EdWolf

Thanks Barry! I never tought that there where so many shinto smiths with a title. Do you have a link to the shoshin website? Thanks in advance. Ed

Hi Michael, thanks for your offer. I was more wondering about the fact that a sword buyer paid more for a sword made by a sword smith and his title. The title has nothing to do with the quality of the blade. Maybe it comparable with todays phones. You pay for the hype.

Hi to all, Many Shinto smiths adopted the custom of adding a title to their signature. Smiths put great efforts to acquire titles, since these increases the price of their blades. Is the addition of a title still seen as something that adds value to the blade, today. Do you guys pay extra? Ed

Hi Johnnyi, That’s a good question! I also want to know the answer Regars, Ed

Marius, Thanks for the link to the article! sashikomi polish is very nice. Ed

Marius, I had never heard of a sashikomi polish. Very interesting. Regards, Ed

BaZZa, thank you for your explanation!

The two guys arm wrestling is indeed an unusual scenery.

Thanks, Joe!

Hi BaZZa, Thanks! How can you tell that the tsuba was only crafted for a kogai? Regards, Ed

and a picture of the kashira.

Thanks Stefan!

and some more pictures...

Hi, I have bought a nice Wakizashi from the Edo period. It’s signed Echizen no kami fujiwara yoshikado. It took me almost two hours to figure this out but I managed it on my own I’m learning… The tang is also dated but I can only figure out the first to kanji characters. Kan ‘ei (1624-1644). Maybe one of you can tell me more about the date? The kanji characters on the kogatana are hard to read. I have taken a lot of pictures. Hope you enjoy it. With the camera, I’m using it’s very hard to catch the hamon. The hamon is visible. There is some blade damage at the tip. I think there is some moisture in the saya or the blade was not wel protected by some oil. Regards, Ed

Hi Stephen, Thank you very much! Regards, Ed

And a bad picture....

Hi, I need your help! Next week, I will visit an old guy who wants to sell his Japanese army sword. The blade is made in the traditional way. He claims that this sword is made by a very good smith. Strange enough he can give me the name (he doesn’t remember it). To prepare my visit I need the tang translation. I have tried it myself but this one is very hard. I can only read the last kanji of the signature. SAKU KORE. This is the only picture I have. I hope one of you can help me. Your help will be highly appreciated! Regards, Ed

It looks like varnish. It was common practice by collectors to cover the blade with varnish during the 70's and 80's. I have seen a lot of bayonets, all covered with a coat of varnish. It protects the blade and luckly easy to remove.

Hi Bruce, Your sword turns out great. Was the blade also painted with gold paint or covered with varnish? Regards, Ed

That's too bad. Good luck scraping the paint.

Be sure that the nail polish remover is acetone based.

Use a cotton ball and gently rubbing the golden paint. It will take some time but the paint should come off.

To remove the old paint, you can use nail polish remover. The war time paint doesn’t react to this because it contains lead. The post war paint will come off. Please, start with a small area.

I agree with Bruce. The fact that the paint is added post war doesn’t prove anything else about this sword. I only mentioned the post war paint because Steve thought that the gold color paint was the primer coat. Ed

Hi Steve, I am collecting German helmets for almost 35 years. Detecting fake camouflage paint or post war applied paint is a skill I have developed in these years. The red circles I have painted in the picture is a sign that the gold paint it added at a later stage. Ed