Novalame

Oh thanks. That was the very site I remember seeing it on. Something to be shied away from definitely.

I do have some restoration experience - granted not in the field of Nihonto - and we were always taught to prefer preservation over restoration. I don't particularly want to weld the blade however I would like to get some of the rust off and if possible to be able to make out the hamon, more clearly. I wasn't too sure if this was possible with a hagire. I guess the next step would be to find a togishi who would consider taking on the blade given its condition. One of the reasons I asked was because, unfortunately I can't remember where I read this but I had heard that something that was sometimes done was to melt some tamahagame and use it as something of a filler although I can't imagine how this would work and I can only assume it would damage the blade.

Hi, Thanks for the replies. Yeah, that's about what I thought. I assume any attempt to polish that particular segment might well damage the blade further? It's more a case of preservation than anything else as there is quite a bit of rust. I have no illusions of sending it off to be appraised. As I mentioned, this sword means a good deal to me.

Hi, Apologies for the delay. My camera decided that it was about time to give up the ghost, so I only have the one. I'll try to get a shot of the whole katana when I can. I've taken a photo, damage is located towards the middle of the blade: two smaller hagire either side and one big one. By best guess is that either someone's tried cutting something than they shouldn't have (possible as it was brought back by a Second World War Veteran) or that it's old battle damage. It's also scuffed and somewhat rusted. It is an older sword, Koto, likely Muromachi or so I've been told and is signed "Kanefusa". Thank you again for all your replies and guidance.

Hi, Perhaps a slightly more sentimental post here. Long story short, I have a muromachi period katana by Kanefusa. It's of great sentimental value to me and truly one of my most treasured possessions. Unfortunately, it's also suffered from some neglect as it wasn't stored properly for many, many years. As a result, there's some surface rust. One day, I hope to get it polished. However, there's also a hagire running through the hamon towards the middle of the blade. If we assume that getting this polished would be a purely sentimental rather than financial venture for me, is there anything that can be done for such a fatal flaw? Would a polisher even be able to polish the blade? I was going to post some images but unfortunately there's been a technical glitch my end and as such I'll have to take them again tomorrow when there's some decent light. So apologies for that. Any thoughts would be welcome. Regards, Ellie,

Thanks for your help. I'll see if I can post some more photos as and when I have a camera worthy of the name.

Measures about 90 cm. Managed to get a few more photos:

Hi! Thanks for the replies. Very helpful. Definitely looks like "Masayuki". One thing I don't quite understand is that the nagako seems to be terribly corroded. The rest of the blade, whilst it has some surface red rust and a couple of knocks, isn't. Any ideas as to what this means? Second question, why would there be two mekugi-ana so close to one another? Thanks,

Hi, I recently purchased a new blade for my collection. It's in pretty rough condition and will doubtlessly need to be sent to a competent togishi when I can scrape the funds together. Unfortunately my camera's not quite working so I only have these few pictures of the tang which I've cleaned up as best as I can (the pictures, not the tang). To make it a little bit more legible I have fiddled around with the contrast etc. which will explain some of the odd coloring. I'll add some better photos as soon as I can, if anyone's interested. Thank you for all of your help and opinions. Regards, Ellie,

Hi, Thanks for your replies. Looking at the photos, it isn't really clear but on one side of the blade, it is a continuous suguha hamon. On the other, it's a wavy patern, akin to a gonome. So basically a different hamon for each side of the blade. Is there a Japanese term for this?

Hi, I've had this wakizashi for a while now. It's quite unusual with it's two different hamon (hopefully it's visible in the photos). I was wondering if anyone could tell me any more about this peculiarity. If the swordsmith was known for it, etc? I think I can make out "Bizen", "Osafune" and "Sukesada" but can anyone confirm this? Regards, Ellie,