Brian

I always figure if people are meant to be here, one way or another they will stay :-) Stephen is that old couch that you keep looking at and thinking "clashes with the other furniture sometimes" but you keep realizing it's comfortable and has shared history with you, and really belong there. Great looking sword. To get a decent sword that is papered, in decent polish with nice hi for that price is a win win. Great deal, and one you'll enjoy. Congrats.

Agree with John. The more inconvenient you make it for them, the more chance it will be magically found. Post bad reviews everywhere about the postal service on social media...email everyone in a high up position you can find (searching internet usually turns up some managerial emails) talking about the loss of a culturally important object, opening a police case and forwarding them the case number....just keep harassing them. I have found in the past that this really does sometimes help, and there is a chance it is found suddenly. Good luck and don't give up.

Jean doesn't have to state references to the above. It is basic common knowledge to anyone who studies Japanese swords and their craft. Something you take for granted that everyone knows. No need to go look for references for something that is part of the foundation of Japanese sword study. Waste of time to prove something that is already commonly accepted by the community.

No, not even remotely interesting. And irrelevant. They aren't for a second stating the info was never put down in writing, or shared with no-one. Just that you had to be "in" the tradition to have access to it. And this is 2024. That literature is now available. Stop Googling to try and find scraps of info to turn into a conspiracy. It's getting annoying.

Also, you seem to keep looking for the odd exception to the rule, to prove a pattern. The fact is that if something could be done, there would always be someone who tried it out of curiosity. Nihonto world is filled with smiths that tried something unusual. Because they would be curious just like any maker of anything. But finding a sword with a sori of 10cm doesn't mean smiths made swords routinely with crazy sori. Finding a tanto made short with shinogi zukuri doesn't mean this was an established style. Just means smiths were curious, and tried things in their spare time. No doubt there's a triangular tsuba out there. Doesn't mean we need to relearn everything we learned about tsuba manufacture methods. Same goes for anyone who did a cast tsuba in Edo times. No doubt some smith was bored and wondered if it was possible. Does that mean it was a tradition or an accepted method of making tsuba? Nope. Just the exception that proves the rule. And you can bet your life that if any unusual manufacture method or style was done more than a handful of times..there would be records of that. Books and manuscripts. The Japanese were fastidious in keeping tradition alive and recording everything. There is zero point to looking for those oddities that were just the whim of some random bored maker.

Jean, correct. I guess I should have clarified. I don't just mean throwing on a layer of oil and leaving it. I mean a repeated process of oiling, wiping off all the red rust that loosens, then oiling and wiping..leaving to set, then wiping. It's a long process but is continued until the red rust is not active anymore and you are left with the more stable black rust.

Bushu Ito (Or Ito Bushu)

Sigh. Like beating your head against a wall. Dan...care to share with us ONE valid reason why any tsuba maker would make a tsuba by covering a metal core with a metal outer shell? Especially on what are essentially low class tsuba made to be cheap and fast?

Lev, I've been watching that one for over a month. Seriously considered buying it. Would need some work, but it's a nice looking blade. Needs a polish. But just can't find extra funds to spend on a sword right now. Doubt it's gimei, he's not highly rated and the mei seems ok. Let me know if you pick it up.

Welcome back Joe, glad you found your way back. Wish you all the best in your Nihonto endeavors. Also, thanks for your support to the forum.

That’s the standard method of cutting mei.

None.

Jean made an important point. Rust isn't a surface build up. It's part of the steel. For rust to form, metal is lost. That means that removing serious rust leaves a surface covered in micro pitting, which usually looks worse. Oil will stop rust. You don't need to remove all the rust, just stabilize it and stop it from forming. If you want to get rid of rust without anything abrasive, Evaporust will do it. The surface left will look pitted and worse in most cases. That's when people are tempted to use sandpaper to get rid of the pitting. And so it begins. Stabilize the rust. Oil and wipe. Over time, the rust will get less.

What the hell is the difference between buying a $100 sword on a police auction and buying a $100 sword on eBay? You seriously going to use that as a valid reason for anything?

