Brian

Please sign posts with at least a first name. I believe this one is Kunimitsu, although I haven't looked yet to see which one it is. Brian

I believe the question was whether or not this was a genuine tanto or not. I think most of us agree it is not a fake, just a bad quality horimono. There are plenty out there, and it is interesting to speculate on how it got there. Not everything has to be about whether you would buy it as a top example or not. Sometimes we just wonder about things. I have seen badly cut bonji on a good blade to hide flaws. Sometimes the blade isn't a bad one at all..just the later addition of an amateur carving. I would hate for us to get into the mindset that only the top stuff is worth collecting and low to mid level stuff is junk not worthy of anyone's interest. That would mean that 95% of the entire art world is wrong, whether it be a painting or a sword. Right or wrong...discuss Brian

Why on earth did you use such a complicated and intricate forum software? Who uses phpBB? :D :lol: Seriously though, it's a great forum with a lot to teach, especially about our own subject matter. Very interesting to learn more about the how and why these techniques are applied. A great vibe there too, with some interesting characters. Worth a regular visit. Brian

Mauro (Don't forget to sign all posts with a name) There are more than 50 styles of tsukamaki. Take a look at: http://home.planet.nl/~sebregts/ and http://www.tsukamaki.net/ Regards, Brian

From my own personal point of view... Swords should be judged on their own merits, looking at all the attributes we are taught to look for to judge a good blade. However not all blades come in good condition. Sometimes we see old blades in Gunto mounts with blades rusty or dark. Sometimes we come across a blade in a shop that doesn't show hataraki, hada or hamon. Not all blades are found in perfect polish. Some won't buy them in that condition, but it is not for us to say that all blades not in polish should be written off or left to die a slow death. So in these cases, guidelines (I call them that, not rules) are always helpful. Yes, there are always exceptions and will always be. But we need guidelines to assist us to get to the point where we can make a better judgement. With tsuba there are pointers that lead to a certain school. Not rules...but they help. Sometimes it is not as it seems and goes to another school. The same with swords. Nothing wrong with having guidelines, just as long as we recognise them as such, and not rules. I for one appreciate these things to look out for. Brian

Jacques.. 1 minute before me :D Hmm..I cannot say anything with any degree of certainty on this one. Brian

Looks like a wartime blade to me, but not machine made. Not 100% traditional either imho. I am not sure if that can be one loooong ware or maybe a join where an outer softer layer is meeting a harder edge layer? One of the many other construction methods using different steels that were done during WW2? We tend to think of Shin Gunto in terms of either Gendaito or oil quenched partly machine made blades, but as F&G shows, there were a host of other methods used that can border between the 2. Different constructions, different steels. Many confusing techniques that are halfway between the 2. No idea on this one 100% Brian

Malcolm did sign his name, but made the text black. Perhaps you are using a black background style and couldn't see it? Brian

I know that tachi are displayed edge down, but is that really the way to display it if it is a bare blade? Nice swords, what else are they displaying in the way of Japanese art? Brian

Why don't you have a chat with Brian Pedersen in Japan? viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2587&p=18675 Fully trained and qualified. Brian

Moriyama-san can tell a fake sword from a 3cmx3cm nakago sample? :D :D :D Good call Koichi! Well done. Brian

Aren't they all? Brian PS - Gimei probably, but still genuine horimono and nothing fake about that. Just not the best work, it fits in with the style of many of the later carvings.

For those that think that Stephen is senile and rambling incomprehensibly... :lol: :D He is refering to the fact that some people get random popups from imageshack when they click the thumbnails. I get them maybe 1 out of 10 clicks, and they don't affect my pc. Stephen...have you run Ad-aware and cleaned your pc of spyware? Also added imageshack to your browser popup blocker? I think it is a combination of these things that causes the issue. Btw....everyone should be running Ad-aware regularly on their pc's. Brian

It is right..you are paranoid :D . Not the best done, but correct imho. Brian

No..but it doesn't have to be a critical thing either. Most of us here still agree that tiredness has to do with the blade being unable to take any further polishes. This one still seems capable. Looks like it was done to rebuild the machi, and could have been done better. But I don't regard it as anything fatal either. The nakago shape is still fairly well preserved and the blade looks healthy enough from the pics presented. No need to throw it away just yet :lol: Brian Btw..the mei matches very well with Jacques' example.

