SAS

None of them dare rear their heads to answer but I believe you are correct, Brian.

I will still have to get rid of the rust by putting it in the hands of a qualified polisher but the Zcorr bags sound good......I will take 3 please, Ken. How do i order? Mahalo, Steve

I think it boils down to whose opinion you want to believe.....assuming the certificate is valid. Check with the certifying body to see if the certificate number matches their records if you are concerned.

Stephen's advice is appropriate, the sword is in good polish and more would not benefit the sword. Congrats on your purchase, Joel, and thanks for sharing the background of the smith....cool dude!

I live in a very humid climate. Rust happens quickly here, so I try to oil and clean regularly using accepted protocols. Unfortunately, a recently purchased sword, an Aizu Kunisada wakizashi, had some openings which started to rust when the sword arrived. That was dealt with, but after returning from a short trip, I have discovered extensive rust even though the sword was oiled, kept in shirasaya, and in a sword bag. Advice? I have used alcohol to try to flush out the saya from any loose rust. Short of a repolish is there any non-destructive way to clean off and stop the rust?

Were I not trying to build a house I would jump on this. Good luck with the move.

If Hairy Oak is the same as Silky Oak that grows in the southern Pacific, it has an resin in it that is irritating to some people's skin and can cause respiratory issues.

Jean, you may be right, however, the old timey blacksmiths in the western tradition used silica sand as flux, primarily to reduce scaling and loss of material. It would seem the Japanese smiths used the materials available locally to do the same, as well as wet forging to pop off remaining scale residue.

Very nice article, Shimane province has excellent iron sands and is a famous tamahagane producing area. The article does state that flux is not used during the welding of the tamahagane while forging; this is not strictly accurate, as the burnt rice straw used has silica in it and the rice paper and runny clay blocks oxygen and acts as flux.

The blade has not been acid treated; nothing has been used but Japanese water stones.

Henk-Jan, I was assuming your comment about ruining the sword was aimed at me....if i was mistaken, you have my apology; if not, see above

The last photos were not of the current polish, nor is it complete yet....but as you say the sword was already ruined. Are you a polisher? Your opinion is yours and you are welcome to it, it has little bearing on anything in my world. As per Brian's request, I will not discuss specifics regarding (my) polishing, nor should you. I suppose you would have left it to other blade smiths to reshape the blade and handle further and mount an antler handle on it for a house sword, as was contemplated by the previous owner. Your opinion smells bad.

Forgot to add that he has some really nice koshirae on hand on the Bushido website as well as tsuba and other furniture.....he always has more stuff for sale than gets listed so it it worth calling to see what is available.

I just came back from an aikido seminar in Honolulu; I also had the chance to consult with Benson-san regarding this sword. His feeling was that it wasn't too old, but had the appearance reminiscent of a suriage Koto tachi, was a decently made sword, lots of life left, and that the polishing was appropriate. He did not suggest shinsa, so I am thinking it is not worth submission. I will continue digging to try to find similar works.

Who knew Masamune was an innovator in stainless steel?!

Very fine particles of different metallic substances (iron oxide, magnetite, mercury, etc) suspended in oil and firmly rubbed into/against the blade steel, affects the softer areas and changes the visible appearance of the blade. Abrasion takes place on a very fine scale compared to earlier processes; polishing is controlled abrasion of surfaces. Your English is very good and better than my Japanese and Dutch.

This should be in the Izakaya section....that said, nugui IS a polish material and does have an effect on the overall polish. For your own modern, non-Nihonto blades, close the nugui best suited for modern steel, which is listed on the Namikawa Heibei site. Nugui will have little to no effect on whitening the hamon, this is done with finger stones. Polishing advice is best given by those who have done polishing, check out blade smiths forum board for better discussion.

Hard to say from pictures, but as a non expert i would say that condition is too good and price too low to be authentic......Chinese fakes are everywhere these days and look pretty good. More informed collectors will comment soon, I am sure.

Did a search and only this thread came up.

Neither material is ideal for the task, and therein lies the art

I would think Mukansa, Ken. Aloha from down unda.

Great, now i can play "Pong"

Do I get an atari?

Mino Kanbun Shinto?

I find it a bit ironic that back before Heian the best swords were from Chinese and Korean smiths, then the nihonto became preeminent…..now the Chinese and Koreans are coming again. It's like deja vu all over again.