sean

Never glued. They get stuck over time. If you want to try to remove the handle the traditional way, here's how i learned. Pin's out. Grab the bottom of handle with your whole left fist, so the bottom is flush with your fist...without hitting the tsuba, or hand guard, hit the back of your left fist evenly with your right bottom fist, between the thumb (where the joints form) and 1st finger. Repeat. This might take 10 try's. Really hit hard! This will dislodge a stuck blade without banging on any part of the blade/fittings. Do this in a safe place for the blade to fall if needed. Keep it away from your face at all times. Good luck!

It is an uchigatana from the 1550's is my guess, based on the tip and the length. It's small because it's a "qiuck-draw" sword. One handed sword. One movement pulls it out and strikes. You just can't move the same the same way with a 27 inch blade. Muromachi period...1392-1573 a.d.

Hawks feathers is Mino and Yamato School 900-1530 A.D. Then Mino used it again from 1551-1865. The Samurai Sword, John Yumoto