obiwanknabbe

Over the years I have seen many such items for sale on ebay and other sites. Cut off Nakago, from wartime destroyed swords; sometimes with Mei, sometimes not. Part one of the question, do these really have any historical significance in the collector community or are they merely trinkets/curiosities? Mei examples for comparison seems plausible but not likely reliable as the rest of the sword is missing making conclusive kantei murky at best. Part 2, especially concerning unsigned examples, what is the concensus about further cutting these up and reusing the antique steel to forge new traditionally made blades? I'm of the understanding that the steel used in older swords (like from the koto period and earlier) is not replicatable today due to trace elements that were only pesent in the ore at that time. Have at it! Kurt

Here are a few of the tsuba I've acquired over the years. There are a few interesting pieces but a cursory examination of the collection reveals that I may need more.

As I go further and further down the smithing rabbit hole, I find myself searching for illusive answers to some technical forging questions. Something I've seen a few times in kantei are descriptions of "controlled nei and noi" from various smiths. I'm wondering how this control was executed. Are there any good books or papers that dive into the deep technical "how" of ancient forging techniques?

Sorry about that. My phone auto rotated the pic. Fixed.

Can anyone help with this mei? It was a gift from a friend. I think it starts "Bi shu ju" but I'm not particularly knowledgeable about tsuba. Any info about the maker would be appreciated as well.

I have been watching some videos lately about modern sword smiths in Japan and the struggles they face. What does everyone think about having a raffle and the $ goes towards commissioning a new sword from one of the smiths?

Still available. Reasonable offers accepted.

Hey bazza. No pics to speak of. It's a hypothetical question. Just something I was thinking over while staring at the ceiling.

I was curious, if one has a sword polished, let's say for arguments sake that its just a finishing job to bring out details as the base of the original polish is still good and no pitting is present or major reshaping is required, but the habaki is tarnished and unattractive, or has rub marks or scratches from the old saya and use, yet it is still physically sound, is there a concensus on what should be done with it? Is there a tradition of restoration for habaki as well?

I was talking to my wife about this earlier and thought it would be a interesting topic. How did sword makers advertise their work? Did they have signs or ads in the moderns sense? Price lists? Were features or higher end fittings priced like we see today as add-ons? Or was it all just word of mouth?

I'm just leary of ebay. Been burned too many times in the past.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a reputable source for antique Japanese coins? Ryu, oban, koban ect. I have a few ichibu nishukin and nishugin but would like to add some of the larger coins to my collection. Clark Smith has a few but the inventory does not update often.advance. These are the few I have now. Thanks in advace.

Kazuhiro would like me to make it known that he will accept reasonable offers on this blade if anyone is interested.

This has all the looks of a komonjo ebay sword. Its possible that it started as a real blade of some type, but everything about it was tempered with or faked.

46+ now, but I started collecting in my teens. I imagine many of us got our starts because of martial arts training and how it connected us to Japanese culture and history. I do further suspect that much of our training is owed to having grown up on B ninja movies in the 80s (zodiacally also known as the decade of Chuck Norris), and early exposure to the seven samurai on late night tv.

Ok.. rabbit hole... where motoyasu and mototake brothers?

My wife surprised the ever living heck out of me with this amazing birthday gift. An exceptionally wide wakizashi made by Motoyasu. Can anyone tell me more about this maker? Another name perhaps?. I can't seem to find anything about him other than the he was possibly a Satsuma smith. Came with some nice fittings and an iron tsuba signed Mototake.

Does anyone have any thicker pins? My wife bought me a sword for my birthday (am I a lucky man or what!), but the mekugi was frail and snapped. I dont have any spares.

Hi Bruce, This is one I didn't upload earlier. While is smaller, it's more clear if you zoom in. I'll ask for more.

I'll see if I can get a better one. It's a re-upload of a message so it may be reducing the quality a bit.

A few more pictures have been supplied. If anyone would like to see anything specific, please ask.

Adding some information another member requested Motohaba-3.15cm. Sakihaba-2.1cm. kiisaki-3.6cm. Nakago-Ubu. Nakagojiri-Kengyo. yasurime-Sujikai. Mekugiana-1.

From Kazuhiro: "鍛(kitae)：板目肌(Itamehada)ながれ、地沸厚く。非常に良くつみ、見事な板目肌である。 刃文(hamon)：のたれ調(notare)、互の目(gunome)乱れ、匂い(nioi)深く沸(nie)よくつき、砂流(sunagashi)しかかる。". Forging: Itamehada has a flowing texture, and the ji-ze is thick. It is very well-forged, with a beautiful itame-hada. Hamon: Notare has a rough texture, the gunome is irregular, the nioi is deep, the nie is well-formed, and the sand is starting to flow.