Brian

Good video. Devin Thomas is somewhat of a legend when it comes to very high end Damascus steel, as used by Chris Reeve Knives and others. Their products are legendary. You gotta check out some of their stuff: https://www.devinthomas.com/

There is no such thing as just identifying oil quenched by any "dark line" in the hamon, or even those dark areas in the peaks. The darker areas are a hint, but really it comes down to gut feel and experience. Sometimes you look at a hamon and it just has that "feel" of it being oil quenched. No hard or fast rule, and it has to be taken in conjunction with other factors such as the way it's signed, the look of the hamon, hataraki etc etc. No easy way to tell from those pics. But if you are only really seeing a nioi based hamon and don't really see any nie or hataraki anywhere and no hada, you can start to think maybe it's oil quenched. Or badly polished.

No..clearly YOU don't get it Dan. Jean gets it perfectly.

I'm betting that is pretty modern.

No worries at all. There is some related info here: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/files/file/39-ww2-rikgun-jumei-tosho-documents/ and I am sure people will suggest more. There are other military docs out there somewhere.

Because of the size that cellphones are now taking pics, (we really don't need 24 meg pics) and the number of people trying to post straight from their phones, we constantly get people asking how they can resize their pics. There are far better ways than screenshoting your pics. So I have added an extra menu item at the top, next to donations. There you will find a number of websites that either do it online for free, or some free apps (iOs and Android) that you can download to resize and edit a bit. You can go through them and see which you like. Please refer people to them if they ask, and I can add more if there are suggestions. Brian

See? Just like this. I only highlighted a part of your post, and hit quote. Now let's do one from another post... Just like this. Yip...there are a LOT of features we aren't even using yet :-)

Leonidas, Trust me, in the 19 years that we have existed, there has been a ton of research, including original production instructions and procedures etc etc. on what exactly those stamps mean. If you search the forum you'll find hundreds of pages about it. The fact is, over the past few years, it is widely accepted everywhere that the sho and Seki stamp are on blades not fully Gendaito. And by Gendaito we of course mean the collector-assigned meaning, and not the true meaning which is just an era. To collectors worldwide, a Sho stamp means it is not fully traditionally made. That doesn't mean it can't be a high level forged and folded blade, but something about it isn't fully traditional. Doesn't really matter how the NTHK or NBTHK regard them, they only really became interested in wartime swords the past few years, and we have already demonstrated that with the right contacts or circumstances, full Showato will sometimes slip through the cracks and get papers. Doesn't change the facts. This is a nice one though. But I wouldn't call it a Gendaito.

I have made some changes to those titles, especially the higher tiers. I may adjust them as I learn what the caste system involved. Just a bit of fun.\ Unfortunately Gold member takeup is still very slow and although I am looking at other things, I have to give more incentive to upgrade. Private message storage limit for regular members is now down from 150 to 100 conversations. Gold members are allowed 500. I think 100 conversations is more than enough for most people, and if people clean up their inbox they should be fine. But if anyone needs more, Gold membership is a vast increase. I am going to fine tune a few other things. Upload limit/size is already much higher for Gold members. So the 3 meg per post limit is easily increased if people need it by taking Gold.

With that Sho stamp, you can be almost assured it is not 100% Gendaito. I would bet on oil quenching. That said, it does have hada and I suspect this is a high level Showato that was forged and folded, but something in the process was not 100% traditional and it therefore is probably not considered a Gendaito, but something in between. Looks like a decent sword, and would probably still paper on a good day. One of those "in between" swords we come across that is high end 'arsenal' made by a smith.

So resize?

Thomas, a good idea. But unfortunately not able to do that in the software settings otherwise I would have done that.

Jason, It's very easy. If you want to quote an entire post, just click the Quote at the bottom of their post, and it will auto fill that in at the reply area at the bottom in a block. You just type your response underneath that. If you want to just quote a certain section of someone's post (or even do multiple quotes from their post, or even from different people in a thread, just highlight the area you want to quote using the mouse or select feature on your cell. That will pop up a small block saying 'Quote Selection'. Hit that, and that section is added below to your post. Then hit enter for a line break between them (so you can come back and enter your reply) and go up the thread and do the same for other parts you want to quote. Highlight/select the text,hit quote that pops up. And so on...

Very very poor Chinese wallhanger/decorative piece unfortunately. The symbols etc are petty meaningless and pointless to try and give them meaning as this was just made as a trinket/fake.

