AndreasU

Juwelier Strebel is one of the eldest Japanese sword sellers in germany. He is known for beeing a trustworthy seller but also he is known for beeing pricy. He is having some really nice swords on his page but even for us beeing used with the Euro...... it is waaaay to expensive :D For all US$ users it is *1.48!

A very dumb nut! I am asking myself how stupid I have to be to believe all these stories of veteran bringbacks and especially in this case, I mean it is clearly visible that the tsuka is removed in the right upper corner. So I am 100% sure that the tang is destroyed by using a grinder!

Hi Mariusz, both are Iron in my eyes. Patina is somewhat strange because of the situation that a flash was used. On the second on some refinement is left (maybe gold) Nothing strange with all of his offers at all!

I don't know if this is the best way but if you do a search for Tumbler or use this link: http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/616153 I think this is a very safe way to get it cleaned. Some cheap ones can be found for around 70 US$ at ebay.The grain used should be "walnut shell" or corn cob. Never use silzium carbide!!!!!!!! It is very soft, softer than brass and iron but is harder than oxyde and rust. So it will "wipe" off the rust and Oxyde but will not "polish" the Iron and brass. The result will look like a very fine laquered iron with patina. It will not remove the patina. These tumblers are used for bullet casings to clean them and to get away the gunpowder remains. You can imagine yourself that these precision casings are very delicate to handle and that every abrasive "polishing" will be dangerous. The other methods are using wood sticks or bones to clean but these things are much more harder to use as you can very easily damage the inlays by using to much pressure. I am sure that a lot of antique resellers are using these tumbler but of course will say that it was used by hand with bones and wood and sympathie and spirit and............. Andreas

Hmm, so it seems that you are quite familiar with this stuff. Don't you have a Tsuba that will fit to a nice Shinto period wakizashi? Andreas

Stumbled acros this Tsuba. What do you guys think it is worth? http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dl ... 0192014493 I am not a Tsuba expert so need some guidance :?

Mokume Hada with Chikei

Hi, the one with the numbers stamped in the blade is an oil quenched machine made sword that has no value for any collector. If you would like to use it for tameshigiri than its OK. But again the value is below $ 100,-- The other one is hard to tell as I am lausy in deciphering Japanese kanji. It maybe is of some value as long there is no arsenal stamp on the tang. Andreas

unfortunately someone was faster than me and Tsuruta san informed me that it was already sold..... So I have to look again for a nice Tsuba

Hi Ford, This underscores what I am saying, that most of our swords maybe were not used from Samurais at all..... in this case, I don't mind if I have a hefty "merchant style equipped" wakizashi that is healthy and shows that the swordsmith did know what it was suggested for :D

OK I can follow this. So pracmatic way of thinking: Menukis never where made for using them on doors, shoes, hats or whatsoever. Will say, menukis were always made to get more "grip" on the swords handle to avoid that it slips out of the hand while in fight. Self protection was always an issue but I doubt that a "standard" citizen in this period wa able to buy a sword that was "flowerish" equipped. So at least it needed money to have menukis like that. Money was only found in "upper class" or these things were given form a Clan leader to one of his followers. So at least I end up with a sumarai? But anyway thats all speculation because except the very few samples of swords where the guy it was made for is mentioned and can be tracked down to a samurai line, all of our swords could have been used from "simple" citizen at all, simple soldiers, traders, or even as a family treasure to protect the household. Prove me that I am wrong but always thinking that all swords we own were made for Samurais is exactly the same way wrong saying that a specific style of menukis would not be used from them......

So beside the discussion you fellows had, which I partly do not understand because my english isn't that good..., you are saying that these menukis are not typical "samurai style" So my extract then, or speculation is, that these menukis where made around late edo time where it became more peaceful in Japan? Interesting anyway because the sword I would like to use them for is from around 1750 which would be a nice fit then! YES, I don't want to collect them as single pieces, I try to find period matching Kodogu to complete the sword and get a koshirae made for it So if anyone has some fuchi kashira from that period and a nice hefty tsuba for a wakizashi, I am open for offers. Hefty because the sword is also a very strong piece! Blade length : 45.7cm or 18.0nches.
 Sori : 0.9cm or 0.354@inches.
 Width at the hamachi : 2.985cm or 1.175inches.
 Width at the Kissaki: 2.31cm or 0.91 inches
 Kasane : 0.85cm or 0.335 inches. Era : late Edo period (1740 – 1760).

Hello Members, I was on a weapon Tradeshow today in Kassel/Germany. I had the hope to find a nice gendai koshirae for me, but unfortunately there was only junk well overpriced. These guys really think because it is of Japanese origin they can get wahtever price they are asking for..... There was one finnish seller that had really impressive swords. Unfortunately I am lausy in reading kanjis so I could not identify the smidth. But it had a reall nice hamon, like a regulary heartbeat wave pattern. very nice! So I ended up with these menukis. Can someone who is more familiar with these try to explain what I got? Here are the pics: P.S. US$ 148!

Hmm, for me it looks like a simple oil lamp holder. Or some fantasy forging. Anyhow, it does not look old for me. I think someone made it some years ago and make it appear old. There are clearly visible welding spots. Andreas

Hi Board, just would like to get your oppinions to this Tsuba I just bought from AOI Art this morning. Its the first Tsuba I have and I think should I ever consider to get a komplete koshirae mad it would be a nice fit to the wakizashi I have from the same period: What do you think/comment?

