I nteresting tang....what happened here?

[Stegel]

Hi,

i have a blade with an interesting tang, in that it appears to have been signed and then it appears to have had a blood groove placed on the blade, running right over the signature.

Would the groove not normally be made first? and at exactly what stage in the smithing process does the signature get made? i would assume it was the last thing to be done.

Perhaps this is just a rework?? and a stuff up.

It came in civilian, non military mounts, i would assume pre war.

/Ernst

 

[Guido]

The signature is indeed put on last. Judging from the "chippy" way this signature (or what remains of it) is written, I'd say WWII, and the fuller (there's no such thing as a blood groove) was cut later. Since it comes in civilian mounts and has an added fuller, my guess is that it's a Shôwatô that was modified to be used as an Iaitô.

[Stegel]

Thanks Guido,

 

I'm still a bit confused, how exactly is the 'fuller' made?

Is it 'cold' rolled through a pair of rollers? i though if anything i thought it would need the blade to be hot first, then rolled, and then any distortions/deformities would be fixed by filing etc. and polishing done last?

Surely it wouldn't be chipped out like Horimono does.

 

This blade is worthless in that it is broken, i was just curious about the processes involved. I don't know anything about the history of the blade or how it was broken.

 

/Ernst

[Guido]

Fullers (Hi) of Japanese swords were cut using kind of a draw-knife.

[nagamaki - Franco]

hmm, Chinese or similar play at work here? Perhaps, its because I was told by a very reliable source a few suspicious showato showed up at the Florida show years back with bo-hi extended into the nakago just enough to remove any stamp and with Yasukuni signatures added. These swords were said to have found their way out of China.