raynor

Thanks, and on that note I forgot to add thanks to the pig who's bone I went at with a hammer to get my spiky tool of choice..

Very interesting topic. To come at it from another angle you can simplify and toss numbers around like ~13000 known smiths yielded some two to three million blades, then add variables like smith reputation, modern market influencing factors such as the created and perceived eras like koto, shinto and so forth. I am a beginner but I know there is a degree of value inflation (or deflation for the "nobodys") based on the smith reputation game instead of a pure quality based pricing ladder as one could expect for a sword as a tool versus as an art object. Not totally without merit, but sometimes unknown smith X made a blade close if not equal in quality to known smith Y, but X's blade lacks the name or later created era brand to fetch the same price. Another case of this being today a art piece market rather then a quality driven one, although Masamune is at the top mostly for the quality and scarcity of his work (like Da Vinci) rather then him having a well documented eccentric life with say a trail of broken hearts or bones in its wake.

Thank you. Sunlight, smith and toshigi deserve the credit tho.

Well it seems qtip and choji for a week with a gentle nudge using a tiny splint of bone is doing well so far.. red reflection on photos appear gone. And a bonus shot for those in colder climates who forgot what Japanese steel in sunlight looks like I'm Norwegian but have crawled south over the years..

Guntos are creeping towards the $10k mark? I thought it would be another 50 years. I realize these are special niche works, but still. I guess soon only tang scrutiny will tell a real from good fakes.

Anyone have experience with BreakFree CLP Gun Cleaner on swords? It is used by the US military on guns and is so far the only product I would consider for this, asking here first before getting some for applying with a qtip on the pitting.

Congratulations on your first sword and welcome. You got a great learning piece there in my opinion. I'm a fellow Floridian for now and unfortunately cant attend the Tampa show, but my (first) sword will. Speaking of salty Florida air, I'm rolling safe with Choji oil on blade while in shirasaya - overkill?

So I saw this dusty sword in the back of a rural Appalachian Walmart for $15 and.. Joke aside, and to bring this somewhat closer to reality again has anyone for fun thought of assembling a koshirae mentally or even physical resembling the surviving descriptions of the Honjo? It reads like quite the subtle elegant mount. I've come across two translations so far, one a bit slim: And another more substantial: The tsuba, fuchi and kashira seems to my beginner mind a guessing game, maybe mon motifs on them all. I quite like the vision of black lacquered same with indigo leather tsukamaki together with the black saya and purple sageo. As for the menuki it sounds a lot like something like this when reading both descriptions, possibly blackened with gold highlights on the leafs and outer circle only as seen on some old tachi mounts rather then full gold plating. Looks like the fortunately not lost Dojigiri Yasutsuna has koshirae parts that looks limilar to the Honjo description, specifically the tsuba, menuki(?) and fuchi could fit the lines describing the Honjo's koshirae, I take it they were both in the possession of Shoguns which would explain sort of a recurring theme. I am however way out of my depth here and just guessing, but hey, its fun.

Better late then never.. Secrets under habaki and other side of mune near kissaki.

Hi Grey, To clarify I was told shipping blades like that with extra care to package kissaki is "sufficient" by the people handling the mail in submissions, not the shinsa team. Obviously I am going to ship in shirasaya since I have that option.. real or wood habaki remains to be seen, apparently replacing a work hardened copper one is hundreds of dollars. I was just imagining myself asking people to ship valuable swords somewhere, for both the blades and anyone at usps' sake I would have at least also mentioned bubble wrap and a proper tight container. Sure it is a given but then again cups have to state the coffee might be hot.

I wont be able to attend the Tampa show but I am submitting a blade to Shinsa there for the first time. I am told that sending in just the blade wrapped in plastic and newspaper is enough, but in my head it seems natural to send it in its shirasaya unless anyone has advice against it? Also should I send it with original habaki or the tsunagi wood habaki for shirasaya fit, so I dont risk loosing the original? Its my first time letting others handle my stuff without me present, and having not attended a shinsa or US sword show I have no idea what to expect. Any safety or beginner tips?

