Alex A

Jean, you catch me at a bad time, just off for a beer but I see what your getting at, very rougly, late Muromachi swords, are you saying they have had new ito at one time or another? Yes, that is the case, but old now

Fair enough Jean, but once messed with they loose that certain antique feel. Recently bought the Tokyo uchigatana book (cheers Jussi for the recommendation, 3 available in the entire world!), turned me into a conservation campaigner . A few pics from this excellent book, the black and white photo shows a koshirae on its last legs, but worthy of a place in the Museum, not something I could take on though. Imagine any of these with new ito....

Hi Thomas, I totally agree. My attitudes changed, years ago I would have probably wanted to fully restore the tsuka but I suppose that's what new folk to the hobby do, monkey about (as you say) with stuff that should well be left alone. Ive added a few pics of the koshirae, the saya is in really good condition, the fuchi kashirae are matching and pretty decent. The menuki look like old yamegane, moon and sun. There is also a kozuka, fits well, not a work of art and I don't know when that might have come into the equation, but all in all decent antique koshirae and worth preserving, has a nice antique feel to it. As for the missing ito next to the kashira, I'm unsure why this would have happened, most of the ware seems lower down the tsuka. I was at an arms fair last year and noticed a sword with the kashira hanging off. I had to rush off but noticed this sword on the way way out. Automatically thought shinshinto, a long sword with very long tsuka. The tsuka was really well done, had a nice antique look, pity about the kashira and a pity I never got a chance to have a look at the sword, kick myself over that. I'm sure someone once mentioned why tsuka loose the kashira, I cannot remember. The good news is one of the expert guys got back to me last night. He told me the tsuka was in good antique condition, should be preserved and as long as I don't handle it then it should last, I suppose that's were Daves idea might come into play, but a bit skint so that goes on the back burner for a while. He said he can repair the faults and make it visually better, so Ive sent him some clearer pics to look at and il get a price. I wont be handling the sword with the tsuka from now on. Cheers gents, appreciate your comments

This. I learn fast when I have a deep interest in an aspect of this hobby, usually when spending hard earned money is involved. When not in that mode, I'm just reading, information tends to get lost. Everyone's different, we all learn different ways I suppose.

Cheers Barry appreciated, be good to hear an expert opinion, I might just get back to you for his details. Got a few good recommendations now. Cheers guys.

Recently acquired a sword, the seller suggested I get the Tsuka restored as there were a few issues, a very small piece of ito missing, some chipped samegawa. I'm very reluctant to mess with it, whilst is a bit tatty in places, its part of its history, the last Edo Koshirae that was made for it. On the whole though, its still holding up a fight and as some life left in it. I don't plan on picking the sword up with the tsuka, so it will last, just take the tsuka off carefully whilst its still in the saya. Whilst I don't mind new tsuka when necessary, I prefer antique The only small issue I have is the small 5mm piece of ito missing. Thoughts on this for an idea..... Find some ito to match (5mm), cut a piece (accurately with a sharp knife)to match were the ito is missing and glue it in place. Whilst its sounds a bit daft, in reality it will look better, less noticeable. Thoughts please.

Hi Chris, ive read about that, if the peg don't fix it, I might just try that, beats searching for suitable seppa.

Great blade with plenty to see, well done.

Cheers guys. Had a bit more time for messing with it today, not had it long. Its all good when I push the tsuka on tight, holes line up, no movement in tsuba. When I leave that job up to the mekugi peg, it goes a bit loose again. Will try a new peg, reckon that might do the job.

Been looking at seppa, got a slight wiggle on a tsuba. Most seppa I see on fleebay are thin, around 1mm. Not something I look into on a regular basis but does anyone know how thick antique seppa get up to? Looking at some of the prices on fleebay for aged (bent, rough) seppa, seems their worth their weight in silver lol. Thicker seppa would sort the problem. 38 x 22mm. cheers

I often look at at a sellers feedback, read comments left for neutrals and negatives and get an idea how any unhappy customers were dealt with. Some sellers have sword sales into their 1000,s with few negatives, in this game I find that quite surprising. I would not have a problem buying from such sellers, to keep their shiny feedback they must handle complaints pretty well. But. I do wonder what percentage of their customers actually don't know whether they should be complaining or not

Well done Steven, good to see a beginner who "mustn't" have a katana, I look mainly at wakizashi.

