ROKUJURO

Hoanh, as far as I know these TSUBA are cast from bronze with a lost wax model. The modelling is probably a meticulous work, and the positioning of the tiny dots must be quite difficult, I think.

Adam, thank you! That's what I wanted to express!

Keith, if there is an expert to answer this competently, it is Ford Hallam!

It is possible that my old eyes do not work correctly, but while the NAKAGO seems to have some age (or was made to look so) the HAMON on the pictures does not look convincing to me. I cannot see any activity and my first impression was that of an etched HAMON, not even artificially polished. Looking closely at it or under magnification, is there NIE or NIOI to be seen?

Gentlemen, the upper two pictures of SHINAE on the KSKY website do not show a 'weak' or 'poor' steel. These kind of cracks are typical for a local overheating in the forging process or, as Chris points out correctly, in the hardening. I have seen this a number of times, and it always looks exactly the same. In fact, these cracks across the structure of the steel represent a weak spot in the blade and might cause failure in use/battle.

Could it be an old TABAKO-IRE without it's KISERIZUTSU? Maybe a hint that someone gave up smoking? (Unlikely with Japanese, I know!)

Peter, If I had to clean it I would use a steel wire brush (on an angle-grinder which works like hell, or on an electric drill, or the good old manual brush). If it were very easy to remove the rust, a brass wire brush would be good enough. Once the rust is removed, you could use an oil spray like WD 40 (not so good on the wall-paper) or you spray the whole item with clear semi-matt lacquer. Wish you good success! P.S. This is not the way I treat my TSUBA!!

It surely looks like one. There are different types as far as I know. The one in the picture seems to have a relatively short and quite heavy chain, so it might have been made for decoration only. A KUSARI-GAMA in action can be seen in the fight between MIYAMOTO MUSASHI and SHISHIDO BAIKEN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKqU8wxUAsU).

Looks like a well preserved WWII blade, oil-hardened, signed KAZUNORI. Nothing really special. Seems the vendor just dreams of a lot of money.....

Leather first changes the colour when it dries out, it usually becomes brighter. Applying a quality leather care (as recommended, saddle grease is best) of course brings back the original colour. A good leather grease contains natural ingredients like bees wax but no mineral oil or vaseline. Linseed or TUNG oil will harden the leather which is what you want if the material has become too soft and flexible.

As many authors seem not to know the correct spelling, here is another link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hait%C5%8Drei_Edict

SUISHINSHI MASAHIDE info: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Suishinshi_Masahide.html

If I am correctly informed, SHIRA/SHIRO means white or plain, so you should perhaps look for a KURO SAYA. I wonder if a laquered SAYA would then have the same properties as a normal SHIRA SAYA.

This is scale from very recent forging/heat application. I have never seen that on a genuine Japanese blade.

Waow! In a straight succession and 25 years per generation that makes almost one and a half thousand years! Impressing! I'll go and talk to my children right away this evening!

You mean SUKEHIRO and GIMEI? Although they have lived in the same time and town a cooperation at first seemed unlikely to me, but as I learned, there are in fact very few blades with double MEI. (Post corrected, I was wrong)

Looks like a YON-KAKU YARI for a shrine or was never intended for use.

Chris, just a question for better understanding as I am not a native English speaker: Would'nt a 'wide, thin blade' be more appropriate?

Chris, this I learned the other way round: saltwater is a faster quenchant.

Jacques, I don't think you can say so. Instead, Japanese swordsmiths used water because the method was working to their satisfaction. Pure high-carbon steels require a rapid quenching to produce martensite, and this can be obtained by water quenching. In the West, we don't use these steels any more, except for special purposes, so industrial alloyed steels are dominating. Quenching a modern toolsteel item in oil at appropriate temperatures will of course produce vapour in the first few seconds! You can also see bubbles, and that can only be reduced by agitating the workpiece in the liquid. The same is done when you use water, but this is rarely seen with Japanese swordsmiths. Interestingly, warm oil provides a faster cooling rate than cold oil, which has to do with the viscosity. Warm water (the temperature of which was kept as a secret by the master!) as used in swordsmithing reduces the cooling shock and helps to reduce the risk of HAGIRE.