You're entitled to your opinion, no matter how wrong it is. And this isn't some warm-and-fuzzy tree hugging everyone-is-a-winner forum. It's for serious collectors and enthusiasts. People we WANT to be the caretakers of Nihonto for the future. People who WANT to learn. Not people who take the attitude "I don't care what you guys think, this is what I am going to do" Lose new members? Tough. I'm not running a popularity contest. People with the balls to take criticism and learn from it will still be here a year later. Most won't because that's not what they are here for. They want people to say "What a wonderful rusty piece of metal, you are so cool" If you don't know about the National treasures that have been found, identified and saved by collectors, or the top grade swords out of polish found at sword shows that ended up going Juyo...that's for you to go research. We have nothing to prove, and we aren't here to promote amateurs buying project blades so that they can sand them down and etch out a hamon. Go to Facebook. But not the serious Nihonto groups there either. They will tell you the same thing. Not going to change, if you don't like it...you know the deal. And don't throw the "discouraging potential new collectors" at me. Plenty of the guys here saying the same thing as I am were novices here a few years ago. If they have the interest, they will read and listen, and not argue. Those are the guys that are now the ones giving good advice. Your opinion only counts when it makes sense. Otherwise it's just noise. Am I clear enough?

That's a standard tanto, I don't see anything shortened there. 2 Ana, maybe mounted twice.

I don't think katana or wakizashi were deliberately shortened to tanto. Especially if they were shinogi zukuri, which looks awkward in a tanto. May have been done if a long sword broke, but not as a matter of course.

Few problems. The logistics and time involved for the forum. Also the fact that Paypal doesn't allow raffles, and that is really the only easy way to do payments. The profit for the smith really wouldn't change their circumstances for very long either. Plus you'd need a go-between to work with the smith and the forum. Not an easy task. If we had someone connected to the Japanese smith world, would be better to do a deal for a run of kogatana with nice hamon, that can be done as a pre-order for the NMB and maybe be a special NMB project. Or something like that. But again, needs someone as a go-between.

I can guarantee you that most who buy these project blades and want to polish them themselves, don't really care about Nihonto, the tradition or the history. They just want a "Samurai sword" and age is more important than quality. They want a nice overdone painted on hamon that screams artificial, and to say to people "look, this is a gen-u-ine Samurai sword" They don't want to preserve it and use gentle uchiko over many years until you can make out the hamon and start to see some hataraki under the grey...and then hope oneday someone will complete the proper process. They want instant gratification or to flip it on eBay for a profit. They also forget how many of us "purists" DO have project blades in our own collections. But we resist the urge to polish them...gaining satisfaction from the fact that we can still enjoy the sugata, fittings (if any) and research what we have from the little we can see. Once you round off the shinogi and make the yokote disappear or skew (and they always so) and take away all the niku....the amount of metal removal to bring it back is extensive and likely takes off hundreds of years off its life. At the very least, have a polisher open a window and tell you if the sword is a kazu-uchimono with ware everywhere, or if there is something to have checked out. Either way, as a forum dedicated to the study and preservation, we will NEVER encourage this, and that fact should be obvious.

Maybe oneday when you learn that you aren't collecting random weapons, but a 1000 year tradition of art, you'll understand. Most of us don't think of us as "owning" these items, just preserving them for future generations. You're comparing them to cars and welding, when you should be comparing them to one off paintings and sculptures. When you own that rusty blade that you think isn't worth preserving...do you have the knowledge to know that it isn't something significant?

Amateur polish, looking very gaudy. But in this case, gentle uchiko over time should subdue it a bit. Westerners often think that a hamon should be so prominent that it looks like it was painted on. But the sword appears real. Ignore the tassel and decide if the price is worth it for the sword alone.

Bear in mind that some of the Nobuiye lines are thought to have been workshops, not individual smith.

@Stephen They are one of the big surplus and collectible sellers. https://www.legacy-collectibles.com/

You think that was directed at you? Can't I make a general statement without people thinking I have anyone specific in mind?

They stated very clearly they know very little. I don't find anything wrong with the video, and kudos to them for sharing the collection. Nothing wrong with people stating they know nothing, and asking for info or taking a stab at it. It's the people who know nothing but argue with advice from people who do know, that get flayed. Rightfully so. Or people who have an opinion on everything except what we actually focus on.