JohnK

Thanks Paul. Many antiques are restored even when they're not financially viable, even when they're not particularly notable. I'll try and take it to a To-do Society meeting and get some opinions. At approx €650 I don't feel that I'm too badly done to as it has a beautiful hamon and had so plenty to study.

Hi Grey. This was very cheap! Still, I'm less concerned about the financial outcome as I simply want to get the blade looking as good as possible. I think a signed wak in excellent polish is likely to cost a lot more. Additionally, where's the fun in just picking up a signed, papered already polished sword? I want to go on a journey and learn, possibly the hard way!

I've recently purchased a nice mumei wakizashi to aid in my study. Close examination reveals what looks like a horizontal crack in the hamon just below the kissaki. Where the crack terminates near the kissaki it seems to continue on the other side. I didn't pay much for the blade so flaws are not an issue for me, I'm just wondering if a polish is a waste of time and simply make it worse? Any help is greatly appreciated. John.

Wow! Thanks for all the help and encouragement, I really appreciate it. I've checked out Marcus's site and I'll follow the rest of the links too. Big thanks for the invite to the UK Token Society too. I'll be sure to join up. It's clear that the best method of learning is to see these swords in hand with knowledgeable collectors so I'll do my best to get out and about. Does anyone know if the Birmingham As Fair is worth attending from a Nihonto point of view? I have an interest in flintlock too so I'll probably go along just for that.

Here in South West England there's not much on the way of shows or exhibits. Travelling to London is prohibitively expensive to do regularly however I intend to visit the British Museum. The Ashmolean museum in Oxford has some blades I believe but neither of these will allow in hand study.

Thanks chaps. It was on my list but with such a bewildering range of potential books it would be too easy to spend far too much without progressing my knowledge very far. I'll get Nagayama's book and take it from there. If I can get as far as identifying the era and tradition then I'll be delighted. I don't expect to get as far as school or smith but you never know until you try. Once I've done my homework I'll post on here so I can learn from my rookie mistakes. It's a fascinatingly deep topic and I'm certain that I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this hobby. John

Having dipped my toes into Nihonto waters I'm now looking to study one ofy swords. It's a mumei wakizashi and I want to do some sleuthing. I have Yoshihara's Art of the Japanese Sword and The Sword of Japan by Bott. What is the next logical reference tome for me? I know nothing about the sword and I don't want to simply post pics and ask for opinions as I want to genuinely learn how to kantei myself. Given that I don't know any other collectors and opportunities to study swords in person is limited I'm looking for some good reference guides before I submit an opinion to this forum. Any help would be greatly appreciated! John

Thanks for all the responses and opinions, it's really appreciated. Once I'd got the sword in hand you'll be pleased to know that I've decided to keep it original. It needs a new habaki as the one on there doesn't fit properly and the tsuka is badly cracked so I'll probably just replace those while retaining the original koshirae and menuki. It's truly would be a shame to remove much of the history by 'restoring' it. I've also heeded your advice and just purchased a mumei bare wakizashi which I'll reunite with some period koshirae. I'm actually looking forward to having a go at hishigami, wish me luck! I'll be certain to post the progress on here so others considering taking on a similar project can learn from my inevitable mistakes! So far this forum has been a gold mine of information and the sales board feels like a safe place for a beginner to purchase from. Far less risky than eBay for sure. Big thanks to Lev (Death Ace on here) for my first seamless transaction! I'm now considering liquidating some of my previous collections to fund more, and better quality blades as I become more knowledgeable.

Thanks Geraint, some good points. I've already ordered both books so I'll gain a good understanding of the art and craft regardless of what I decide. I would definitely keep the mounts together as I agree that ultimately the blade and the fittings should remain together. Perhaps a mumei wak should be the way to go then.

Thanks Ed. I've restored an antique persussion pistol before which involved carving a whole new stock so a tsuka shouldn't provide too many challenges by comparison. Inletting the lock was a good introduction to precision carving, tsukamaki looks like a fun challenge but ultimately not impossible. I welcome all suggestions and I'll be sure to post detailed photos when it arrives shortly.

I'm not a trained nihonto specialist however making a tsuka would be relatively very simple woodwork. I've certainly no intention of trying polishing or anything destructive.

Apologies. It's still in shipping at the moment but here's the seller's pics from their original purchase from a dealer. There's a small chip on the hamachi which I assume can be polished if it's an issue. As soon as it arrives I'll take better pics so that all flaws can be easily seen. I'm aware it's likely of no particular merit and issues such as a 1mm boshi at the kissaki wouldn't warrant a full restoration from a value perspective but I'm rather keen to get the best out of it, learning the hard way most likely! I'm really interested in whether remounting it is generally accepted? I can always reuse any new mounts on a better blade in the future if I so choose. ReportV6379462088104.pdf

So I've been lurking here and taken the plunge and purchased a wakizashi in type 98 mounts. The blade is either late Koto or early Shinto and I'm weighing up what to do with it. I can either leave as is in a poor polish and study it, or polish the blade and remount it in period fittings. I'm not looking to sell this at any point, so there's no deception involved with remounting. I'm also aware that polishing will be expensive and not worth it monetarily. However, I love to tinker and restore. Was considering getting some edo furniture from Aoi and then making a tsuka to fit. Thoughts? Is this heresy or not? John.