ggil

Actually the tsuba is pretty nice and may well warrant restoration. Sorry for my old post devaluing it.

Don't know, but that hamon is incredibly beautiful (from this distance) to me.

Wow the net part is really finely chiseled. Amazing that the steel has held up so well over time. Looks much better without the bling!

upon close inspection, the iron and copper foundations look to be soldered together with gold (or gold colored alloy like brass). I can see a faint line of it where the surfaces don't meet perfectly. Maybe the reason for the black coating where the mei is: copper/gold oxidation spreading from the gold solder. I really love these pieces!

Better pictures needed.

Very cool pictures Darius! The spots seem to be surface oxidation, or I mean they are physically attached to the metal. I don't think anything short of an abrasive will remove them. I would learn to love them. I don't really understand the uchiko process, or I mean that I wouldn't try it if the blade was mine, before somebody demonstrated how repeated uchiko doesn't harm a polished blade's finish. Maybe they are doing it by the book: very cautiously (without pushing the grit hard into the metal), and over and over many times??? I have read (and believe) that uchiko is fully capable of damaging a polish, but maybe this is because people don't do it right. I have tried uchiko, but I don't hardly ever use it (just over oil is what I do to my nihonto). GOod luck and be careful with that beauty of a blade!

Nice blade to fiddle with. Be careful! EDit: Agree with Grey: live with them, or was he saying to find a sword polisher to live with (apprentice to)? Either way, fully agree ????

I don't think Cyril is on the board. He ought to be though, so I could finally understand what he is saying! Talking to him on the phone can be rough with the heavy Czech accent????

I would ask Cyril, he maintains an expansive library and likely saved these newsletters as well.

Strange how 2 of 3 faces show excellent workmanship, but the person on horse back has no face. I wonder if this was damaged at some point and repaired? Great pieces in my opinion!

It looks like it may go pretty high. $800 already (10 bids) with 9 days left.

Good horimono to my eyes. Lifelike and natural looking, but the eyes make the dragon look Chinese, sort of. Must be a nice hada and hamon, but translating the page on my iPhone isn't easy for me. Someone didn't think it's overpriced, it seems. Seems like a new one could be made for that much. Is the smith a really highly ranked one?

Iron with inlay: I would say gloves here too, because the dissimilar metals suffer galvanic corrosion faster with acids present, I am thinking. The PDF says especially shibuichi shouldn't be touched at all without gloves.

...Oh the Brits and their proper English grammar in my experience, very expensive tsuba get the 'white glove treatment' However, I cringe whenever my daughter touches any of my pieces. She washes her hands before and after....death and birth, respectively. I'm pretty sure if I could somehow extract her skin grime, it could be sold as a industrial rust remover.

$89! That is freaking awesome! will you please post some pictures of what $89 can get you?

If you are willing to spend some time scouring and 'watching' on eBay, you can find deals no doubt. Not for med or high end mostly decent low end stuff deals, but even some med and high end comes through once in a while. It gets easier with practice, glancing over the Chinese fakes. There are about 6 Japanese dealers I like to check out for fittings. Everything I own came from eBay. All blades but one were bought from US resellers who don't specialize in nihonto, and I am very happy with my blade purchases: (I have been equally fortunate when it comes to fittings - maybe quite a bit more so, in fact) - $220 mumei 22" nagasa foot soldier one hand blade in the Yamato style, 73mm motogasan, 17th-18th C (in sandpaper polish but w/o foundation damage, no habaki, almost flawless forging) -$137 mumei 18" nagasa wak with excellent mino-like hamon lots of features, 63mm motogasan, 16-17th C (old polish w very minor pitting, almost flawless forging) -$300 forge stamped/signed police short saber w real blade and excellent condition fittings, large edge chips in 2 spots but polishable (no plans here for that) - (police issue turn of 20th C) -$650 signed "takada fusamori" wak with excellent hamon features and impeccable foundation polish - no papers, but am hopeful for shoshin -$550 mumei tanto/wak in old koshirae, 65mm motokassan, munemachi, 2 nail catchers near tip, lovely lacquer on the Saya, beautiful sugata blade -$1000 signed showato? in shirisaya, mokume and masame hada (this Showa school was known for flashy hada) purchased from a Japanese dealer on eBay Jamie does have a good point, but my money is on Mr. Benson's feeling of what the blade is (if Jason is being completely transparent in relaying Mr. Benson's appraisal) Jason (Chango) may not be in the red per say, but maybe he is being risky buying eBay signed blades in poor polish (although it seems he was actually lucky thus far). Probably not a good idea to press luck, but there may be money to be made buying like Jason is, who knows. Can't forget that the odd master-work does come through time to time.

The crane tsuba really looks like a peacock to me Great prices for us lucky board members!

I only have the stuff to use to make up a lapping compound, but if your going to get some at least from a REAL source. I agree, uchiko on a polished blade is a good way to undo the polisher's fingerstone work, put a bunch of light scratches down the blade , and of course make it harder to study. I am also learning that blades dont need oil either, but rather need to be clean and dry. This last one is hard for me to accept, with my days of maintaining electrical devices and the gains realized with anti-corrosion grease, over time. I may never be able to swallow the last idea, and my blades may forever have a nasty oil sheen on them, and all my sayas full of crud.

I think your Menuki look great as is, no cleaning needed. They definitely are a little nicer than mine too! Always regret cleaning things as they seem to lose character and look too new, but my Menuki were rotting away with rainbows of corrosion, and I wanted to preserve them over retain the investment value. If ours were cast they came from separate molds, although at quick glance they seem similar enough to have come from the same mold. Great picture of the hamon, btw!

Max, What material are the hinges? Buffalo Horn? What about the keeper mechanism? Ivory? Very impressive shirasaya! My hat is off to you for commissioning this work and sharing it here.

I agree, get uchiko from a real polisher instead of China. It's amazing that The Chinese crap costs anything, when a trained polisher actually going to the trouble of drying their fingerstone water then sifting it, costs relatively little.

Grev, how do I get the index index? How do I pay the $10 and download the PDF?

Haynes! So sorry guys I feel like a real dumbass again. Haynes put out catalogs, I recall. Thanks Thierry and everyone, especially James for the unintended pointer I needed. Maybe this post could be renamed Nihonto books for dummies, or something. Maybe, "what to do with Hawley and Haynes numbers" Just bought the index for $135 shipped Amazon. Hopefully the condition is ok. Almost 3x More than any book I've bought.

OK, so I need to find Hawleys book on fittings (the item in question is a F/K set), and there may be multiple editions. Does that sound about right? What is the name of the particular book (or book set) that I'd need for F/K?

Lets say somebody such as John Stuart (Thanks again John) is so kind to refer me to a Hawley number for some art I'm asking about. Will someone please tell me: how do I take that number and make something of it? Do I have to buy/borrow a specific book (or more likely ask someone at a club meeting to help me out)? I'm getting sick of myself asking you all to do everything for me.