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Hi Jonathan, I'm a beginner, too, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I figure if I offer my two cents and they happen to be wrong, the more experienced membership here will correct me, and both you and I will learn in the process - no harm done. No thing ventured, nothing gained, so to speak. Having said that ... since the two mekugi ana are fairly far apart, I think the sword is osuriage. The sword has a very nice suguta (to me anyhow). Since I believe it is osuriage and the shape has some curvature to it, plus the hada is is very active, I would guess koto, but in the past, I have been been wrong more often than right The lighting on the nakago is too dark and I can't tell the color of the patina - this is one indication of age. Please weigh in, guys!!!! Adam is an experienced member here, and he is absolutely right about polishing: it could remove relatively shallow openings, but could open up new ones just waiting under the surface. If you are serious about polishing your blade, I would suggest dropping Bob Benson an email (bushidoswd@aol.com) and ask him if you could ship your blade to him for his professional evaluation. All it will cost you is the round trip shipping, say about $100 (including insurance). He will tell you if the blade can take a polish, and if it is economically viable. Here are some numbers for you to consider. The cost of polishing will be around $100/in, e.g., about $2500 in your case. If you polish with Bob, ask him to get new shirasaya and a new habaki. He will coordinate with John Tirado to get things done properly. He will do the initial foundation polish. Then, send it to John for habaki and shirasaya. Then, everything goes back to Bob for the final polish. Habaki + shirasaya for a daito will run about $850 ($400 for habaki and $450 for shirasaya). Add on top of the cost of shipping both ways, about $100. The total cost will be $2500+$850+$100=$3450. I don't think you will get it back out when it's time to sell your sword. So, it's up to you. For $3,450+$600 (your original cost)=$4,050, you can get a decent sword with NBTHK papers already. I hope my input helps. Regards, Hoanh

Dear Atsumori, Please sign your name on all posts - it's a rule here. I have put my foot in my mouth more than once, but here goes. Your sword is too long to be considered a wakizashi. It's a daito. It's definitely not modern or reproduction. It's the real thing. I can clearly see the hamon and activities in the hada. It probably needs to be polished to see more activites, but the cost is high (~$100-$150/in). Overall, I like your sword, but there is a fairly long opening. It's not a fatal flaw, but lowers the value of the sword significantly. If you want to get new shirasaya without polishing the sword, it will probably run around $400-$450 (re-using the old habaki, which I think is very nice). Hope my two cents help. Regards, Hoanh

Thank you Jacques and Paul. It is absolutely a great book packed with information. Regards, Hoanh

Once again, thank you Geraint for recommending "100 Masterpieces From the Compton Collection." I was able to locate a copy on ebay and negotiated the purchase price to $70+shipping ($8.95). I think this is an exceptionally good price. Tobias: There is 1 more copy left from the seller. Grab it if you want. Make a best offer of $70 only. Here is the link. Good luck. http://www.ebay.com/itm/400303461221?ss ... 2594wt_952 Regards, Hoanh

Hi Steve, If some features of the nakago are difficult to pick up with a camera, I would put a little baby powder (or even regular multipurpose flour if you don't have baby powder handy) on in and dust off the surface. Just to be clear, I am referring to the nakago only. The baby powder/flour will do a good job of contrasting the "terrain", for lack of better word, against the background. The photographs usually turn out very well. To clean up the nakago of the baby powder/flour, compressed air will do a good job. Otherwise, just shake off the power and wipe with a clean, soft, non-abrasive, cloth. I hope the trick helps. Regards, Hoanh

Thank you Geraint for the info. I'll get the book. Regards, Hoanh

Hi Tobias, I'm new, too. I will be glad to lay out my (probably erroneous) thinking process at arriving at my guess regarding the blade in question for dissection/comments. 1. The blade does not have the typical koto suguta, does not seem to have the typical coarse hada seen in koto blades, and the nakago seems to be too new to be koto. So, I eliminated the koto period. 2. The blade doesn't have any typical arsenal stamp or hastily chiseled mei typical of gunto blades, so I eliminated the WW2 period. 3. We are left with just shinto and shinshinto and it's very difficult for me to decide. To my eyes, the nakago does not appear to be ubu. I was guessing that the sword was shortened from the appearance of the nakago. This is probably where my error in judgement is. The suguta, plus this speculation that the sword was shortened lead me to the shinto conclusion. I also noticed that the nakago does not seem really old, but thought it could be consistent with late shinto. Perhaps, it was a couple of misjudgements that lead to the wrong conclusion. Like Tobias, I would like to hear from the membership regarding how you make your guess, using this particular blade as a case study. It would be a great learning experience for us newbies. Regards, Hoanh