And a 3rd member coming up

Bear in mind I'm constrained by what the forum software allows. Not sure it allows bumping for certain tiers, or previews of sales for such either. I'll check all of that out. Is there any interest in a super group that would have much larger image sizes/resolution, much higher posting limits, no search delays etc etc? I am not sure there is. If there is, that is possible. The month-to-month membership so far has had no take-up. We will see.

Alex, you're out of line. Brano has this figured out more than you do. And whoever suggested there is a financial interest here, you couldn't be more wrong. Not a cent. I watch silly people speculating who someone is, when all they have to do is ask around their own collector community, as he is a well known collector in the UK. Just ask the Token Society. What exactly do you think is being hidden? People simply can't accept that collecting means striving for the best, even if you can't achieve it. Pretty disgusted with the actions of most in this thread, including both sides. Some of you like to collect in a little bubble where everyone agrees with you. This will NOT happen here again. I'll rather lose members than allow stuff like this to bring the forum down and cause me stress. Final warning to everyone here. Both sides of this.

Horimono could be one of those added during the war. This seems to be of the same sort that I sometimes see on wartime swords, all being very similar. Not terribly done, I suspect there was a group doing these for officers who wanted to jazz up their sword, but I have no proof. It isn't a terrible hori...like Colin says, the scales are often flat ans just cross hatched. Not top work, but we have seen a lot worse. I am not saying it IS one of these, just that it may be...maybe even a blade that was mounted for war and was later remounted. No idea, but all theories are possible I guess.

Why are we going round and round in circles? I get the feeling some are just here for the arguments. Simple fact...I said it needs closer examination. Based on a quick glance. Rayhan pointed out many things that i has not seen, and I have to agree with that. It is pretty far gone. No point trying to make out it isn't. I do NOT agree with Rayhan's "only collect the top stuff" way of collecting, but I do understand it. Top art collectors push for everyone to collect the best. Simple fact is that many of us will never have the money to collect anything TH or higher. No matter how much we save. But we are still entitled to collect at a level we enjoy. That doesn't mean top collectors have to lower their standards. I get it. I appreciate that for many, only the best is worth collectong. I don't agree with telling everyone that they must do the same. So yes...he is allowed his opinion and I understand it and respect it. But can't follow it myself. That's ok, I know the limits of my own items, and don't expect treasures. Why some get so upset at blunt honestly when it comes to evaluating poor stuff, I do not know. Just ignore it if you don't agree. By the same token, leave people to collect what they like. Advise them what they have, and the negatives...then let them do what they like. No point telling them they have trash and should throw it away. Both sides have a point. I draw the line at people getting personal though. But am distracted enough that I haven't done nearly enough moderation. Far too many collectors end up with heaps of project blade, rusted and poor quality that will never be restored. It's a bad habit and almost every time some amateur gets the job and wrecks it. Anyways, I'm trying to avoid the stress here. Guys...just chill a bit!! This is a place to relax, not jump on someone for their opinions. You gain nothing except stress. Advise people if you like. Then let them do what they want. Both sides equally at fault here, both with valid points. Can we just calm down a bit?

Thank you Steve, and to the 2 or 3 others that also took up a membership. Really do appreciate it. I'll be going through more of this over the weekend. I did add the month to month option in the subscriptions section, let's see if that is an option for anyone at $6/month. All very good feedback from everyone, and I'll consider every comment carefully.

True Sam. But the main reason for the search delays really is the hammer on the server/database, and not so much an incentive for Gold. I don't mind at all if people use Google...that hits their servers (much larger than mine) so I don't get the processor useage warnings :-) Search delays are a tiny incentive for Gold but not used for that.