I am no expert but from the detective work of others it seem almost certain this sword was destroyed or dumped in Toyko bay.. alternatively the officers at the police station realized what Tokugawa had dropped off and whisked the sword away to safety. Also at $60 in an antique shop the owner for sure knew what they had.. no serious dealer in antiques would let a katana go for that unless they did their homework. At least you were not ripped off. Still, nothing wrong with dreaming

I've had some very bad experiences with local usps but 59 volumes and resending the empty box? Horrible, hopefully it works out.

In case I didnt mention it, were I to mount the Edo tsuba in question it would be by paying a professional, my ham hands wont come near it save for yearly choji applications. I might be a novice in these things but I dare say I am not a babbling idiot ???? Thanks for all the input so far.

That does make sense but does the (secret?) Shosoin collections include the imperial swords? Either way to be in care of such works he has to have some credibility, regardless of any internet rumors I think. I would be comfortable knowing someone like that was on the Shinsa bench. Am I wrong in assuming the percieved nbthk vs nthk "rivalry" is something created mainly by (western) collectors online, in light of buying and selling swords?

Is not this the guy who takes care of the imperial collection? Sounds like he would be someones who's judgement should be solid.

Hi Pete, I'm submitting the blade to Shinsa in a couple months with his help since I cant attend the session myself, I plan to run it by him then.

Hi Steven, Thanks for your input. In this case there is no tsuka, I acquired the bare blade in shirasaya with only its habaki, the tsuba would have to be filed to fit the blades nakago as the blade is slightly larger in all directions. Obviously I will leave it to professionals to do both any destructive work as well as creative, like new tsuka and saya etc. I'm interested in peoples view from a philosophical point I recon, as even tho in my case the tsuba in question is no lost treasure it is still an antique with the potential to once again fulfill its purpose and be part of a koshirae versus staying a standalone unaltered piece.

Greetings all, In general what do you think about pairing loose antique fittings with loose antique blades to (re)make koshirae? I am asking mainly about making actual changes to fittings to for example a tsuba to make it fit on a beefier blade, but I am also curious about peoples opinions on this. From a pure preservation standpoint it is obviously a no go but so one could argue regarding the additions of new mekugi-ana or shortening of tangs in days past when these things were tools of war. I have a Kaga shinshinto blade in shirasaya with its copper habaki intact and a tsunagi, as well as a Edo tsuba I think could be a nice starting point for a full mount. The tsuba in question I do not think hold much value, I would obviously not use say a well preserved, papered and signed work for this. Attaching a photo of it.

Love the baleen, if that is what that is. When did the production to sell to westerners start? I assume closely following the 1868 Meiji restoration?

To me art is subjective, but one pillar for me to consider something proper art is that it has been made by a certain level of skill. Then, another pillar is beauty, which is also subjective. This is where most art lands. Then a third pillar is practicality. Nihonto for me posess all three of these qualities, which is the reason why I am on this board and got some blades in my house.

Thanks for the info, WD40 never stays on more then half a minute, I never let it dry on the metal and did it just to rule out stuck dirt spots versus pitting. Will do the qtip trick asap!

Merry Christmas, I was going to apply oil to my nihonto and upon taking it out of its shirasaya I discovered several fresh spots of needlepoint sized pitting on the blade. The shirasaya was starting to split this week so I did the warm water on fingertips trick to close it back up, worked like a charm. My mistake here was leaving the blade unsheathed about a quarter of an inch for no more then three days for the shirasaya to solidify back up before closing it up again. I have gently once wiped the spots with a microfiber cloth soaked in WD40, then applied and wiped off with choji oil several times. Is there anything else I can do to stop the process? As can be seen in one of the photos, there is red reflected from the pitts, which means active rust

Memory is a little foggy now in the Christmas prep haze, but the blade in question here has three lines on the right side and two on the left side of mune. Under habaki there is a lot, nine or even eleven sounds about right. If anyone wishes to guess or such I can put up photos past the holidays, I am not sure who did the polish but I have an idea who it might have been.

There is indeed similar marks under the habaki. Sending the blade to shinsa come March, should be interesting!