**UPDATED WITH NEW PICS identify my first wakizashi*UPDATE**

[jason_mazzy]

Thank you all for your help on this wonderful site. Pictures to come shortly but with a camera problem it will not be till next week after I visit Mark that I will be able to post any of quality. But on the bright side i took plenty of measurements as guided by the connoisseur's book. So I will give a description of the sword to the best of my abilities follwed by the measurements.

 

Description:

 

Wakizashi unsigned single hole. no evidence of ever being cut down

 

Tsukurikomi: Shinogi-zukuri

 

Sori: Torrii-zori

 

Kissaki: Chu Kissaki

 

Fukura: rounded

 

mune: iori-mune

 

oroshi: gentle

 

Shinogi: low

[jason_mazzy]

Measurements:

52.5 total length

 

Nagasa Ha watari: 39.5 cm

 

Nakago: 13cm

 

sori: 1cm

 

motokasane: 6mm

 

sakikasane: 5mm

 

motohaba:26mm

 

sakihaba: 19mm

 

kissaki: 29mm

[jason_mazzy]

My best guess by the books research is Muromachi period. (1392-1572)

 

though I feel as if the blade should be a few centimeters longer and the sakihaba possibly shorter. But this is just textbook so I have no real physical knowledge to go on.

[jason_mazzy]

Has anyone come up with the same conclusion as I have? or would like to offer up something different?

[Jean]

Jason,

 

Everything you have stated included your remarks are excellent. To go further, we need to know the Hamon, Hada too.

[Veli]

Dear Jason,

 

Congratulations for having acquired your first nihonto!

 

It has been often discussed here whether kantei by photographs is feasible, reliable or even possible. Kantei by measurements alone is not possible. Your description fits a huge amount of blades from different makers, schools and periods.

 

Please have patience until you have supplied some pictures. BTW, if you do not have a camera right now, do you have access to a scanner? A scanner often yields better pictures than a camera...

 

BR, Veli

[drbvac]

Agreed and look forward to the pics , may be a tad long for Muromachi but ?

[jason_mazzy]

Agreed and look forward to the pics , may be a tad long for Muromachi but ?

 

 

Yes I do have a scanner. Any tips on appropriate way to scan a blade.

[Jean]

Here it is

22680102c.pdf

[jason_mazzy]

I am messing with the settings now. I keep getting the file exceeds 2 gb the maximum size allowed. then I have to figure out how the hell I can upload it

[Jean]

send it by mail to me, my e-mail i besides the PM Bottom

[estcrh]

I am messing with the settings now. I keep getting the file exceeds 2 gb the maximum size allowed. then I have to figure out how the hell I can upload it

Jason, if you download IrfanView it has a very good image editor for reducing the size of pictures, it is a free download.

[jason_mazzy]

I dont believe my personal scanner will do it. since the scanner is small the blade does not fit in its entirety, making only thefirst couple inches in focus

[Jamie]

You can take multiple scans and put them together.

[jason_mazzy]

I am trying, but only the first part is in focus. Then when I do a longer spot the whole thing is elevated off the glass and it is all out of focus. I will probably wait to get to mark's house.

 

 

edit: fixed gramatics....

[b.hennick]

Hi:

Support the blade so that a section lies directly on the scanner. Keep the lid open. Turn off the lights in the room. Start your scan. The part without the sword will look black. The sword should show well. MOve the blade and repeat. Use photoshop to put the sections together. Crop close to the blade and reduce the image size so that it loads when one opens the post.

[jason_mazzy]

the problem is it is an all in one hp, and it has this thick lip around the scanner part so only part of the blade can be on the glass or none of it. When i did the none of it, it came back very very blurry

[jason_mazzy]

OK, I took apart my scanner and I got some scans. but all the images are 2-3 MB. I want to use high quality image so you can use your computer to enlarge and see the activity and hamon without pixelation. What do I do?

[jason_mazzy]

Jean I emailed you best scans I could

[Henry Wilson]

I don`t know about the rest of you, but I am sitting on the edge of my computer screen waiting with baited breath for the pictures...

[jason_mazzy]

MMMMMHmmmmmmmmm

 

 

It's just your common every day unsigned wak. Plenty of life left in it though. Puts you in the precocious position of determining what to do with it tho. The age old quandry........

 

 

Do I polish nihonto with little monetary value?

 

 

edit: BTW anyone have any idea how stressful it is taking apart your scanner and trying to keep it working. I must love you guys! LOL

[sanjuro]

Yeah Henry.

 

The suspense is killing me too! So far, its like foreplay without sex!

[Jean]

Here they are, there is a spy at office they have put a firewall on NMB

[SwordGuyJoe]

My guess on age is shinto and is based on the patina of the nakago. The patina looks way to fresh for Muromachi. While it is tough to tell by the pics, but it looks healthy (although better pics would help) and should hold a polish. The big question is how much would it be worth in full polish and if that doesn't exceed the cost of what you have into it plus the restoration cost. If the math doesn't work out, enjoy the blade as is.

 

What type of mounts did it come it? Shirasaya or koshirae?

[Brian]

On the last pic, is that muneyaki? I doubt it, but have to ask.

I think gentle uchiko over time would suit this blade. Looks nice enough, without any serious defining characteristics to any school that I can see for now.

 

Brian

[jason_mazzy]

Yes it appears to have muneyaki. I am not sure what if any importance that is. But yes it does seem to have sections of temper

 

edit add description:

 

Muneyaki: present

 

Boshi: Ko Maru Sagari

 

Jihada: masame-hada/ayasugi-hada (this perplexes me as to my untrained eye it has both)

 

Activity Ji-nie, Chikei

 

Utsuri: possible

 

Yakidashi: yes

[Brian]

Jason,

Well..that would be a major kantei point right there. Now we just need someone good at kantei :lol:

 

Brian

[Veli]

Interesting!

 

Just my wild guessing: O-suriage, but cut down a long time ago... Hamachi and nakago and lack of funbari somehow give an impression of a cut-down katana. Maybe older than shinto.

 

BR, Veli

[jason_mazzy]

I really feel this has never been cut down. What makes you feel it has been?

[Jamie]

It does kind of look as though the Hamon runs under the Habaki and right into the Patina on the Nagako. But that could just be the pics.

 

It's nice that you got a piece to study Jason. I bet a bit of power would go a long way on that blade.

 

Enjoy it man.