raynor

So that is what it is. Clever way to sign the polish! Thank you both.

Greetings all, I was looking at this shinshinto blade and discovered something appearing when the light hits it at a certain angle. The top section of the mune towards kissaki has a clear section of steel compared to the rest of the blade, you can clearly see where it starts to differ from the rest of the blade, with three thin lines of darker steel layered into the clear section gradually tapering off towards the kissaki. Am I correct guessing this is part of a lamination process or possible modification to the sword? Would be interesting to know more if anyone has any information to share. The sword is a "last man out of the gate" so to speak, as it is signed early 1868, mere months before the Meiji restoration.

I wonder if there are any types of hamon that is preferable over others from a mere functional point of view, like blade integrity or flexibility? I've also read that in general the brighter a genuine hamon is, the better the workmanship, or can these things be "faked" during polish?

George, That might be it, looking (even) closer those are indeed marks and not more inlay. I wonder if its intentional as they seem rather symmetric. The Japanese likes to not give up control of a process, or maybe this one was rushed out to someone running off to war

Magnifying lens, Myopia and lack of Roman noses considered, the work is still impressive

Hopefully not too much time has passed so that I am not necroposting here, but I will permit myself to sneak in another question or two. Am I correct assuming that some parts of the inlay used for the first tsuba's leaf motif here is what one could call ten zogan, or raised dot inlay? I'm also perplexed how whoever made this managed to add the tiny hairs visible on the stems without a microscope or modern tools, does anyone in the know care to share how this was done?

Is that a one or two finger grip? Tachikaze must without a doubt be amazing

As a genuine beginner the bump of this thread made me aware of this book, thanks for that. Just scored a used copy in good condition of the 1st edition for $34 from a Texas bookstore with the black Friday coupons flying around.

Amazing hamon, with a light source reflecting off the blade it is eerily similar to the sun peeking through a cover of flowing clouds.

I am such a novice in all things nihonto yet that I feel like I should wave a rattle around as a warning before my posts but I would not cut anything but air with that thing, not even that if it's a rat tail.. I dont like flying pieces of metal. I bet it would not cut the "certificate" if you tried. As for European and Chinese copies I have good experiences with those that dont pretend to be a nihonto but are well made non folded, differentially hardened tool steel swords made for tameshigiri. Cue actual t10 hamon om a most likely Chinese made sword gifted to me, quite different from the fraud OP is rightly exposing. I'm no metal expert but I think t10 steel is high speed tool steel with a bit of tungsten added.

Hi Jean, Do you have an ebay account? If so all you have to do is select "contact seller" under the persons profile.

Someone paid a thousand for that.. ouch. I am a complete novice in these things and can tell that tsuba is not genuine, as in a reproduction without seeing the original first. For me, sloppy finish gave it away, it just does not look appealing even with "expert" endorsements. A very expensive lesson.

Hi, Apologies if this is off topic, but does anyone have any sure ways to tell a rayon wrap from a silk wrap without literally lighting it on fire?

Thanks guys, Yes knew it was a production piece for barely 20 dollar with the cast marks and sloppy paint, was just surprised in hand it looks better then expected with the rust and I presume fake patina. It is iron so better then zinc dingus for a practise sword

Thank you for the tip Chris, will do. I wonder why someone would clean it so harshly as to remove all of the gilding from the leaves. I picked up another tsuba for the price of a fast food meal on ebay to put on a practise sword, just to get something other then a common factory appearance to it. Upon arrival I was surprised that it appears rather old and with a (fake) patina? I am pretty sure it is a mass produced piece, as the gold paint is sloppy and there is cast marks visible in the nakago. Maybe an old mass production for tourists?

I did not know there was a lucrative market worth fighting over for kitchen knives THIS big. Swedish steel however, is pretty good..

Kimmo, your post oozes "sisu"! I like it. For those not in the know, it is a Finnish term we other Scandinavians translate into something like having grit. Thanks for all the info, I agree with most of it. I actually raised an eyebrow at the mekugi first time I unpackaged it, and am still skeptical in applying force if I were to take it apart. I realize now in hindsight I might posted in the wrong section - I never thought this was a real folded tamahagane nihonto, but pherhaps a decent modern reproduction. Hence there is no hada, as its made with modern steel and I know the polish is not what one should expect from a taken care of antique or gendaito. However the $150 blade assessment I have to disagree with, (not that it removes the possibility of me being wrong!) lets chalk it up to another reason why I'm not out shooting photos for National Geographic.. I will try go get some proper better shots of the blade up any day now soon that kids are getting down from their Halloween highs, but it does look a lot better then some of my sharp form practice swords in about that price range. Again, if anyone has any tips for capturing the hamon on a blade I'm all ears. Sunlight makes it all nice and shiny, but maybe a dark room with a single light source is better? The ito being rayon is a good call, for me that is a let down. Rayon is terrible for any practical use as it does not recover from any stretching. Blade is indeed 33" or close to 84cm... been living almost a year in the US now and still cant do the conversions easily. Jean and Greg, thanks for the info. The blade is clearly carbon steel, as I've been told it is fit for use and it is sharp, plus when I unpackaged it I had to eliminate a couple tiny spots of rust from trapped moisture under the plastic and oil wrap.