Hi cplnorton, Please sign your name. It's a rule here. Your sword is a nice find. It's definitely not WW2 era. I would guess shinto. It's out of polish, making it very hard/impossible to see details in the hamon and hada. I like the suguta, though. There is some funky damage on the nakago. It looks like the nakago is cracking. May be it's just the pictures. The saya seems to be in excellent condition. As far as the tsuka goes, all the parts except the menuki are there, so you can purchase the gunto menuki and send it out to be rewrapped. Wrapping the tsuka is not hard, but doing a good job is (as is always the case with literally everything). It depends on your inclination. I enjoy the fruit of my labor, so I have learned to rewrap tsuka and have done it on two of my old tsuka. I am sure people will find lots of fault with DIY tsuka rewrap jobs, but to each his own. Anyhow, congratulations on a very nice first find (I assume). Regards, Hoanh

Steve and Sam, PM sent. Regards, Hoanh

Hi Steven & Sam, I say we plan an introductory meeting for the fun of it. What say you? Regards, Hoanh

Hi Sam, I live in Huntington Beach but do have an office at UCSD in La Jolla. Is that where you are? PM me as I do go down to campus from time to time. Regards, Hoanh

Hi Henry, Pictures, please! We love pictures. Regards, Hoanh

Hi Fernando, Your sword is an authentic nihonto, not a Chinese fake. That's for sure. Don't know about the authenticity of the mei, though. Here is a previous thread regarding sword polishing and why one should leave the job to a professionally trained polisher. Please read through all of the posts on this thread. Since you are not personally involved, it's easier to leave out the emotions and understand the content on an analytical level. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8968 Regards, Hoanh

Hi, I found this website http://www.satcho.com/Tosogu.htm. Here is what is says: THE HARTMAN COLLECTION OF Japanese METALWORK Christies Auction Catalog (30 June, 1 July 1976, London) This auction catalog is unique for two reasons: first, it was derived from many of the great early 20th Century collections such as Hawkshaw, Garbutt, Naunton, and Joly, and secondly, as all of the lots are shown. Includes over 630 lots of fittings, primarily tsuba. In general, soft metal pieces are shown in color, while most iron are shown in b&w. Text is in English, each piece supplement by brief Japanese descriptions; English glossary and index of artists. With realized price list included. 163 pages, 9½ x 12¼" hardcover $235.00 So, the info is available in one place. I'll do a little more digging. Regards, Hoanh

Brian: Here are the estimated prices. Eric: Understood. I don't have the realized prices, though. Will see what I can do. Regards, Hoanh

Brian, I can scan it and post it, but it would not mean much without the catalog. The price estimates are given in correspondence with respective lot numbers only. If you still would like the price estimates, please let me know. I'll post it right away. Regards, Hoanh

Hi, The polish will cost about $100-$150/inch, habaki=$400, shirasaya=$450, round trip shipping=$100. So if your wakizashi is nominally 17in, the cost will be $2650 at best. I would guess the wakizashi after the polish would be worth less than $2650. Restoring a sword for resale is not a winning proposition, unless the sword is an important sword. If you restore it for personal enjoyment, that's a different story, IMHO. Regards, Hoanh

Hi, I habitually troll ebay to admire swords for sale (aka window shopping ) and came across this sword. http://www.ebay.com/itm/280891514709?ss ... 915wt_1185 Upfront: I am not considering buying it. It's purely window shopping for educational and recreational purposes only. Question: Does it look to be what the seller claims it to be: a 14th century tachi? It doesn't look right to me, but what do I know? The nakago doesn't look right. It's too new. It also looks like it has not been shortened (or significantly shortened anyhow), and 30 1/2" seems a little short in that case. Am I being a total idiot and barking up the wrong tree here? Regards, Hoanh

Thank you Jean. Regards, Hoanh

Hi Curtis, That is neat!!! Your tsuba looks like the one on the left in my picture. That tsuba came out of my gunto. Thank you for sharing your picture with me. Regards, Hoanh

Hi, I just had the most unexpected experience that I want to share. I have a tsuba that came from a WW2 gunto. A few days ago, while trolling ebay, I saw a matching tsuba from a Japanese dealer and grabbed it. It feels like meeting a twin you never knew you had. Below are pictures of the matching tsuba, both of which I now own. This sort of thing must happen a lot, but it's the first time for me. Regards, Hoanh

Thank you Jean. Regards, Hoanh

Thank you Roy. Regards, Hoanh

Hi Ron, Thank you for your guidance. What you gave me was the sort of advice I was fishing for. I was not at all sure if the sword warrants a polish. I'm surprised you think the sword is sue koto, though. I thought more shinshinto, or late shinto at best. Could you expand on why you think sue koto? That would be instructional for me. Regards, Hoanh

It looks like I will package the blade up and send it to Bob Benson for an opinion. Thank you all so much for your constructive comments and guidance. Regards, Hoanh