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Kai Gunto restoration project


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I have a WW2 period Kai gunto with a handmade, water tempered blade forged by Noguchi Yasumitsu in excellent condition. There are no stamps or arsenal marks on the nakago. Unfortunately, the koshirae was in poor condition and deteriorated to the point of being extremely unattractive. Because I wanted to display this sword, I contacted Fred Lohman about creating a new koshirae with as many of the original fittings salvaged as possible. The result was a new tsuka with blackened rayskin and new mid military brown colored Ito, a new black lacquered wooden saya and new gold gilding on all the original metal fittings (e.g., kabuto-gane, sarute, menuki, fuchi, chu-ha, koi-guchi, ashi, obi-tori, semegane and ishizuke). The original seppa and tsuba were restored to their original finish (shakudo - blue black).

 

This restoration project required about 7 months elapsed time to complete to Fred’s level of satisfaction. I received the finished product yesterday. It certainly exceeds my expectations and was, to use an old cliché, well worth the wait. I applaud Fred for his patience with my endless inquires about completion. It has now assumed the central focus point of my displayable collection. Included are a few pictures for everyone to enjoy.

 

Cheers,

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Very nice! Is the special kojiki original to the set of fittings you had restored, or are reproductions being made? This is the second example I've seen of his gunto fittings restoration work, and I like it! :clap:

Yes, I’m very pleased with its appearance. Fred did contact me during the process indicating the ishizuke was damaged and was uncertain it could be salvaged. If he couldn’t repair it sufficiently, he would replace it with one from his collection.

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May you post the before restoration photos if you have some?

I went looking through my archives and found many pictures of the blade but none of the mounts. I only keep sent emails with attachments for 6 months and any I sent to Fred are now gone too. Sorry!

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If I can make one critic, it would be that Fred did not put the screws the fix the fittings. One can see than at least on the ishizuke (empty hole).

 

Kevin has some for sale that can be gilded and this would be a nice final touch to your restoration project. My 2 cents

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If I can make one critic, it would be that Fred did not put the screws the fix the fittings. One can see than at least on the ishizuke (empty hole).

 

Kevin has some for sale that can be gilded and this would be a nice final touch to your restoration project. My 2 cents

Nice catch but not Fred's fault rather mine. I uploaded a pre-completion picture by mistake (I can admit that). Here's one showing the added screw on the Ishizuke. I checked all the other fittings requiring screws and they're all there too. Sorry for the confusion.

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Actually, I have the tassel but thought I could show greater detail in pictures without having it attached (in most of them). Actually, you can barely see it looped through the sarute (in the one of the kabutogane and sarute). Now that it's displayed on a stand, it is attached.

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I bought a nice Minatogawa Jinja blade in shirasaya, but I wanted it in a traditional black lacquered saya with gold fittings. I sent it to Fred Lohman, along with the metal saya fittings which I bought here and there. Damn! Fred Lohman is indeed a miracle worker! My sword came back, looking like it came right out of Minatogawa Jinja. Absolutely MINT!!!!!

 

I vouch for Fred Lohman! He has polished 6 blades I sent to him (Samurai and guntos) and I have never been disappointed. I would never send him a Gassan Sadakatsu to be polished (it would be sent to Japan). However, if you have a garden variety Samurai blade or gunto blade, send it to Fred.

Reasonable prices and great service.

 

KATANAKO

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