Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini

Just discussed it on another board. Here how it looks like a on a modern copy :

There is a couple generations of Hizen smiths that usually signed Katanamei, but this, and beliving my gut, it looks like EDIT : didn't notice ia a Waki. Katanamei doesn't really matter.

Piers, Ian, Moriyama-san, you're making my lurking extremely educational.

As we don't know the intentions of the owner/poster and just to be sure noone get hurt I would highlight that this particular blade might cut once, two or even ten times thru flesh but it is not reliable. If you can't rely a blade, then it's doomed under the practical point of view , no matter if the defects it already has falls into the "listed fatal flaws" or not (yet but almost for sure the next polish). Please don't cut with this blade.

Guess now is fixed as it works fine for me.

Well, in that case I would ask the togishi an opinion when sending the blade, just to be sure. As said, this board is not Shinsa

Reinhard is right. IMHO this close the matter as, even if Daimei by shinkai existed, as per the link I provided, seems this is not the case.

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Izumi_no_Ka ... a_mei.html

Hi-res pics of the whole pages sent via e-mail. Hope it helps.

Sorry for your troubles John. I've not the book so can't help out.

This would explain because of Odachi can be inteded also as show-off of a smith's ability, in offers to temples.

IMHO this statement is used in a context that can be misunderstood by people that have no knowledge about the whole process. Phisically, it was impossible for Kinmichi to make such a number of swords in that time without most of the work made by others, meaning they were no more "Kinmichi swords" as implied in the statement, but simply "swords". More, smiths and polishers have a limited number of "working hours" in their body, no matter how strong and healty the artisans are, being these stressing works. A smith that have achieved a top rank would have saved his back and bones for better works. It would be even against the interest of the same Ieyasu to ruin his best swordsmith in order to have a lot of lesser swords that were perfectly affordable (as far as technical skill goes) by others. This make the statement quiet useless as an example of good smiths making crap swords. Maybe other examples can fit better.

If it's not a naturalized American, Anton sounds more appropriate for an Hungarian. Antoni should be more "Rumanian".

Hi Morita-San. PM read. I'll revert as soon as possible. Tsubame Project is a digital storage of information about Nihonto and Samurai weaponry from every source, scans from book, internet, whole websites, everything. It's no more available on DVD as advertized on my website because of the size reached. I've to update the homepage.

Go figure I sent a PM to Moriyama-San instead of to Morita-San Guess it has been a very hard week for both of us.

Moriyama-San or Morita-San ? I made the same mistake in a PM and hope to be not the source of the misunderstanding... :lol:

I've asked a picture of the obverse to help you out, just in case...

U$ 223 seems fair. Just arrived the Fedex invoice of my last purchase : 217 Eur (15 being custom fees, labeled antique, single long sword).

I envy you so much. No more sure to envy you.

The same from me to Germany. Sadly I can't help you on the age of this item. The Ian B. that replied to you is the well-known Ian Bottomley, quiet an authority in the field of the different battle items and Samurai weaponry. Guess a PM to him... ? Remember that to judge an item from pitcures can be like gambling. Best.

Anyway, here a picture of an hagiri due to stress :

That support the "sumie" statement that Hagiri can be due to external reasons too and not exclusively from hardening.

Reverse engineering : A proper therm for a tempering crack is yaki-ware. Hagiri can mean a crack inducted by impact during use : http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/flaws.html

Hairline cracks in tempered part of swords of every culture can occur under situations of stress close or not close to the point of impact, either they are called hagire or anything else. This can or cannot affect the ability of making other strikes till the weak point is pushed to its limit. Think at the blades broken near the habakimoto. A blade is like a chain. It can face the stresses as long as its weakest link (point) can. It can give you a warning with a crack in the temperline or suddenly break in your hands.