazar]

 

 

 

 

 

[Franco]

12 hours ago, Nazar said:

I believe I  see nioiguchi  and nioi-deki.

 

Dear Nazar,

 

Sorry to disappoint but I'm not seeing nioi. Only some form of treatment to make it appear so to untrained eyes.

[Nazar]

 

Thank you Franco for your participation in the question of my sword!

 

I have to admit it's slightly frustrating to apply a significant amount of effort just to find out that what I see is not what I think.  But I'll survive that. I prefer open eyes over daydreaming anyway. 

 

What is your general opinion on this sword though?