Mark S.

Oh no… I hope I didn’t give you the impression I thought you were lazy. I just tried to give some info that would help with the ‘hunt’ which is what I enjoy too. Although, being a beginner I get stuck quite often. Which leads me to a request. In your original picture of the nagasa information, there were a couple kanji I did not recognize. I believe the measurement started with 7 sun(?) and then a couple kanji I don’t recognize. It may have been 11 and then something that followed??? Should have been bu or rin but it didn’t look familiar. Could you please repost that pic and if you have translation, I would appreciate it. Thanks

In an effort to assist, I’ll add a paper for one of my blades to see what you can get.

Before we just give answers, maybe review this info first and let us know what you can figure out and then where you still need help.

A little more daisho info from Darcy: https://blog.yuhindo.com/daisho-and-daishoisnt/#more-885

I did not ask specifically… but because there was activity in the shinogi, I think he left it unburnished / less burnished to aid in identification. I’m completely good with it, and would rather have a chance to see the activity. Also, I had blade under bright LED lighting for pics which really highlighted the activity, but also made it look much coarser than it is in hand.

Saw this one on-line. It was the only 2 pictures and honestly it didn’t fall in the ‘take a chance’ category, but I thought I would ask.

After discussing with Woody, he felt Sashikomi would be best with this blade to bring out detail. I trusted his judgement.

Oh… and it has been asked in the past how much steel is removed during polish. This wakizashi had a nagasa of 44.1cm and ended with a length of 43.97cm - pre-polish weight was 355 grams and 350 grams post-polish. Of course, this information is anecdotal and based simply on what Woody felt the blade needed.

I just knew that the nobu was wrong but the closed looking ‘box’ portion in the lower right of the kanji threw me. Thank you for today’s lesson Steve.

I sent 2 blades to Woody Hall for polish. First one came back. I’ll post a couple ‘before’ pics, then several after pics, and finally some combined pics showing details of before and after. I’ll apologize up front to you and Woody about the quality of my photos. As is usually stated “much better in hand”. The lighting tended to whiten quite a bit of the activity and makes blade look much more ‘course’ than it is. I think Woody did an excellent job bringing out the activity in this blade.

兼信 Kanenobu? I am not sure about the first kanji… and am a bit shaky on the ‘nobu’…

My knowledge of tsuba is very limited. Saw this one recently but have no clue what I’m looking at. Any opinions of this one? Mei translation? Is a gold-ish signature normal? Is this tsuba just a decorative item? Thank you.

It also looks like nakago (tang) has been cleaned which will affect value.

Small typo… but Ray caught it in his reference… Kanemori

I tried to do a quick search but was unsuccessful… has there ever been a thread discussing how a polisher treats/polishes horimono? Special techniques, stones and tools? I think it would be extremely interesting! Sorry if it has already been addressed and I just didn’t try hard enough.

Agreed… have learned this first hand on a couple of occasions in the past. One was an ‘infamous’ thread that did not end well. I also have a blade that just came back from polish and another I am waiting for. Both will be going to Shinsa next year (hopefully). The first was thought to be from a school that few seem to like. Not sure I want to share it now or after it comes back from Shinsa… or ever. Will see on the second only because it had a (possibly) more interesting history. As I like to say, I collect in the more ‘conservative’ segment of the community. Sometimes best to just enjoy on my own.

Last 3 kanji are: Hisa kuni saku (“Hisakuni made this”) Still working in first 2 (province).

Two blades sold at a recent auction. I have two questions about nakago I saw on two blades. I’m not asking for opinion on whether you think they are shoshin… it has more to do with condition of one and mei placement on another to help me address a lack of experience on my end. First blade was listed as a Hosho Sadamune. The condition of the nakago threw me, and I have seen this on a couple other blades in the past. They only way I can describe it is the bottom half of the nakago looks ‘muddy’??? Is this natural aging/patina or is there something else going on? The second blade was listed as a 14th Cent Rai Kuniyoshi tachi. While it is signed tachi-mei, is the mei placement above the mekugi-ana correct/common or a red flag? Not asking if mei is good… just not sure if placement is correct?

There were some high end names but none with papers or ‘in-polish’, and few even in acceptable old polish. There may be a few hidden gems, but most were going to require work to find out. There were some nice looking koshirae in the mix.