OK! I did not know that because this smidth was working at Musashi area (Mino?) Here are daylight pix for comparison:

Hi Remy, the Hada is very active but it is because of the light I used in the chamber to get as much details as possible. I will do a picture in daylight tomorrow with a comparison to my katana. Andreas

THX for the nice words. I also think that! I am wondering that it only has "hozon" as I have seen already "tokubetsu hozon" with less quality. But I don't care. The only thing that I am struggeling with is the boshi. It is really hard to see. I think the Kissaki was re-polished and the proper stones were not used. The bit I can see looks like Jizo with a bit of hakikake combined. Strange combination....... I will try to picture it a bit better using a polarized filter on the cam. I am in love......... :lol:

shall we bet :lol:

Hmm, is this sword so ugly that nobody will comment on it ? I had o view on it nearly every evening for two hours and I am really impressed about the sunagashi and kinsuji. Campred to with my gendai kanenaga Sword it is much more interesting to look at.

Simply a lie! It is true that EMS is now privatized but even so, this does not effect the insurance that is given form EMS. You can read the conditions here: http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/ems/se ... ge_en.html There is no exclusion of nihonto mentioned there. So even if all of this is true, I am sure thatthe seller claimed to collect the insurance fee from youu. In that case it is his risk that the money extra spended will be used to cover a loss. I am sure he is rippin you! Ask for the tracking #.

Thanks a lot, no the sword came "just" in shirasaya. The problem with full mountings is, once you decided you will make some for a sword, you can be sure you will never get the money back once you will sell a blade. But I am quite sure that this blade will stay with me as my personal "protector" as long I will stay on this planet. So, let's see :D Different to my first buy, a nice Gendaito in full polish from Kanenaga, that I am sure I will sell as soon somebody has interest in it. It was my first buy to get some experience. It is a true japanes hand forged sword mae from tamahagane, made as one of the last in the bushido tradition, but, it still stays a gendaito and so there is no history with this... :| And compared with this hefty waki, if you have both close to another, uhhh, it looks like a toothpick :lol:

Hello NMB Members, you may have noticed that Remzy and me had a little "run" at AOI and he was a bit faster in receiving his beauty. I received my sword on monday and had to "overhaul" my old camera to take some macro shots of the blade. My first impression of this sword was "Hey man, this wasn't forged for fun, it was made for "serious business". It is such a masive blade that it looks like a "machete", these jungle knifes to cut away little trees. The kasane is 0,85mm or 0.335 inches. Compared with my Katana the Katana looks like a tiny toy! But lets pictures speak! Description: Signature: Fujita Oumi Kami Fujiwara Tsuguhira. Horeki 11 Nen 2 Gatsuhi. Blade length : 45.7cm or 18.0nches.
 Sori : 0.9cm or 0.354@inches.
 Width at the hamachi : 2.985cm or 1.175inches.
 Width at the Kissaki: 2.31cm or 0.91 inches
 Kasane : 0.85cm or 0.335 inches. Era : late Edo period (1740 – 1760). Shape : The blade is wide and very thick healthy blade. Both sides of the blade has Bo-Hi and Soehi. Jitetsu : Itame hada well grained with much Jinie attach. Hamon : Niedeki Suguha hamon and in Ha, there are many sunagashi and Kinsuji work. The sword has Uramei and is healthy in sosyuden style. Special feature : Tsuguhira was working at Musashi province. TSUGUHIRA ÔMI NO KAMI NIDAI [ENKYÔ 1744 MUSASHI] SHINTÔ CHÛJÔSAKU He is called Fujita Yabei, and he lived in Bushû Kanda. His style continues that of the shodai, and his works are few. According to the authors of the Tsuguhira oshigata collections, it seems that many of his katana are suriage. (Wazamono)

Hello Remzy, congratulations! Nice blade. I just got mine this mornig from the customs. I can underscore the general comments to AOI Art. Mine is exactly as described and there are no surprises, except positives! My collegue who is collector since years just made the comment: Wow, the smidth who made this blade did'nt forge it for fun. This is a blade for use! I never saw a massive blade like this! I will post some pictures. Just a question. I have seen on your pictures that Katsushige sended you a light lilac sword bag that has exactly the same colour the the sword bag of my first sword I bought from him. The Waki came in a dark lilac bag that is not such a nice fit. Would you change your swordbag with mine maybe? It would look nicer on my sword stand to have the same colour twice. The bag I have is a very nice thick silk on, just the colour is to dark. Regards Andreas

Hi Brian, yes it's true. sometimes at CET 22:00 or later, the board cannot be reached. I can offer you to move your board (database) to one of my domains. I have 30GB of Webspace and no traffic limitation. As I am not able to give something for the raffle, this would be my "drop in" to support this board and to reduce your costs! I also have one Domainname available which you can choose eg. NMB-Board.com or something like that. Andreas P.S. I will get in contact with Richard Stein to ofer him the same as he also has a lot of "traffic reached" problems at his geocities sites. Would'nt that be a great idea to merge this wonderful board with his exceptionally nice Informationbase? All on one page available?