steve rb

Great, thanks Bob.

Hi, you're obviously looking at the same tanto as I just have. Had also never heard of okakke-mei. A google turned up only the 1 hit, and that was the auction in question!! No idea.

Hi folks - does anyone have any rumours or hearsay on when/whether there will be a European Shinsa held anytime soon? Thanks Steve

I suspect it has had a deep polish to remove something. The blade is a gendaito and therefore I doubt it has seen too much wear unaided. The blade is devoid of any trace of niku but is otherwise fairly wide and healthy, no core steel showing, hada intact. Just this nasty deep ware. So, do you think it is fatal? I couldn't find any reference to a flaw that appears on both sides of the blade. What about the other blade and that 'crows beak' style flaw? Only visible from one side and could be polished out....? Thanks for your help. Steve

Hi there folks, great board have been over at SFI for a while but there seems a fair bit more activity over here. First post - and it's a question on fatal vs non-fatal flaws. I've seen the usual lists but I have a couple that I can't make up my mind on. The first is a crack in the kissaki that is only visible on one side. I can feel it with a nail, I can't see it on the reverse. It resembles a karasuguchi, BUT, if I understood those correctly, it is where the crack is pointing inwards across the hamon in 'hagire style' and cannot be polished out. With this crack, it could be polished out in the same way as a chip. The rest of the blade is great and it is due to go in for a polish - what do you think? The second flaw is a ware just between the hamon-ji boundry. However, this is deep and is just about noticeable from the other side (very thin blade, without any trace of niku). Is this fatal? I could find not comments regarding such a fukuru / ware. Pics attached and help appreciated! Steve