Daso

Grey, thanks. We're these factory forged stainless or similar steel or actual folded tamahagane?

Jean, sorry I just noticed that the photos were reoriented from the original I has uploaded. I will correct orientation. Funny, I definitely though Japanese garbage, but the thought of Chinese never occurred to me. The ware in the blade and non smashed tip lead me to believe poor old tired Japanese blade. Does one see these types of flaws in Chinese knockoffs. this will just have to be my tabletop conversation piece. Might practice using uchiko powder on it as practice tool as well. Would never tough one of my good polished blades

Exactly what I was trying to confirm. Pardon my grammar. Wrote late. It's a letter opener, and I'll keep it as the one sword that friends can learn how to handle before holding real thing. It was a silly move but that's what happens sometimes ???? Thanks for confirming what i thought.

Hello all, Picked up a wakizashi at antique junk shop on way home from vacation ( super cheap) and expect crude looking mei is 100% gimei but there is aa weird symbol above the mey which I can't figure out ( unless it means nothing as well. Any thoughts? Thanks, Darius

That is a beautiful blade. I've recently become very fond of Hira-Zukuri blades with Horimono and bohi. It's the next target on my list.

Thanks Gunome.

Wow, I'm really bad at this!!!! Thank you

Am I completely off base or can this mei be Moriyuki? Only Kanji I can clearly (or sort of clearly decipher) is the middle character Mori (if I'm even right at that). Sorry but I am really trying but it's still hunt and peck Kanji reading.

Grant, Thanks, That's upsetting, but makes sense. I still wonder how it happened in such a linear manner. Oh well. Fix in the future.

Thanks Jean

Thanks Ed, might give the idea a shot then as you said, just chalk it up to leaving it alone since you don't see it without a strong light source aimed at it

Rokujuro, I had posted this in a separate thread and sorry to hijack this one, but you mention alcohol does not work well on glue residue from tape. I am not sure and no-one is whether these dots which appeared after some work to my blade tip are either tape residue or micro abrasions possible from shipping. You can see blade and close up. I want to really see if this is some kind of abrasion in finish or residue but repeated attempts with alcohol and a microfiber cloth remain unsuccessful. What kind of petrol does on use to try and could this damage a nicely polished blade. Thanks, Darius

Greg, i promise I wasn't chopping any coke bottles but how did you get tge residue off? Im scared to really do too much but the high res photos look like splotches of something rather than rust spots (to me at least).

Steve, funny you should ask about tip. I just received a cool little Kickstarter project which attaches to my phone and takes ridiculous microscope pictures. To answer your question, yes the kissaki was reshaped by a Nihonto specialist no question. Now first of all, it's scary to see what the eye can't. This is I believe at 400x so I took an image of the tip and a photo of the purple cloth that everyone has to handle Nihonto. I'm really at a loss for what these dots are. I gave a vigorous rubbing with microfiber and alcohol, but no difference ( bummer). Next question is whether professional Nihonto polishers tape blades to work on them and do you typically use a vice while.reshaping a tip? Here are the reference photos as well as a section of the spots. Let me know what you think. Thanks. Darius

Hello All, Thank you. I'm going to #1 Try using the microfiber cloth and more alcohol and #2 if that doesn't work on this second round, I'm going to take some real close-ups of the dots to see if they become recognizable. #3 I think I need to chill out a bit about my first katana just like first dent in a new car (not that this will stop me from fully taking the best care of it). Thanks, and will update later. Darius

Great on sneakers with gum, but I'm way too scared to put that stuff on my katana :-), I'll try the microfiber and alcohol tonight. Thanks, Darius

James, The dots are so fine you can't really feel them. I didn't want to touch the blade with my fingers too much (maybe I'm over cautious) i case it was any kind of rust and make it worse. Tim, I will give it a try. I was fairly frugal with the alcohol for fear of any effect on finish and used tissue. I'll use a microfiber and more liberal alcohol and report back. the pattern really looks like tape.

Grey, I have Bob Benson's kit sitting in my closet for fear of using it on an otherwise flawless blade. I will likely live with it and should I have another sword polished in the future, send this along with it for a little touch up. I'm going to take a super macro of the spot and post tonight. Tazz, You are not the only person who thought it is masking tape residue, but I gave a fairly decent rub with the alcohol. I didn't go crazy, but might try one more time with a bit more push and a cotton cloth. I attached the katana itself to illustrate why I'm fearful of damaging the finish with my inexperience.

Hello All, I've been taking very good care of my Kiyomitsu and recently had the kissaki redone due to a smll chip at the tip. I've routinely inspected the sword (to learn about it) and while taking a close look at the hamon with a flashlight noticed these dots that wrap around a small (roughly 1 1/2") section of the blade of the blade from edge over mune to edge. I tried wiping it down with a little alcohol in case it might have been adhesive from the work on the tip but it remains. I always have the bvlade oiled and it lives in a nice temperature controlled apartment. It is important to note that you can't really see this without shinning direct light on the area, it is almost invisible while inspectin the blade in normal light. Not sure what I can do here, but knowing it is there bothers me and I guess it could always be polished at a later date. The sword itself is essentially flawless with a good (must be recent) polish. I am scared of using any uchiko powder as I have never tried it before and don't even know if that is the appropriate action. I've also noted that the dots are very linear, almost in an angled line which seems like it couldn't have happened naturally. I don't want to9 sound overly obsessive about the blade, but it was not there before and I want to make sure it doesn't get any worse or I can make it better. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Darius

Darcy, thank you for the heads up. The sword was without question gimei upon further inspection of documents as well.

Makes sense. Sorry for the overly generalized question. Appreciate the message. Besr, Darius

Apologies if this has been asked in a compiled format before and as much as i have learned that Ebay is a typical junkyard of Nihonto, i know that reputable dealers poat once in a while as well as as much as i know Ebay is the junyard, i still peruse it daily out of curiosity. So that being said, is there a list anywhere of the NMB sellers ebay names as well as recognized good dealers? I know that although i did not purchase through ebay, i found a reputable dealer through it and purchased my katana from him. Just one more way of finding out new stuff or old stuff that a dealer might have that is mid level instead of going to all sites all the time.

Thank you. I now The sword is without question Gimei and the Hon'ami fake because of the very helpful first hand knowledge of a board member who cared (like you guys have as well). Thanks All.. Darius

Yes, it is. I don't own it.

Ed, I will look at this closely, when I looked now I can faintly see what you mention but I'll look it closer at home to compare. Thank you, Darius