Good call, I admit doing all these with my mere S9 phone, I'll try get some better shots of the hamon later when I finish cleaning and apply oil. Any tips for useful hamon shots? I recon people want to look at the angle when the hamon shows as milky white and not when tilted to appear more mirror like? There is no hada, I was told the blade was made with modern steel likely with cutting in mind so no folding needed. I'd bet that would further increase costs by a lot and potentially could even weaken the blade. I was told the sword is good for cutting anything sensible one can cut with a sword so tameshigiri and such should not be a problem. I do not plan on taking it to that or a pig leg for that matter any time soon as a Japanese style sword is a very different beast to the kind of blades I have experience cutting with, it is definitively not a baseball bat.. Display piece only for the foreseeable future until I might literally get a grip so to speak. Since I see it mentioned, is there any difference to quenching a blade in oil versus water? The saya is indeed impressive, well crafted and uniform paint throughout. I'd think uniform black gloss like this can be tricky to get right. Also no rattle and sheating feels like the blade glides on rails in and out.

Thanks Chris. So the tsuba was over zealously cleaned? Any gold is long gone, but is there anything I can do to help re patination or prevent rust from running rampant beyond storing it safely? I imagine this looked quite nice when it was new, I'm a big fan of the plain dark shakudo with a single nature motif look.

Brian, you are right that there are no papers with this. It may very well be a Chinese blade from Longquan. If I were to get myself a good Chinese jian or dao etc. that is the place I'd look for a craftsman. They've been forging swords in Longquan for at least 2500 years, nowadays there is the epidemic sprouting of ebay sellers claiming to be from serious Longquan forges but they are at best selling their scraps if we're talking about real swords and not the rat tail wallhangers. Giving the prices and limitations on Japanese swords even post 1980s I'm not gonna put our friendship on hold if he aquired one from a forge there to me, good sword from Longquan is one of those instances when Made in China can be a seal of approval. Chris, I'll try and put up photos of the nakago when I can confidently take it apart, thanks a lot Grey for the link for that. I've been short on time today. I'm curious what you meant on the horizontal lines on the hamon - were you referring to the not perfect polish or maybe difference in material or method? I'd love to know any details. The bohi does indeed look a little off, short even for a partial one? Might be for balance or remove a fault? Couple more photos I didnt put up, noticed the saya slopes inwards a little. Not seen that before but I'm still a greenhorn on Japanese blades, but it does make for a great fit and I presume preventing the sword touching the saya any more then needed when sheating. Thanks for the input all

Thanks Chris, I believe you if you say so. I'm curious how you figure that out, is that from the photos or something else? I for fun cut some hanging paper now before putting it away for today, and it went through it like air, no shearing. I do not really mind if it's Chinese as it seems a solid blade but I'm eager to know how one tells the difference?

Hi Brian, Chris, It was given to me by a friend from Japan as a personal gift as a "thanks for your help" after I in the past gave him some career advice that's apparently worked out. I sure hope he didn't drop a $50 Chinese shop copy on me, that would be very out of his character The sword looks and feels great, fittings are dark non decorated heavy iron for tsuba, fuchi and kashira. Plain but functional. Higo style I think its called? The tsuka has a full black ray skin wrap and indigo blue silk tsukamaki if that means anything vs the more common "going-to-see the-Shogun" black ito white same? It is correctly wrapped for hands to grip and comfortably use the sword, ie. no knot where right thumb rests under the fuchi and bottom knots near the kashira similarly accommodating left palm's position. The wrap is very tight. The two mekugi appear bamboo, fitted in very tightly at slight angles. I do not know who made it, he didn't tell I didn't ask, And the thing is so tightly put together I'm as of yet not confident enough to try take it apart. It is for this sword not very important to me as it is a gift I don't see me ever appraising or selling. One day I might seek out a professional to touch up the polish, especially if I decide to actually cut with it. I was mainly looking for information on the quality of the blade, I believe you can tell quite a bit from the hamon, if its been hammered out in a Chinese factory or made by someone more in the know? Chris, are you referring to any grain structure or otherwise? The straight lines I see are from me, in my wisdom, taking photos while still cleaning off the oil gunk from transport, oops. I know enough to tell the hamon is most likely real, ie the blade was clay hardened and not faked with acid or such, but that is where my Japanese sword knowledge so far effectively stops. Thanks for the comments!

Greetings, I was given a blade as a gift and have some questions regarding the quality of the blade and craftsmanship involved for any willing to provide some insight. I am very new to Japanese swords and eager to learn! Some info about it before photos - I know it is not an antique, it was made with supposedly modern steel so it was most likely not folded. The polish seems decent, I can see myself like in a mirror and the blade "disappears" when mirrored in nearby vegetation but it's not what one could call a fully finished art polish. The blade is long, a tiny bit over 33 inches from tsuba to kissaki. The balance point with tsuka and fittings on is 6.5 inches on the dot from the tsuba. When balanced on my finger the blade tilts slowly until the ha points directly skyward and the mune firmly rests on the cloth around my finger. The hamon appears to be gunome style - again I am a novice so point it out if I'm talking rubbish here. Does hamon styles mean anything besides cosmetics? The hamon is no surprise hard to photograph, if anyone has any pointers I'd welcome the advice. I tried to get some good shots in the dwindling sunlight. edit The dark aligned lines on the hamon in the last two photos are nearby power cables, took me a moment to figure out.

Natural light as requested. It is quite similar to my other tsuba, which has has a bamboo basket and flower design in the same spaces as the leaves here. That one has clear gold and silver colors, where this one has no trace of it. If it was removed as some here suggested, I wonder how it could been removed this thoroughly.

Hi all, Does anyone know what Fujishiro oil contains versus traditional choiji oil? I've used bonsai tool oil from Japan with no issues, only thing I would like to improve is extend time between reapplying. Fujishiro oil seems to have greater longevity.