Justin Grant

Malcolm, You are correct, but you will see it expressed both ways. When you see the double, you just put a pause in the speech. I-kan vs. Ikan. Justin

Thanks Piers. I am not sure where I picked up the word for the band along the way, and I will change my future use of the word. I will use Dai-shime-gane going forward. Thanks for the help.

Brian Check here, it has a great view of the parts that connect

I have not, but now will try. I am making a round faced dugane for my long teppo and will give this a try. I'll post results. I know with the vinegar, the brass can green if not careful, and if you apply to much heat, from the vinegar, it can pop the solder joint. I fume, buff, fume, buff, over and over to keep the green down and the brown aged look growing. Justin

To make it easier to read, it needs to be flipped 90 degrees to the right, and mostly it is a bunch of numbers.

Ron, Sorry it is a cell phone pic. Here are pics of my tools and starting materials The finished oversize version The piece I cut off The piece before I aged the brass

Here is the dugane I made, you can see the scrap brass that is shiny and the one I used my vinegar trick on. It aged in 30 minutes and the longer to leave, the more it happens. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B9iAc5pKPTg/UvwqwIwvxlI/AAAAAAAAD40/x_cvoWZ1B2Y/w1051-h592-no/IMG_20140212_211359943.jpg The shiny piece is the whole piece I made, then I cut off the narrow section I needed.

Brian, I aged my brass by boiling vinegar in a jar, then I suspended the brass from a wire thru a lid and dangled the brass above the hot vinegar. The fumes aged the brass, then you take an oxy-acetelane torch and make it smoke with the adjustment valve, then wave it over the brass a few times and the torch will add a decent amount of soot to make it just right. Also, I used 1/8" brass for mine

David is not a traditionally trained polisher, he is better than most, but not what you send Nihonto to. Contact Bob Benson or there are several people on here, including Chris Bowen who can help you locate a person to do this for you. It will cost money, and anything of worth has a price. If you value your blade, don't be tempted in spending pennies when it calls for dollars.

Several things: 1.) It is near impossible to date Meadate and the such. Unless it is signed and dated and the mei is verified, then you have a solid date. So buy what you like and take dates with a grain of salt. 2.) I could be wrong, but I have seen zero Nazi symbols on Japanese armor, be is Taisho or Showa, and all earlier periods had nothing to do with the Nazi's. In fact the symbol has been around for a very long time and the Nazi's adopted it (and in my opinion tainted it). If anyone is familiar with Japanese culture and or Buddhism, and sees this on Japanese good,s would never assume Nazi's.

Thanks for the education Ron, you are a brilliant man! Brian, I used cardboard to make the amaooi shape, and then scribed it on the brass, then cut to shape. The notch can be soldered on or you can cut one out of thicker material and file away the ice skate shape of the ama-ooi. I'd suggest you make a clay or putty mold to figure out what you are dealing with in terms of shape for the groove. I am going to redo mine later this year and will use all my lessons from the first to improve the second. I found making the bands much easier! PM me your address and I'll ship you some brass, it's available in all places here in 1/8" and 1/4" thickness (flat or round)

Brian, My ledge extended about 3/4 of the way, and had two opposite corresponding angles, very complicated. I used silly putty (clay will work) and made a mold of the cavity and this was my template for working the brass into shape.

Chris, I envy your Japanese abilities, and I am sure they were hard earned. But as you know, unless you understand some basic written construction, not all stroke count is easy for a newbie. For example, Kuchi/Kou is 3 strokes 口 but if written or observed by someone who does not know this, they would assume 4. This is a simple example, but what about 食 it is listed as 9, but could be counted at 10 or 11. The more complex the kanji, the harder to know the number and you can spend hours looking in the wrong category . Don't even get me started on radicals! LOL Your service is much appreciated, and I have learned much from you on translating Japanese. Justin

Brian, As someone who just made an ama ooi, I asked some of the same questions and photos can be found here http://nihon-no-katchu.proboards.com/thread/571/amaooi Justin

FEDEX will take it, but expensive. DHL may be an option for export, they quit domestic shipping in the US. They deliver international shipping (to and from).

Thanks, I was not using that, but the Kanji Pages to find the last kanji. You are still the man! Jg

Good Job Stephen. Never would have gotten aki out of the last Kanji, I was thanking tada...

It's dated Showa Ju Go Nen　昭和十五年　Showa 15th Year

John, you romantic, you make N. Ontario sound so lovely, especially in '62... :D Piers, I still vote for crapper, and if so, please keep your rice out of it... That's may taint the flavor.

I don't know John, hubris is the key to crapping well. I have seen some ornate chamber pots that are very ornate.

Chamber Pot

Piers, where do you think these rods are coming from? A matchlock I have had an almost identical finial on it. I have seen others like it on Hinawaju's for sale on-line. Jg

Patrick, Are you planning on doing this yourself or do you want a person to do the work? Robert Soanes and or Dave Thatcher both do great work, both are in England. There are others that are trained to do this work. It is not easy. The material can be purchased from Namikawa in Japan, you tell them the color and width and they have it made in silk.

How much did the Japanese study Sun Tzu? The "A" reading is very Sun Tzu.

Matsuoka and his famous League of Nations speech http://www.historicfilms.com/tapes/1307