PxN13

I'm on the burn side as well... The problem would with mounting would be finding a habaki that fits (which I believe is extremely rare) or having one made to the spec of the blade which is somewhat costly.... Not sure if you do want to mount it since you're unlikely to recoup the costs of even the mount itself (even a basic non Japanese mount + habaki would be around $1k in my experience) . Could be worth mounting if you want to get into iaido.

Me too! I know at this point that I'm not experienced enough to take a risk at buying his blade, but it was interesting to see his general reputation around here when I first joined.

That's what I thought....just looked so odd. For a blister that occurs in the hamon/kissaki area..is that fatal? My novice understanding is that that may be bad-very bad if a bister or crack occurs in the hamon/kissaki area.

I didn't know Komonjo has such a poor reputation. His stuff always look somewhat decent, usually just unfinished or lower quality shinsakuto from what I assumed were relatively new or unknown smiths. Just curious but what is your opinion on daimyou54eb? He's got interesting things pop up every now and then but it seems that his reputation around here is mixed unless the blade is papered.

Hi all! I've been trying to learn up more on flaws and spotting them and encountered an interesting one I'm not seeing a lot of results for (probably because I don't really know the exact term for it). Anyway, does anyone know the terminology for what this flaw is (picture attached)? My assumption is it's not a fatal flaw since the sword was papered but I'm not really sure what it could be. I think it might be an opening but the indentation seems different... Cheers!

Surprisingly it is not one of his. And that was another strange thing I found as well - it looks like a katana-sized tanto. At first I thought it may be a shobu-zukiri but I haven't seen one like this before either.

Looking at this sword right now and the way the nagako is cut and finished ooks a bit suspect, but the rest of the blade looks really good. Anyone has any thoughts on this?

I had to do a double take. I'm sure this sword is as Japanese as chicken tikka masala

I've been periodically hunting swords on ebay for the past couple of years but this is the first time I've seen something this crazy. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Samurai-Katana-authentic-Demascus-Wakizashi-Tigers-Saya-Signed-Blade/254855806750?hash=item3b5696ff1e:g:J4kAAOSwdNpgG0ZR

Hi all, I saw this blade from daimyou54eb and really liked the hamon, so I made a random offer on it ($1200) and he accepted. Upon closer inspection, it seems like the blade is definitely on the tired side - but I'm still really considering it. Does anyone have a different opinion? Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/KATANA-sword-w-Koshirae-EDO-38-4-25-3-1-09kg/353315304075?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649 Best, Paul

Quick update. I figured out that kaiserl. is short for kaiserliche, which means imperial in German. At first I was a little puzzled on why the l is there, and the use of kaiser as well but out it down to a mistranslation.

I'd make an offer but I want to hold out if anyone can translate the name on the nagako.

Thanks! I'm still a newbie when I comes to these things but that is a lot better than I thought. It it made it past to or past the hamon line that would've been a fatal flaw I believe but this may be fixable.

My understanding is for unsigned and undated blade, even with NTBHK certificate, it's pretty much an educated guess of the period of when the blade came from (if they narrowed it down to a school). If they narrowed it down to a specific smith, it's still not really possible to 100% confirm when the blade was made short of like.... Carbon dating.

Do you have a closer shot of the chip on the blade, looks quite wide and deep.