Alex A

Often, you come across wakizashi that are almost katana length and in koshirae, for that price. Keep an eye on the Japanese sites.

If thats the case Christian, they failed an awful lot for a long time, those guys just didn't know when to quit

For me, to get my head a bit more around this subject i have had to go back to what Ray said about Shibita Ka. To be honest i had never heard of him but just looked into him a little. Compare smiths over the centuries that had to make a living, sell swords with the materials they had and compare their way of producing swords to that of SHOWA period Shabata Ka. Rather than repeat, here, info on the smith. https://yakiba.com/shibata-ka/ As mentioned, subjective. Smiths that mastered from Konuka to Muji or whatever tradition may well of thought their blades were the best in history and felt little need to replicate anything.

Personally, prefer swords that dont have a really sharp point at the kissaki. They bend and break too easily, should you catch it on something by accident. It happens, especially with newbies.

Hello, Not wanting to sound snobby or anything, but this site is for traditional forged blades. Might of been better starting a new topic rather than adding to this one. Less body parts in your shots might be a good idea too Welcome though!

I think sometimes in these exercises it is important for those that are not correct to maybe show an example of what they thought was correct. You will see lots of similarities but sometimes obvious differences. Sometimes, very close. Cheers.

As mentioned Mark, i cant imagine that materials and technique have not been able to be replicated We are talking swordsmiths 800 or whatever years ago. Weird how no one has got their head around it. But as mentioned, little we can add here.

Jacques, its only easy when you know the answer, usually the result of window shopping. Without books, not so easy, just going off memory. Its got Yokoyama written all over it, i cant remember off the top of my head such repeated pattern though. Sukenaga did a gunome, but maybe not like this.

The thing i find interesting about this subject is the fact that smiths "TRY" to replicate it, this and other work. Sometimes think, what did they do differently ? If swordsmiths over centuries cant work it out then we certainly cant. We heard about how polish can effect steel in the other thread, maybe trying to match a very old "POLISHED" blade is the issue? Materials, no doubt its all been done already. But what do i know.

Amazing detail in that tree!

Thats nothing. Though i would use a gun oil like express, with a rust inhibitor. Not wanting to start another what oil thread do you use thread, il leave it there. Dont worry, just keep your eye on it.

Naginata Naoshi is what i thought, but i guess NBTHK know best Nice sword

No books Sugu start, Off top of head id say Yokoyama Sukenaga but i know you dont like Edo stuff

Hello, just picking up on a few points Dirk mentioned and without spending much time at all on it Look at all the details and try work it out. Some similar points. Itame, masame, high shinogi Dropped a page in. Not saying it is or anything, just how you need to go about it Ps, always a possibility of gimei !

Not wanting to go off on a tangent but relates to what has been said., well, kind of. The mention of different materials and how that has outcome on the final product. Always reminded of this page, with regards Akamatsu Taro smiths making their own tamahagane. http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/?page=Kimura Read on numerous sales pages that this gives their hada a distinct darker colour in this modern age, reminiscent of older blades. Anyways, back on track.

Oh, sorry, weird, missed that. Maybe not weird, but dont like tsuka wrapped in certain colours, like blue and purple. Not keen on brass/gold, Gordy fittings or saya done in stripes lol Deal breakers though, depends.

Anything out of polish, Anything overpriced Anything that is being sold by someone that dont like answering questions or providing more images.

Aye, great to hear from someone with in depth knowledge and experience on the more complicated aspects of this hobby, appreciated. Andrew, if you ever get the time or inclination, be really good to find out what life was like as an apprentice living in Japan, the ups and downs of the job.. Many here say they would love the chance but im guessing its not all plain sailing. Thanks again.

It may have been a Katana at one time, thats the impression i get anyways. Saying that though, very difficult to judge shape accurately in images.

Hi Grev, aye, i was looking into San Diego tsuba, write-ups like this, https://tsubakansho.com/2019/04/18/san-diego-tsuba/ Mine is similar, but copper of some sorts, Suaka/yamagane, not sure to be honest. Difficult to age, the design seems a bit more complex (as in depth of carving) than those described as "San Diego". Nakago-ana looks to have some age. I dunno, may be later,. Lovely patina, would look nice mounted, Saw it in the sales section here a while ago, cant believe no one bought it at the price that was being asked. Anyways, like it, cute haha

Thank you

Looks like one i just bought. What age would you give it Grev?

Some good learning in this thread about hada Id leave it open Maybe if folk could just leave it to hada

Let us know what they said

Think we need a swordsmith on the board to give us the run down now and again Someone must know one Very curious about this swords construction At the minute feels like too many customers guessing what is in their curry lol If i was to speculate, would say same ko-itame process as usual but then throw in a few more folds at the end to create these "whirlpools" or what ever you want to call them. But what do i know, just guessing.