Phew, a lot to unpack here, so I'll do it in several bursts as I get time. Ok....so let's start There is always the Paypal option to contribute at any time. That link is above in the DONATIONS section, and you can do it via Paypal, direct credit card (best to pm me so I can send a payment request as the processor link isn't always reliable) or even WISE now. So Gold is useful, but we do get contributions that way by a handful when they sell something else, and it comes in very handy for bills. I'll set up a monthly Gold membership for anyone who wants to do that. It is via Paypal subscription, so would likely be $5 a month, and would automatically renew monthly until someone cancels their subscription with Paypal. Thanks for the advice. Not sure what the takeup would be, or how much the fees would eat it up, but let's see. I do lose about 6% for every donation to Paypal fees. Have banned many Gold members. Contributing doesn't buy you any favours. I work on the basis that if you find the forum useful and want to contribute, go for it. But don't expect leeway if you act out. Being useful in the NMB community or having serious knowledge or having good contacts in Japan may sometimes get you some little leeway. But few know what happens behind the scenes and who gets warnings, bans etc. Most of you have no idea what happens behind the scenes. But no...contributions don't buy leeway. Never have. For me, FB is instant gratification, drowned out by a flood of incorrect info. If it wasn't for people like @Ray Singer etc giving translations and advice, it would die fast. And it is terrible at looking things up. The info posted today is gone tomorrow and searching for it is next to impossible. You can get instant answers, but if you want to research something, you come here and search 19 years of info from people who are quickly corrected if they give wrong info. I never feel like FB is a threat. The type of people that post there are not usually the ones that study much, just want to be spoon fed. It has its place. But I don't support a platform that will ban you if you post a sword for sale on Marketplace because you are some danger to society, and which hates edged weapons collectors. Translations will always be free, just maybe we need some limits or control. But it's the main advantage here. My main regret is that we don't get in enough to compensate those that freely give of their time assisting with that. I would LOVE to reward them in some way and it's always a plan. I won't mention names because I am sure to forget someone and don't want to offend, Not a bad idea. I'll look at a New Members section where we can archive useful posts, advice and maybe moderate that section stricter so that there is a gentler approach. You guys know that I work on the "blunt is best" principle when it comes to replies, and that people need to have a thick skin and if they stick around they will be fine. But maybe a section with no negative stuff and only the gentle approach would be a decent idea. Translations to be done only in that section, but basic advice for novices to be posted there and then they can be moved elsewhere if/when necessary. I'll look into that, and we would need members willing to help there that are like minded. Always considered that, and it is possible. Being in South Africa makes it a bit more difficult, and especially with all the countries present here, but it's something I have always considered. Simply because you can get free and accurate advice, in a very short space of time. Nowadays we are living in a world where every time you almost get decent info, you hit a paywall and are asked to pay for the "report" or something else. You can ask on forums, but unless those people have been there for years, how do you know if the person giving you advice has been studying for 3 weeks or 10 years? At least here you can see the person answering you has 10,000 posts and been around for years, so his advice is probably more reliable. Just watch FB, where a person posts a sword, and 5 people say "Genuine military sword" when it's obviously a fake, and the 2 or 3 people calling it out are drowned out by useless opinions from people whose exposure to swords comes from anime. Same with dealers. You search the forum, you are going to get decent accurate feedback about a dealer. And if he's a member, you know he isn't going to ghost you or con you. If that isn't worth paying $5 a month for...then I don't know. Agree with you on most of the above. Unfortunately no real report I can dig up on who posts where, but it's a fact that some will only post in one section and ignore everywhere else. Another thing that most don't know about is how many amateur dealers spend their days reaching out to novices who post, buying up their swords. I obviously don't have access to pm's, but have been made aware of how often and regularly it happens. Some build an amateur business out of doing that. Banner ads are likely going to happen. There isn't any reason not to try and use it to generate income. The question is how many dealers (both members and others out there even if they aren't members) would be willing to pay for some extra exposure. It's easy to say "Japanese dealers don't care" or "larger US/European dealers don't think it's worth it" but these comments ignore exactly how many people browse this site and aren't members. A dealer who wants to ignore several thousand weekly views and thinks it's not important really don't need the money. I have access to the figures, and us posting here are a tiny part of the people browsing, from over 32 countries. If dealers want to try clickable ads at a very fair price (still need to decide how much) then it may very well pay off for them. Another question is....do I make ads visible to everyone, or make not seeing them a perk of Gold membership? On one hand, not seeing them would be a good incentive for Gold membership. But on the other hand, advertisers would probably not want them hidden from anyone. Hmmmm

Rayhan has given reasons why he says what he says. If you don't agree...comeback with reasons. If you just post insults or anything that doesn't add to the discussion, you will get booted. Warning....don't make me delete any more comments.

The placement of the horimono does suggest atobori. I would advise against using the horimono as a feature when appraising the sword in this case.

Ray, If you look at the last pic of it, which shows it better...it's far from a perfect round circle and shows carving. Granted not the best variation of the jewel, but they usually do have a domed center piece with a nub, as this one does. Can't tell how deep it is, but certainly not a hole or drilled?