Alex A

Only time ive noticed beads of oil is when ive used a light machine oil. Hence tried it and stopped using it right away, only place i use that now is on an electric shaver Used express gun oil for many years without any bother so will stick with that. Quite thick and leaves a very fine film Each to their own

Not a sword anymore, more like a chefs type knife, although if you plan on holding a koshirae together with it then i suppose it adds another argument I would just get the permit and do without the worry.

Feel for you Chris, im hoping similar idiots dont get in charge here

Not as close as it looked in the first pic. Love old blades in ww2 mounts Very nice to own Mark Cheers

Best i can think of is describe it as “old tuna knife chopper” and hope for the best. Who knows, might of been haha

Agree tony, they can be a pain at times Use Ups if ever possible

Jeez, thought UK was a total Nancy State, but now know it could be worse

Looks to be a Katate-Uchigatana, Muromachi Find many good Bizen examples dated to Eisho Punched ana and slightly shortened in this manner is the norm Look into work by this line of smiths and no doubt you will find matches to your sword, Tobiyaki etc Lots on the forum for these type of swords too Some info in here

Hello, does the hamon run off the blade ?

Must have made a very pleasent change for the Shinsa team! Guess rarity has a quality all of its own (dunno why text has gone bigger)

Hello, Suspicious of this one, thats not to say its not genuine, just the condition does not allow for anything accurate and there are elements of the blade i dont like. such as the nakago, but anyways. Clue=one ana (peg hole) so appears ubu (blade length unaltered) Not thinking anything too early, blade width looks a lot narrower at the pointed end compared to near the nakago and there does not appear to be a great deal of curve. small kissaki. Perhaps Edo 1660 ish Nakago jiri reminds me of Bizen jUST A THOUGHT, NOT A FACT AS IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY FOR SURE IN ITS CURRENT STATE

An example of an early Edo blade. Not the same but guess you can say its in the ball park Appealing with the long kissaki https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A060221.html

Tough one, being honest im very unfamiliar with the name and would only have got this if id owned or looked into buying one of his swords. Was surprised when you said Shinto, as you mention the jigane looks earlier. Was hoping the shot at Inoue Shinkai was one of those swords that dont quite fit, like when you come across top Hizen smith blades that are not typical Konuka hada. Again, the amount of big names and Ko-itame that was around on searches for swords of this period stood out like a sore thumb Good to learn about this particular smith, interesting and fine blade. Cheers

Tough one last attempt Munetsugu

Nice blade First thought when i saw the image was Mino. The shape and long kissaki reminded me of some you see from the likes of Kiyonobu No doubt it aint but thinking that time, around Keicho maybe? Will look for a bigger name haha

One of the Osaka Kunisada line, Inoue Shinkai?

Hi Chris, sorry, but as Kirill points out its difficult with those images, the image of the saya looks to represent sori better than that of the blade. Can only go with what we have available which can be fun at times. Had a look at iphone images of the nakago and i take back what i said about it not appearing to be Muromachi, to be more precise i think the blade may be Momoyama (really sticking my neck out lol). You see the worn Hikagi yasurime typical of Sue-Seki. Would say it has only been cut short the distance between the two ana, this would put the original length into blades made at that time. I mentioned the way it looks to have been shortened, significant maybe, some info. Tenshō-suriage and Keichō-suriage | Markus Sesko Probable age/era of production.................1600 ish School................Mino Possible smiths.........................................Kane- whats it Ideas for the reason of the strange hamon/kaeri...........Not typical, but see sword on the link above, guess it happens. Suriage or o-suriage ....................suriage

Hi Chris Mino, not sure on age though as nakago dont scream Muromachi, the way it was cut short does though Only ever seen one katana with really well done controlled muneyaki, that was a Shinto sword A mino sword with muneyaki here. Higaki yasurime again mentioned. Maybe some masame on your sword maybe. http://www.nihontocraft.com/mumei_katana.html Not much help, killed a few minutes why misses has masterchef on cheers

Looks quite a stout blade in the images, whats the Motohaba/sakihaba?

Get well soon Guido!

Hi John, Shopping on this type of budget is not easy and you need some patience Occasionally, fair deals come up in the for sale section below in that price range where someone has already taken a hit from a main dealer purchase price and is willing to sell just to move on. Not many of late though. You might find a mumei tanto with a somewhat flashy hamon in that price range. I remember a papered tanto from the late muromachi era that fit that bill a few years ago. It was around for a good while before it sold, it was quite nice. This one hung around too for a good while and i ended up buying it because i like Sue-Mino. No papers and the koshirae was unappealing as the the tsuka needed finishing, the tsuba was missing, the menuki and seppa also. I got a good deal and then had some extra fun putting everything right, in total around £1000. Blade is much better in hand than Kirks photos which was good. Blades like this dont need NBTHK papers as they are so easy to validate by oneself. The Aoi art tanto above. Its a 500 year old piece of history in good condition, all depends on what you want. Its not flashy but its a fair price for what it is. They wil probably polish out any scratchesif you askthem, and paper it if you wish. Personally, not bothered by a few scratches on a blade that is already in good polish, were not talking Juyo here. Dont let me influence you though, make your own decisions and live with them, hopefully happily Added a few pics of the budget Mino tanto now

It depends Charles, had a few blades sat in old koshirae and never had issues, modern home and a fine coat of oil. New polish and old koshirae then then thats a different story and i would have shirasaya made. I would always think twice about shipping a sword unless i really had to in this day and age. Stuff going missing in the post and the rare occasion where the craftsman turns out to be an $$£ole and has your stuff for an eternity (not talking about anyone mentioned in this thread), but it does happen. Hope you get my point.

Just a thought............does it really need a shirasaya ? The saya with the koshirae appears to be in good condition, perhaps an unnecessary expense and a risk of more hassles shipping it. Would only bother if it really needed it.

I look at this way, You buy something you like, enjoy it, and pay for it over a few years. You then have an asset Could think of worse things to do with money

Where is its shirasaya?, if they have it ask them to ship it