jezah81

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, especially to you Keith and Ted. Really fascinating stuff guys. Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi there, In my opinion your sword looks like it has nice hataraki in the hamon and jihada. But what i dont like is the reddish looking rust on the nakago. Im interested to see what others on this board say. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thank you for your replies guys. You more or less answered my question anyway. By the way, this is a picture of the nakago of the shinshinto blade that i want to send for a polish. Do you think theres enough of a hamachi and munemachi to get a polish done. There is plenty of meat left on the blade itself. http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa20 ... na_jh4.jpg Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

How many times can a blade be re-polished generally speaking until it is deemed a "tired" blade? Like 5-10 times, 10-20 times.....etc?? I understand there are a few variables such as the amount of niku a blade has etc... but a rough estimate would be good enough. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi Franco, Thank you for that very insightful link. Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi Guys, Does anyone know when (i.e 1800's, 1900's) the hadori style polish started being used on blades in Japan as opposed to the more traditional sashikomi polish? Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hey guys, Im thinking of getting my sword polished and getting a new habaki made for my sword through Colin Griffiths at http://www.cgfinearts.com Has anyone heard of or had any experience with this company before and how was their experience? Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

What metal does this habaki appear to be to you guys? I always though it was copper, but somehow it doesnt look like copper to me anymore...Any thoughts....?? http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa20 ... habaki.jpg Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop

What is meaning of a "chuge saku" swordsmith? I can not find an explanation anywhere on the internet. Thanks. Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks for the replies fellas. FWIW, i remember back in 2004, i sent my carbon steel blade that i used to use for iaido practise, to get it re-shimmed by Rick Polland. It was June, thus summer time in the US and winter time in Australia. When he received my sword he couldnt find any looseness in the tsuka, so I remember him having to put the tsuka in the refrigirator overnight to loosen the tsuka in order to reshim it tight. Anyways, it is an interesting topic to talk about i guess. Does that mean i can expect my tsuka to get looser come summer time? Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

Hi guys, My friend received his first mumei wakizashi in shirasaya a few weeks back. What he noticed was the tsuka was completely loose, but after a few weeks of being in his room, the tsuka was almost impossible to get off, without a few hard hits with his wrist. I was always under the impression that the cold winter time wood shrink the wooden tsuka core thus causing it to become looser, not tighter. Here in Australia it is winter time, where in Japan at the moment is summer. Has anyone else experienced this problem, where the tsuka gets loose in summer and tighter in winter, i thought it was the other way around. Any explanations how this occurs..??? Does this mean when it is summer time here in Australia that the tsuka will become loose again? Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop Jeremy Hagop

Hi Mike, Thanks for the response. It is only a hairline opening at the seam, but i do use this sword for iaido and tameshigiri. So, it probably worth getting fixed??? What ya think? Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

Is it easy or possible to repair a habaki which has the soldering seam come apart just a fraction? Or is a whole new habaki in need? The habaki that im talking about is about 100 years old. Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

Thanks guys. As for the menuki, I had the gyaku menuki on request, as i think it is much more comfortable in my hands. Give me some time, and i shall take some photos of the blades i own. Kind Regards, Jeremy Hagop

I suppose I just felt like getting the whole Higo feeling with the black same-gawa and brown leather tsuka-ito! Kind regards, Jeremy Hagop