Hi Paul, I agree, but every so often I see a sword with Sayagaki, and cant help wondering whether its legit?, but that's another discussion.

To answer your question Paul, I would simply pick whichever sword appeals to me the most, regardless of paper. Hozen is enough opinion to back up my opinion. I don't take much notice of sayagaki, although it looks pretty. Would need to be verified for me to take it seriously or backed up with Hozen Juyo reminds me of these posh car shows were the winner gets a trophy, best in class etc. I was at one recently, there was a line of Ferrari, lamborghini etc, not much interest from the general public. In contrast, there was an old pristine Ford capri, folk were all over it like ants. My point being, folk quickly loose interest in stuff they cant afford and see the beauty in stuff they can afford When it comes to Juyo prices, I'm reminded of tale in "facts and fundamentals" were the guy said to the dealer "Actually I don't need the Kanteisho, just the sword, so take off the price of the kanteisho and il be on my way". Each to their own I suppose, Juyo is for folk with deep pockets.

Nice story Barrie, if my wife was a plum tree, id be heading down town on a regular basis

Cheers Lars, curiosity is satisfied . Seems some folk in the Sengoku preferred short Sukesada, an example here at 51cm (slight suriage)http://new.uniquejapan.com/a-bizen-1514-sukesada-wakizashi/

For anyone interested, just read, the hamon has to be heated, too hard to file, according to this site http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/suriage.html . "On the work of blade shortening, the hamon area is too hard to grind it off with file. So some part of hamon is heated to make it mild."

Lars, cant see were the hamon ends from that picture, habaki needs to be off. Just read you cant move back habaki, no worries, was just being thorough

Yes, its the fact that the sword is 51cm that has me a wondering, that and the middle mekugi-ana, I'm wondering if maybe it was a longer sword, then suriage, but then nakago would need re-finish and the mei would have to be added afterwards, just a wondering It is a wakizashi, another term for compact katateuchigatana.

Hi Lars, ive read there were over 40 Sue-bizen Sukesada listed in old records, and more recently 80!. katateuchigatana 片手打刀 were the main swords being produced at that time. Ive seen a similar mei, but that's were sometimes speculation/head scratching can begin. Any chance of a picture with the habaki off, were the hamon ends?

I used to sell quite a bit but had a number of bad experiences, Ebay looks after the buyers. I had one guy recently open a case because he had not received an item. I posted the item recorded delivery and signed for. It arrived within three days but he was not in to sign for it. Rather than contact the post office (they left a card), he opened a case, hit me with a barrage of insults. This went on for over two weeks, yes my item was stuck in the post for two weeks. The post office tried to redeliver another three times. Drove me bananas, I cant imagine how annoyed I would have been if it was an expensive tsuba or sword. I can understand why someone might not want to sell there, especially nihonto. Ive had at least 5 annoying episodes in over 450 sales, but that's enough to put me off putting anything of value on there.

Hi John, thanks for pointing that out, looks well done, never noticed one like that before. I used to have a suriage Shinto katana and the suriage certainly was not finished to that standard. Like a lot that you may see, the hamon continued down the nakago. I wonder how many we see are not actually heat treated, but just cut. Cheers.

Hi Ken, they would only need to store blade details and shinsa result with a reference number.

Has someone spotted a niche in the shinsa service department by any chance?

I suppose they do provide a (not expensive) opinion, but that opinion has a dramatic effect on the market price, so in reality, they have a responsibility and in my eyes shouldnt bury their head in the sand. Be interesting to hear what the Japanese sword community thinks, issue is still the same there, or is it not?