Bungo

Isn't those flowing grain interesting ? If you look closely, at the bottom the grains continue....... I have seen one with similar crane design in one of those Haynes catalogs, just have to dig further. The left smoothie........ not so much, looks like a cookie cut out. Milt

but usually we only clean the other side ( that is the side not with the mei ) p.s. same side as back of the koz milt

Ford, Stop acting like a kid, come back onto the forum !! How the fu%$#7 can you go to lurking mode just when I posted my latest e-bay score of crane tsuba with OUTSTANDING whirling mokume/itame/ masame , hell, if you magnify " that one " enough, you may even see hamon !!! I need you to tell me how it's done !! milt

brought down 2 with my sniper rifle......small calibre round too. Not endangered ( = Juyo level ) but one shows intertesting surface feature , the other one not so much . milt

Brian, If you were the Jolly Green Giant, then your short pants will be a regular men's trousers....... p.s. I used to have a Meiji period D-guard sword, the nagasa ( spelling ? cutting edge ? ) is over 29 inches, so I figured whoever carried that sword must have been a tall dude. milt

so you guys are saying you do not judge the quality of the shakudo based on " patina/color " ? I sort of think the Goto masters' works will not look as good if they used the shakudo of the Yokohama mama's special ( or Nagoya shriimono )........ To answer Bugsy's question....... it's a tanto tsuba. Milt

Quoting some old wise German proverb " if you want to kill each other, do it outside. I just cleaned the room " p.s. elephants usually cannot disagree without being disagreeable ( please do not ask me to explain the joke ) , it'll get messy . And boys, do wash your hands afterward. Milt

I am looking for nie.................. actually I used to have a tsuba the NTHK shinsa-ed to Hoan (late gen. ) that reminded me of the mimi treatment ( the floral dip/line ). Akao ? ummmmmmmmmmmm, not much info on that schol in English text ( and I mis-placed my Haynes tsuba book ). milt

Bugsy, We are looking at the same pics, right ? The ones with the red background and bottom of the page ? milt

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/busines ... ref=slogin milt

Got this from Ole Po ( haven't received it yet ) , so it's not going to be some " juyo level " tsuba but I like the way the previous owner plugged all the sukashi with what appears to be quality shakudo and some added detail on the kozuka hitsu ana. I reckon shakudo was quite " expensive " in the Edo days and that dude would not spent extra money on, as in modern days, " 4000 bucks to sound proof a Yugo " unless he had . Tsuba itself is one of those hard to place into specific school type. So it's a Shoami ? May be Ono after ? Milt

looks like a katana to me but then I am not over 6' tall................. milt

" Notwithstanding the 300 year old "black rust" patina and old corrosion, something (approx 1mm in size) in singles and clumps, glitters and sparkles, it only does so in a specific area, it is easily observed with the naked eye." 1. just plain rust ( use ivory/sharp bone chip and see it can be " flick off " ) 2. " granular " type iron bones 3. U-BLO ( un-identified black lumpy object ) milt

ARHHH, You like the Drinking Prince of Heidelburg U. ? I disagree on the age, i think it's either early Edo or Mid. p.s. joke explanation................... " The operetta contains some of the most beautiful, yet gruelling, tenor arias in the operetta repertoire. Mario Lanza made many of the songs famous with his singing on the soundtrack of the 1954 MGM film The Student Prince. Composer Nicholas Brodszky and lyricist Paul Francis Webster wrote three new songs for the film. Two of these songs — "I'll Walk With God" and "Beloved" — became closely associated with the tenor. Although Lanza's voice was heard in the film, he did not play the Prince on screen. That role went to British actor Edmund Purdom, who lip-synched to the tenor's recordings. Songs "Golden Days" "Drinking Song" ("Drink! Drink! Drink!") "In Heidelberg Fair" "Deep in My Heart" "Serenade" milt

we are getting seriously here............ Regarding the Three amigo's ( aka moderator/censor/despot )............. there's " that one " that...... Back to nioi/nie on tsuba........ May be the original writer meant " the effect " of light reflection off the tsuba surafce that reminds one of nioi/nie on na sword ? If Ted the other despot received my tosho tsuba for the message board lottery, may be he can take better pics. That tsuba does reflect light at certain angle that gives the impression of a misty sheen. milt

Let me get my old " The Drinking Prince " video out.............. Higo ? ummmmmmmmmm, What about the " elongated " seppa dai ? Also the faint incise lines on the waves ? milt

" And on a personal note, I am no expert, just a student with some web skills. I never claim to be an authority on anything and probably never will. " ................................... Heavens !! Quoting Der despot from the Northern Capitol, you going to issue Opinion Papers ? On a serious note, you have come a long way since we know each other and you have left this child ( that's me ) behind. p.s. I hope no one need me to explain the joke about No Child Left behind. Milt

the detachable collar is part of the fuchi, it'll not affect the outcome. As a matter of fact, i have a Goto single fuchi with a " detachable " too, not papered YET. p.s. the signed one has no detachable collar but design is identical with similar workmanship ( hence I called the mumei one Goto school ) milt

I am not sure if they will pass if mounted on a tsuka. milt

gang, Have this one for a while but can't exactly " label " it............... doesn't look like a Shoami but after one , I am entertaining the thought , gulp , that it could be a Diagoro, may be Kyo-sukashi ? After , Akasaka, ko-Hagi ( probably not ) ? Opinion needed............ p.s. 7.85 cm x 8.1 cm x 0.45 cm app. milt

" big name " like " Masayuki " is best submit to NBTHK shinsa ( not any oversea shinsa ) if the quality is there. We can compare mei stroke for stroke but.................. Looks good to me and i didn't have any milt

I salute you, best message by far this year !! milt

the glue did cover the missing strokes................Markus is right !! milt

Grey, there's some glue on the lower left of the second kanji ( I think ).......can you remove that ? May be that bit of glue cover some " key " stroke ? milt

Kapitan, The first Kanji does looks like a " fish " sometimes...it's Kane, without a doubt. Check out Fujishiro's books, and you'll a lot of examples like that. milt