SAS

Not only a sword master, but also an aikido master. Comments on this video were typically disrespectful; the living room ninjas as usual.

Had another photo session, but I don't think much more is apparent in this state of polish and with mine and my camera's limitations. However, for your consideration, here are a few more:

heck yeah!

Thanks everyone....John, I will take your suggestions when i have some time this weekend hopefully and try and get some other shots.

damage done already, looks recoverable with a decent polish, is it worth it financially? hard to tell. a $400 buy in is not bad in this game.

It appears to me the polish has been tampered with (see around kissaki) but other than that and the lame mei attempt it looks worth buying. Then consult with Bob and Woody to see if it is worth putting more into or not.

Had a look at the specifications for Australian Hoop Pine and it seems it has a wide variety of uses, some of which involve structural penetration by steel members. Subsequently, it seems the users in these applications were not concerned about corrosion due to the wood. However, this does not mean that it is suitable for our sword related purposes, just that it might be worth experimenting with, if that is all you are able to get. In the USA, basswood, alder, as mentioned, as well as poplar, seem to work well. I have also used rock maple successfully.

see Brian's post #17

Now that you have played a good trick, who is the smith? The Roadrunner?

Did you sprinkle it with dandruff before photographing? If in good polish, why the scratches at the yokote? Also, why does the yokote seem to have an incorrect angle? If it is april fools, why is it November here?

One other thing; some glues emit gases long after curing that are corrosive; Tite Bond II is an example. Plain old white glue is a better choice.

I do not think it is so much of what a polisher would be trying to present, so much as correcting geometry and faithfully restoring the sword to its original condition as closely as possible, while safeguarding the remaining life of the sword. Then an attribution may be better made, in my opinion.

I am not an expert on Australian woods; however, I know that many aussy trees are named for species left behind, but the newly named woods are not in the same species, i.e. silky oak is not an oak. If your wood is like honoki and not like pine, it may be worth a try. Non-acidic, non-resinous wood is best; some woods promote rusting, so a test piece might be in order before you stick your Masamune in there

I have posted measurements, is there anything else you want to see in photos that will elicit further comment?

in all its koyote ugliness.....

Background info on sword? Is it yours? Do you know who was the polisher? Enquiring minds want to know.

I agree with Rich; it is not desirable to over polish swords generally.....a good polisher will know this, and a bad one will just start wailing away at it

In the last picture, there is activity in the ji above the main hamon; to me this is reminiscent of the dragon chasing the moon/sun motif; thoughts? (Actually most examples of this I have seen in pictures are larger than what shows on mine, maybe just a happy coincidence.) This sword was presented as a koto sword by the last owner, who had been told that by the previous owner. Initially I had my doubts, as I thought that it could be a shinto or shinshinto utsushi of a koto blade......as I have photographed it I am thinking that it may actually be koto, though my in hand experience with old blades is limited.

nice photos....I have thought that the koto makers must have induced hardening on the mune of their blades to control sori...seems likely based on your photo.

Measurements: nagasa 26.75 inches, blade is machi okuri and (o)suriage. Motohaba 1.15 inches, sakihaba .78 inches, motokasane .27 inches, sakikasane .16 inches, shinogi high. Good comments so far, thank you PS earlier I said masame on the mune, I meant shinogi ji. PSS I hate autospell, any tips to disable it on a Mac?

I wouldn't have thrown it away either

And one more.... it has masame hada on the shinogi ji, the photos showing it were too high resolution to load. The jihada is hard to read, the blade was not polished well last time around. Some of the shinogi is rounded as if someone had sandpapered rust off.

and another; blade is iore mune, suguha hamon with yo, boshi is not visible due to polish.

More

Starting this thread for discussion of this blade; I have not taken measurements yet.(EDIT: SEE BELOW) Seeking general observations at this point, thank you for your replies.