I would like to add that a smith does not have a free choice of his cooling liquid. The respective steels are different, and while a pure TAMAHAGANE based carbon steel is very likely not to get hard in oil, an alloyed tool steel may crack when cooled in water. Until recent times, there was no metallurgical knowledge in Japan, so the safest way was to follow the master's instructions. Everything in this field was - and is - practice and experience, and that is why Japanese craftsmen generally cling to their traditional methods.

Ken, I see no contradiction to what I wrote. May I add that in medieval times CHOJI oil for sword care was probably not basically paraffin oil, but some natural mixture. Concerning metal polishing with calcium carbonate see http://www.abrasivesformetal.co.uk/Vienna-Chalk.aspx

When I mentioned the effect of oil on whetstones, I referred to solid stones, not powder. The UCHIKO powder, mixed with oil, is said to have a grinding effect. As far as I know there are different qualities of UCHIKO. It seems that some polishers use leftover UCHIGOMORI stone and grind it to fine powder for use as UCHIKO. In other sources it is said that fine limestone or other calcium carbonate sources are used. All these powders may be abrasive if used with pressure or over a long period of time. I try to imagine how you are pushing your UCHIKO very carefully in front of your paper, but in a 100 years from now, when you look at your blades, you may be disappointed by the result! :D The traditional system of sword care was based on regular cleaning and oiling, which made sense in the maritime climate of Japan. If you only oil your blade, it will polymerize (in case it is a natural oil) and cannot be removed frome the tiny holes which form the HADA. Depending on your climate, it may be a good idea to use a water-free chemical solvent to remove old oil, together with a soft tissue like medical cellulose swabs, before you oil again.

This is a different subject but as we are talking about abrasive effects of UCHIKO, it may be tolerated by the BIG BOSS. Natural oil stones are called so because they are to be used with a kind of oil. These stones are not porous and do not soak up liquids. Examples of oil stones are the famous Arkansas and Ouashita stones of the U.S. BUT these should not be used with a lubricant oil, instead one should use what is called different in different countries: Petroleum, petrol, kerosene, lamp oil a.s.o. These are all low viscosity hydrocarbon fractions of crude oil. Some have a bad smell, others are artificially perfumed (there is a variety of non-perfumed lamp oils on the market). These dense sharpening stones, when used with lubricant mineral oil, loose their abrasive capacity and have to be cleaned. Some can be cooked in water to reanimate them, others can be soaked in chemical solvents (not good for your little lungs). So called 'water stones' can take up more or less water, and they are mostly to be used with this liquid - there are a few exceptions among artificial grinding stones. Generally said: None of them works satisfyingly with oil of the lubricating type. As I got the pencil in my hand: UCHIKO is chemically a calcium carbonate. This can be obtained by grinding up limestone, marble, mussel shells, chalk (blackboard chalk is plaster, not lime) and others. These are hard materials, even cristals in some cases. Not only in former times but still today, calcium carbonate was used als polishing material by goldsmiths (Vienna Chalk, calcium-magnesia carbonate). But there is also a very soft calcium carbonate produced by chemical precipitation. Almost all of these materials can - and do - scratch fine surfaces, depending on the size of their grains. Polishing means that the unarmed human eye cannot see the scratches because they are too fine. A magnifying glass or a microscope will always show scratches! So, the basic material UCHIKO is made of will decide if you scratch your sword blade, depending also on the sieving process to eliminate coarse grains. In the long range even the best UCHIKO may affect the steel, especially when rubbed with pressure, thus creating a shiny (polished) surface where you rather want to have a matt one. Concerning the so-called CHOJI oil for sword care, it should be known that cheap qualities only contain an homeopathic amount of genuine or natural CHOJI oil. The basic material is paraffin oil, and CHOJI is added as a fragrant only. On the other hand, paraffin oil is not so bad a choice, because it does not deteriorate or polymerize. But it is known that the properties of paraffin oil to stick to a metallic surface to build up a protective film are weak. So the protection is only realized in the tiny openings of a blade surface which we call HADA. Fine UCHIKO as well as chemical diluents can remove oil residue from these very fine openings. So what has been said on sword care is certainly true: you have to know the conditions your blades are stored in, and clean and protect accordingly with the softest and best materials available. Denaturated spirit, depending on the country of origin, can contain harmful substances that are known to cause cancer (Germany). So it may be a good idea to clean your blades in the garden.

JUNICHI, the second and third of your TSUBA probably display a fern sprout design, I think.