Mark S.

OUTSTANDING!!! But I must say it was even better to be there to see them in person, and handle them, all while hearing the backstories from Mr Broms himself. Thank you for taking the time to put this together and getting permission to post. My early vote for 'pinned' status...

Excellent show as always!!! Wonderful 'hands on' display of tsuba by NBTHK. I know pictures were taken, but I'm not sure if permission was granted to post them or if it was even in the plans. Hope it happens in some form, but I'll have to let others speak to that. Also got to meet SwordGuyJoe and his daughter. She was an absolute angel and an extremely good sport about being dragged around the show! My personal thanks to those who work so hard to make this show happen... from the people that organize it, to the vendors that come and spend money on tables, and then let people handle their items and answer questions or offer friendly banter, to the ladies up front that register us with smiles and a kind word... what a wonderful opportunity it is to have this show literally in my back yard. Without their dedication, shows like this would simply disappear... Mark S.

Ya know... if we all weren't friends here... that statement could come across wrong... Just kidding! Always love to see the future generations at the shows. I'll be there Saturday and looking forward to the show. Always too much to see and take in... and that is such a good thing. Mark S.

What I am always fascinated by is how blades survived over the years, all they have been through, and what they have seen. 1) Use at the time it was made and in following years? 2) Daily carry or combat? 3) One or more sword collections/confiscations? 4) Traded back and forth, given as rewards? 5) Dropped on the battlefield and subsequently picked up for use? 6) Sat in a castle storeroom? 7) Shortened once or more times? 8.) Polished ? times? 9) Remounted for WW2? 10) Survived mass collection and destruction orders... or the GI who brought it home to slice the shrub hedge with it? 11) Survived the years since... Combine one or more factors above (and any others you wish to add) and it is amazing these blades are here today. Just how does a blade several hundred years old survive to today? Mark S.

Thanks Brian... and all... Lesson(s) learned.

Jean, Yes, unfortunately it won't let you search for words less than 4 letters, so "den" was out. In the interim, another member kindly pointed me to exactly what I was looking for. Mark S.

Not trying to sidetrack this thread, but if my memory serves there was a thread or article or ? that discussed "Den" and its meaning and 'attribution' vs. 'in the style of'... does anyone remember it and have a link to that? All VERY interesting! Mark S.

Thought I saw some darker spots/areas of nie along edge of hamon (which is why I guessed Naotane) which may have been the pics, or just me looking for something a little 'different'.

Shinshinto Naotane

Anything special planned yet? Presentations, displays, etc? Thanks, Mark

How much matcha DO you drink?!?!

All, Just updating this a bit. Finally took a few photos that capture the activity I was asking about before. A small red line in each pic highlights the location. Most of the blade is suguha with a very tight nioi-deki, except at this one point. Upon closer inspection, it looks like two very small darker oval areas side by side surrounded by nioi. Is there a name for this activity? Still have not found a good pic of fuschi, so I am not sure if this is it, or would it simply be referred to as midare? The first pic just gives an overview of the suguha hamon. The second two highlight the activity. Thanks, Mark S.

My bid... Sue-Bizen Norimitsu. Mark S.

As I own 2 mumei blades and like them very much, my following comment has more to do with continuing the discussion vs starting an argument I would think any mumei blade's attribution can be 'questioned'... send a mumei blade to another organization (or even the same at a later date) and the results might be different depending on who is looking at it. Of course, if the blade has been inspected on more than one occasion and the results are the same... or very close to the same, then I think it is much more difficult to 'question'. However, that is one of the things I find interesting about mumei blades (at least relatively good ones). There is always something to find, or discuss, or research that either supports or refutes an attribution. Yes, a signed blade that has been authenticated is a safe bet. A mumei blade will always have a bit of mystery. For some, it is not their cup of tea, for others it is. Mark S.

May I ask if the drawings in the original are relatively dark (not black, but a darker grey) especially in the shinogiji areas of the drawings? They show a lot of detail, and there is quite a bit of contrast between the lighter and darker areas which I assume is supposed to highlight the details... but I have have also seen where 'copies of copes' do tend to get darker. I suppose this would take a side by side comparison. EDIT: Sorry, meant shinogiji area, not mune...

If someone has an original and wants to check: Last numbered page is 355. It is the index. At the top of the page is "unchangeable smiths, 21". Last entry on the page is "Zoto Shinki Ho, 298". The last page before the glossary is page 335. At the top of the page that reads: "are seen, as is rugged patterning. Work- manship looks rather like that of Yamato- den." It is a continuation of smith info Hidari Mutsu Kaneyasu from page 334 On page 304 the last sentence on the page under PATTERN is: "Soshu tradition: Features identical to those of Masayoshi." Page 236 first sentence is: "Kinmichi, ha agari kurijiri is similarly rare in" Page 202 first sentence is: "of the Odawara Soshu school. The smiths" Page 143 first sentence is: "find examples of their work on occasion. The" Page 129 first sentence under PATTERN starts: "ji-nie becomes yubashiri..." Page 90 first sentence starts: "Yukimitsu..." Page 31 fifth sentence down contains a typo and reads: "civil war, in which savages battles were fought". S at end of "savages" does not belong. Only remember this because I read it not too long ago... I tried to randomly pick things as well as pick things that might be 'pushed back' if new info was added. Hope it helps. If any other info would help, let me know.

Ok... guess I should have waited. While originally advertised by Amazon at $75 and then a price drop to $61... two other sources (which can be seen at Amazon) now have the book at $47 and change plus $4 shipping. All I can say is the book is one heck of a lot of invaluable info for around $50!!! Get em while the gettin' is good!

Book arrived.

Ordered Dec. 26 from Amazon Email confirmation that it shipped today Jan 19 Delivery date supposed to be Saturday. For anyone on the fence, I think you are safe to buy...

I figured the best way to confirm all this was to call Oxford Press directly as today was the printing date. The customer service rep kindly confirmed that they "had current stock on these"... Looks like this is actually happening! So I guess the next big question in the future will be if this printing will be considered utsushimono... or simply gimei

Pillar, post, spoke? I think I am tending toward "spoke" as in "spoke of a wheel".

In model building, parts on the 'parts tree' are attached by a 'sprue'.

Amazon just sent me an update email that a delivery date of Jan 25 - 28 has been set. AND the price dropped from an estimated $75 to $61.22

Pumice is usually very gritty... The stone in the video appeared chalky... almost 'soapy' when the blade was drawn across it sharp edge first and seemed to shave several small pieces off.

Pre-ordered Connoisseurs Book from Amazon as a Christmas present to myself... we shall see what happens. Between this re-release of the Connoisseurs Book, and the copy of Facts and Fundamentals I picked up from Amazon back on December 30, 2014 for the princely sum of $32!!!, I figure I have saved literally hundreds if not THOUSANDS of dollars!!! But the big question is... do we order several copies in the hopes that prices will be back in the thousands when they run out again? Mark S.