Here is the one main nakago pic, rotated and resized. If you keep the photobucket pics under 800px wide, then you can display them here directly without having to click a link I know some guys just don't check out pics if they have to browse away. Brian

Yeah guys, it's not that complicated He just erased the background to show the actual stamped part that is indented. I have a feeling that once we see it on an entire nakago in context, and take away the possibility of an uneven stamp, we are just going to find it is a common arsenal stamp like the nagoya one or similar. Brian

I bought a nice kozuka from him a while back. His items can be a bit pricey, but they are pretty decent and he is very nice to deal with. Great communication, very friendly. I really like the kozuka I bought. No surprises, you get what you purchase. Brian

All works great for me now. No issues at all. Brian

Yep....I hate IE, and when I installed the latest NS, my brand new core 2 duo P4 machine went back to acting like a P1 with no memory So I went back to NS 7.2 and all is well. Has better emailing too. I'll do anything to avoid microsoft where possible ..But I digress. Well leave you to battle on with the issues, and I'm sure it will be great. Hurry up and find us some swords we can buy :D Regards, Brian

The scrolling isn't a big deal..it is just a very little. But I am sure you will want to determine what causes it. I thought I added the version, sorry. Netscape 7.2 and IE 7. A bigger issue is the formatting difference between the 2 browsers when it comes to the gap between only the book and articles section. IE seems to misplace the book image and add a larger gap between sections allowing the pic to overlap. Doncha hate cross browser compatibility? Here is a pic of what I mean. I wonder if anyone else is seeing it this way? Brian

I really like the "light titlebar effect" Still transparent, but muted. Also like the gradient effect, but I would fade to a darker shade on the right to take away the brightness. There is an open rectangle on the right hand side of the titles though? All except the gradient effect bar. Yes, I get a horizontal scroll bar, but only a few mm of scroll. Not serious. I am using Netscape, but it does it for me in IE too. I am on 1024x768. Plans for the site sound good to me..wish you luck. Brian

Yep, there are very clear differences in the workmanship, hada, hataraki and quality of course. But I don't think anyone is suggesting this is a true Masamune at all. Or even a very top grade Juyo smith. Just some light banter and joking about what it might be. It certainly doesn't look like junk to me. Not something I would pay that money for though. We can still use it as a fun exercise to theorise where it came from, what the story is, and who might have made it. I think we all know it isn't a national treasure. Doesn't look like a mass produced junker either though...someone cared for it and spent money on it. Mid level? Low level with lots of make-up? Brian

I like it. Should point out there there is a fraction of a scroll being forced. I think it is caused by the Original Content Copyright at the bottom right. Easy to fix, just needs to move to the left a few pixels. It is very attractive and professional looking. I am a fan of understated and subdued (present site excluded :D ) and it takes me a while to get used to the colors. But the muting is nicely done. The brighter areas to the right and just above the headings do glare a bit for me when you go over a bright background image section. Takes a short while to examine them and see what effect is used. But you get used to it fast. Since you did say be brutally honest, I would also like to see the whole page without those open areas (ie, the whole background muted/faded without the open areas) just to compare. But this is just a personal thing, and I think you have the professional and serious look to it, and it certainly stands out from other websites. Good to see you are still maintaining the website and the excellent info on it. Any further plans for it? Regards, Brian

Marius, Can you post a pic of the whole nakago from a distance? Doesn't have to be big. Just want to see the dimensions and overall look. From that one pic, it looks very long, and almost like it is machi-okuri without shortening the nakago? Might just be the angle of the pic. Brian