Alex A

Do they not make acrylic stands for tanto, sure i seen some somewhere..

Looks ok to me, looks varnished though, so i would strip it all back to bare wood beforehand. Otherwise you may get a poor finish.

Buy in haste, repent at leasure.........its true Also remember that whatever you buy, one day you will want to sell.

Hello Joel, your description reminds me of Ebay for some reason. Avoid Ebay until you gain a little more knowledge, too much junk about. The book "The Samurai sword" by John M Yumoto is a great starter book and is cheap. A few days reading will make you a whole lot wiser

Mariusz, no new adverts allowed during working please...not fair...lol

Hi Jean, yes, sorry i mean Tsugu, last kanji. (missed off the T )

Hi Rodriguez., its signed Sagami no Kami Fujiwara Kunitsugu..............not Sagamino Grabbing at straws here, but... just had a very speedy look through the Japanese sword index, there is a Sagami no Kami listed for Genroku period 1688 He was ranked Wazamono, but he signed (and someone correct me if im wrong) Sugu次

Im sure it will clean up real nice, now i want a project lol

Looks good Stephen

Hello Peter. Like it or not, some of the folk asking naive questions are the future collectors/enthusiasts, i dont think they are lazy or cheap, just clueless. I get the impression most folk like to give out their knowledge/expertise, sometimes cant get over how fast that expertise arrives (whether good or honest), by the time ive reached for a book there is usually an answer already I know some of you guys have been studying/collecting for many years and been through the golden age of collecting, when good swords could be picked up for next to nothing. All those conversations over the years that you Gents have been having online about this and that are all here for us to view and read, is it not possible there is nothing left to talk about? Seriously, like others, this is a great place to learn should you wish to learn, the true aficionados will stick around, even if they dont always log in to see whats going on in the the izakaya!. (ahoy there Chris )

Nice package as mentioned, the sword is interesting and for me personally, the simple antique koshirae of that type is such a nice bonus, were not likely to see another for sale for quite some time. i do wish someone would buy it so i would stop Another time maybe.

No, but i think Kevin at Ryujin swords sells them.

Hey Ken, i bet nothing ruined a Suguha hamon like a Mig

"i often think of hamon when i look at clouds..." I often think of clouds when i look at hamon Killed many an hour looking at hamon whilst flying hehe

Hi Jason, im sure a lot of folk will tell you that it adds value, especially someone who owns one or is selling one . Im pretty sure it added value back in Shinto/Shinshinto times when swords were tested. A good book on the subject is Tameshigiri by Markus.

Thanks James, i can rest my brain now

Not in my book, buy the sword, not the ranking lol ps, whats KK KKB, im behind the times

Hi Peter, why cant this sword be insured with parcelforce?, thought you could add insurance upto a maximum of £2500 at extra cost. A big jump though, from £56 Global priority to around £160 Global priority (with insurance)

Not the end of the world Bob, just a thread that didnt live up to its title

Thanks James, taking along a printout would be a good way to combat those blank stares, luck favours the prepared mind, as they say

Hello all, i was wondering if anyone had any uptodate info on whether or not the Royal mail/Pacelforce are still ok for sending an antique Katana overseas?. Ive been into the post office on several occasions lately and they ALWAYS ask what it is that you are sending. I had a bit of a minor hassle posting a deactivated gun last week, the woman behind the desk automatically assumed it was a banned item, which was a bit annoying. Anyway, ive pulled this off the post office website....... "Weapons Including Section 5 firearms (e.g. handguns, machine guns), CS gas and pepper sprays, flick knives,and other knives that are banned knives under UK laws, tasers and stun guns. Items that appear to be prohibited weapons may be subject to additional checks and delays." It only mentions "banned" under UK laws, so i would take it that an antique katana would be ok to post? If anyone knows better, OR knows of another courier they have used recently, id appreciate the info.

Blade in the pic looks pretty straight, like kanbun shape, Saya looks curved. Do they fit together ok, or is there some kind of optical illusion in this photo.

Nothing Nihonto related although maybe if id started a lot younger that may have been a different story. Not a day goes by without me regretting buying an house in the wrong side of town many years ago, i suppose you buy what you can afford.

I used to collect oriented Sikhote-Alin, had a neat little collection of those at one point. I suppose its worth a mention that there are some meteorite enthusiasts that wouldnt be too happy about meteorite specimens being turned into swords or anything else for that matter. One story caused a lot of controversy and debate, http://www.theguardian.com/global/2012/jul/22/meteorite-katie-paterson-field-sky Interestingly, she acquired it from Geoff Notkin (meteorite men tv series), who was none to pleased about it, the piece was apparently one of his favourites

Hi John, i bought it when there was an abundance of large campos being imported into the US, got it quite cheap. One or two dealers did very well indeed, as you probably know, but seems the good times are over. Specimens are now getting smaller and the prices are getting taller, gets me thinking i should have hung onto it a while longer. Anyway, now has a good home at Edinburgh University.