Bruce Pennington

Agree with the bunching, shoved down too far idea on the kabutogane. And I’d add enough seppa as stated. Sounds like a simple fix.

Ooo, so how many variations now?

That is one of the 2 styles Ohmura lists in his type 1 style.

I got to looking at the screws and it's clear the fitter put the screws in to keep the ashi from sliding/moving on the saya.

Well sorry everybody- after looking at a close-up, I realized the original up top is a boars eye, it just has a screw at the top of it which to my poor eyes on my small phone looked like a totally unique pattern. Sorry!

A beautiful custom gunto! I’ve never seen that pattern ashi before? Neil? Have you seen this?

That's a new one for the books Neil! Thanks for posting!

Interesting. Seems to be Ohmura’s type 2 with that spring

Dang, Stephen, never noticed your post count till you mentioned that! You must have started posting when you were 12, right!? Or maybe you're an old fart, like me!

I think John may be onto something. After re-examining them, each of the ashi on each gunto match in design - leaf style, ridges along bands or no ridge, etc - and are clearly made by the same maker, therefore not added later. The odds of someone, post-war, adding a removable ashi onto a 98 that EXACTLY matches the design of the first ashi, is astronomical. Neil, sorry for stirring up the pot! But I think my first idea was still the correct one - something causes wear on the top ashi that doesn't affect the bottom one (or as John proposed, the second one was often removed and reserved for formal use; but that is something I have not read definitively about).

Mr Rim, may I call you Pacific?, (Ha, please go to your settings and give us a real person's name, forum rules), Nice looking gunto, there! I have felt the same thing, in general. Although, you'll find quality variations in all the years of the war, hence the need for arsenal inspectors. So far, though, the lowest quality Japanese work is, for the most part, a cut above the product being put out by the fakers. It's usually noticable in the finer details of the artwork (leaves, petals, etc).

Brandon, I wondered about that idea as well. On a couple of them, the second ashi still has the gold edge paint where the top one doesn’t.

Logan, Please DON’T stop posting. It is how we all hone our knowledge base and skills. Honestly, I haven’t seen one quite like this, myself, and have enjoyed looking it over. My gut would be to call it a fake, but I’ve been wrong on some oddball stuff before. The nakago does look too long, and the kanji work sloppy, but I can’t read them so I don’t even know if they are real or not.

It's interesting that the wear on the top ashi head is greater than on the lower head. The top ones must rub against the belt or something that the lower one doesn't touch.

Latest one from this NMB thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29234-old-blade-or-showa-blade/ On a (likely) older blade, but marked 1935, for test cutting in 98 fittings (94 with missing ashi?)

Neil, Don’t know if you have the time, but I would enjoy seeing examples of all five.

Ohmura only shows three:

Yes, I hope to scout around and find one. Interesting to hear of the variety, but then like all things gunto, every manufacturer had its own variations.

For those who may never have had one of these in hand. I just picked this one up, unfortunately the seller didn't have the screw-on top ring, but it's cool to just have one! The removable collar has a "15" stamped on the underside. Don't see a number anywhere else on it. Thought it was interesting to see the maker had lined the inside with leather. The botton of the hinge joint is so well made that the seam almost doesn't show when all closed up.

This gets worse: a Kanemitsu with a "Okada" hotstamp. PLUS, just came across this on Japaneseswordindex, http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/teruhide.htm, where the same kakihan is used by Ishido Teruhide and Ishido Mitsunobu (same guy?)

Like the housing market - what's good for the seller is bad for the buyer, and vice versa. Falling prices are great for those of us who mostly buy and collect, and are not buyer/sellers. Ha! "Make prices for the buyer great again!"

Updated Stamps Doc 2.0 Includes several hotstamps, the beginnings of a Kakihan collection, a few examples of Buddhist Bonji, and the 4-stamped 95 fuchi above. In collecting the hotstamps, I've discoverd two blades by Kanemitsu, one with a Kaneuji registered trademark and one with kanji that says "Okada" (don't know if that is a personal name or a location). But a new mystery - why would a smith use hotstamps that aren't his own? I thought the whole idea of the hotstamp was to be a personal mark identifying his own work?

Thanks Steve. 50% is an improvement for me, I'm learning! And the July/June was a tired brain mistake. I see the difference now after comparing the two names, thanks.

Marzio, I'm really bad at translations but my take is: Yoshimitsu of Bisu https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/yoshmits.jpg No date given, but if I'm right, he was a WWII era smith.

Tom, The real experts will answer for you soon, but I like trying (and am rarely right! though I can read the dates) 1. Toshiharu https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/toshharu.jpg dated Mar 1945 2. Kiyotsugu https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/kiyotsug.jpg Dated July 1945