Alex A

I suppose each blade has to be looked at individually, the school, the time, the quality, ubu or not and then one can make up their own mind, speculate :lol: Given the number of swords past down through generations, seems a pity information was lost along the way. Ps Km, there must have been many genuine far fetched reasons that some swords where left unsigned, yours isnt one of them

Moving on, another thought circling my noggin regarding mumei pieces, particularly Tanto/wakizashi from the Nanbokucho period. Ive been looking at work from rated schools. Ive seen mumei, UBU, tanto/wakizashi with original elaborate carved Horimono and some not so elaborate, typical Suken, Bonji and Ken. Now then, the fact that these mumei/ubu blades have these horimono tells me the work was good. Why would a smith go to the hassle of carving horomono if the blade was inferior? So, there had to be good reason these blades in particular where not signed. Ive read the VIP/Shrine theory. Maybe in these cases, thats correct.

Never been able to fathom out how the Lanes get to some of those prices

Hi Doug, your likely to come across low end Late Edo/Meiji Sukashi tsuba that where cut from "stock" plate, i owned an example a while ago. Featureless flat steel with neat crisp edges. The one i owned had been mounted, so, someone must have considered it adequate at some point

Sorry mods, just noticed another thread on this subject below!, darn, even threads on the subject can be invisible, please feel free to delete this thread.

I dont know much about these weapons, is it a bit late for this kind of weapon?, i would have linked them to an earlier period. A recent thread with a photo raised my interest a little.

First one ive seen for sale. http://www.aoijapan.com/kusarigama-nany ... kichijitsu

Looks familiar. Tsuba page http://www.thelanesarmoury.co.uk/shop.php

Your right Grey, i was thinking the wood around the habaki had swelled due to moisture.

I would try placing the sword in an air tight bag for a day with half a dozen decent sized silica gel desiccant sachets.

Lol, Trent, you must have too much money, you remind me of this guy :D

The seller didnt need any help, i certainly dont think there naive on the subject, or Ebay, by the look of things.

US bidders only . I cant help thinking that the seller should have gone global, judging by the interest level. :lol:

It is is interesting to view blades under different light sources, Steve, i got me one of those LED,s too. Dan, it is surprising what a difference a coloured tint makes to a photo. Bottom left reminds me of an old "black and white" photo, top right blue adds depth. Ken, now theres a light source, wouldnt have thought of that one, maybe one of the reasons smiths started talking art

I was wondering if viewing swords in natural sunlight was common amongst collectors?, i find that it adds a certain clarity that you do not get with imitation lighting, kind of brings the sword to life. Ive spent an hour or two this afternoon trying to improve my photography skills (to no avail), the first picture is in imitation light, the rest are in sunlight. I was hoping to capture the clarity that sunlight brings, but it is difficult to capture in a picture what the good old eye sees.

£6.92 Amazon, acceptable price, although i often get a little concerned when it mentions "corrosion inhibitors". Maybe i worry too much. http://www.amazon.co.uk/BreakFree-CLP-4 ... B0002IKDQ6

Looks like really good stuff, but £89!. Ive used Singer light machine oil sparingly for the last two years (4.50 Ebay), no probs, although it is thinner than the last gun oil i used.

Me too, i also wouldnt mind owning the two Ko-katchushi tsuba earlier on in the thread, all have a certain appeal.

Cheers Chris.

Craft of the Japanese sword. p91 Briefly in simple terms. Utsuri occurs under very specific conditions within temperature range and metal compostition... Yoshindo (the smith) spent 3 years trying to recreate it. He heats the blade longitudinally in three bands, the edge 800c, the back 700-720c, and where Utsuri is created 750-760c. He maintains the technique is heating the blade to within these strict tolerances. Any deviation will result in no Utsuri, or an uneven or irregular Utsuri. My novice thoughts are that other schools may have considered it an unnecessary addition, especially throughout the Sengoku period. Or as mentioned above, may have affected performance.

Well Stephen, having had a while to think about it, i would go with a Shinsakuto, by a top Mukansa smith. Long nagasa, deep sori, O-kissaki, wide motahaba/sakihaba, Kataochi gunome hamon, exceptional horimono, and with more hataraki than you can shake a stick at. Kept it brief (would hope the smith could cope with the Utsuri requirements ). Just to add, if anyone knows a non-Mukansa smith who can do it for $3000, i might go with it. :D Forgot the koshirae, a modern tensho style with dark solid shakudo fittings to replicate the black lacquer of the past, maybe a touch of solid gold in there somewhere for a bit of contrast, a job for Ford.

Great sword, I like the koshirae too, koshigatana koshirae (no tsuba), assemblers take note, cost cutter

Does anyone know if Lulu does one of those Christmas discounts every year?. A third off when you spend a certain amount. Thats the time to buy.

Agreed, good read, now im speculating. Early Edo period for instance, after Sekigahara, 500,000 unemployed samurai without income or support, two Ronin rebellions, stories infact of unemployed Samurai selling their swords. Now then, a knock on effect, certain smiths hitting difficult times. To make a living, these particular smiths may have had to sell a number of swords off at give away prices. If that where the case, would they have been likely to sign?, Would that explain a number of mumei Edo swords?, or have i drank too much coffee?

"And the other one my girlfriend convinced me to buy" Your a lucky man Andi