shakudo

Page 4 Going to work now as Im sending a koto blade to Woody!

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Hi again, I have just posted the last letter I recieved before my sword was sold! Seems Im over file size so Ill send each page seperately.

WELCOME, Please do but make sure you post each email in its entirity as I have and will. Editing is such an amazing thing- so if you DO edit them you will be the dishonest one! Also I have attached a special pic for members- shows the sword as it left Sydney- has ots original habaki- you know the one your craftsmen MADE and butchered after it was straightened ! Post them entirely or I fill the spaces! Classic , absolutely classic didnt even know what was what! My guess blade sent to togi- without habaki - as how many of us have polished blades with there original habiki? The togi would never had taken so much off ha if the habaki had been with it.Hence it was squeezed sent for shirasaya! Rememver Ill say again post complete emails not parts of! Pics are 28 Apri 2018 @ 1.33pm!

Well, Im still on the board and able to continue with my warning! Bit hard when you are working in retirement as I cant get a pension yet due to assets- why work hard folks really. Im attaching the email from Micheal Cummins (MC from now on!) And Ill let you read it and maybe comment on his understanding of Nihonto especially as an agent- yes as an AGENT? Also remember I didnt see tsuka in Japan and I have an Australian witness for this! See if you can read between the lines- what a case! Also a heads up, I asked why the blade wasnt discussed about suriage - there was rust but I had no idea if it would polish well or not- where's your mentor when you need him- in the dark rubbing his hands together saying "another sucker!" Also theres an interesting twist to the habaki - when I saw it in 2019 it had been sqeezed by eletrician pliers so it would hold on blade- I have over 50 years experience as a jeweller- not much gets past me! I saw red but sadly my blade was in his control in another country where I couldnt just take it home- frustrating yes - just sucked it up but as this went on I realised that it wasnt going to end well. Read what he has to say on the habaki!#!#!#- fairly hilarious really- real pro! Have attached pics of the swords habaki- really well made ( or abused) you think? I have also attached pics of a habaki I had done in USA by an expert- purchased a wak from Grey, sent to Woody and then to John- absolutley perfect transaction from all involved- will never go thru Japan again because of this experience with this agent ,sponsored (paid maybe??)or supported and recommended by an Australian! From my USA experience I came up with the $ amount- insurance both ways of course. And when I get my old lap top fired up I will forward emails telling him I could not/ would not trust him to fix the problem! I also told him to sell the blade and recoup his costs in this email. Make sure you compare habaki! Also this is the reason I arced up- the blade was polished so much -tomorrow night Ill fill you in! First 2 are on my sword others are by John Tirado( hope hes okay with me singing his praise!) You need this delay to form an opinion! Sorry this is not a serial on netflix but as Im on phone Im only prepared to give an hour to those______oles!!! Thats it for now as Im still working- enjoy and make sure as I said at the start warn others - dont get involved!!!!!! Happy New year to one and all- except a few!#!# Just joking!#!#!#!.....................

Interesting, Alan, So by recommending an agent that has had numerous problems with collectors you dont see your self as responsible? Classic! You are basically verbally writing a reference and we as friends/ customers/ suckers / cash cows rely on your expertise- so sad! If you write/ verbalise about a person and I employ them and they turn out to be dishonest/ unreliable then it comes back on you! Maybe you think in Sydney, couple of million people it wont be a problem but the nihonto community is quite small- a recommendation is exactly that- it burns you! Maybe you have never employed people where they have asked for a reference and you have to be honest but hey - Sydney 2 million people - what the heck! I can gaurantee that many have formed opinions NOW! Also your claim on dicount on services? Hope you got the email - Ill put it out tomorrow! Everything thats has happened via this agent probably for over 10 years has come from you- either greed or payback- shown by your reference to Mr Flynn- my new bestie- you have a grude and need to grow up- this is not a school playground! Brian- if you feel that we dont need to go further or you wish to ban me go for it! I wont be posting untill tomorrow Aus time. If the baying wolves or any innocents cant cope with that then tough. Go hard or go home!!!

Oh, just remembered Alan Morton just told me to hit it wiith a hammer! Real class, real class- senior collector- not.

Hi all, Apologies for my absence/ silence but unavoidable due to being in a really bad reception area on the coast of Tasmania. Ridiculous but even using a local wi fi didnt get me on the forum. I was able to see cover page but not able to open- apparently a pretty normal occurrence! Really interested to see replies- Alan Morton -well- he knows where all the skeletons are buried!! I only know some but Im counting 4 disgrunted customers, one a previous Sydney sider that Alan Morton knows well had a similar experience to me but he only lost his sword- I lost sword and money! To be quite honest I was just going to let this slide into the darkness but as my first post said I wanted to warn others not to get involved with Micheal or be guided by Alan.Im still on phone as pics are in it and I cant wait till all my emails load so Im hoping this goes Ok! I first met Michael Cummins at 2009 Sydney shinsa- he was there offering laquer services- met Alan Morton but there was no connection with Alan Morton at that time. 2011 met him again and he was now offering all 3Nihonto services- I still have the cards he gave me- again no connection to Alan Morton! I was disapointed that there werent anymore Shinsa and If you look back in my posts I have tried twice to get one up and running with the Sydney nohonto community. This did not get legs but I made contact with Alan Morton in Sydney and visited in 2017. There was a vibrant sword group that met and discussed and showed their treasures, I so pleaseto be there be there! I was invited back in 2018 and advised if I wanted a blade polished Michael Cummins would be over from Tokyo and was recommended to use him. In hind sight I should have sat back and watched as I was / we were disappointed with the polish on a yari he was returning and also a katana that had a huge ware that I was told a few years later by Alan Morton - verbal sadly - that it should not have gone away! I couldnt see any attempt to close it so It must have been bad! Michael Cummins took my blade for restoration but what concerned me he didnt write anything down! So when I got home I sent an email detailing what I wanted- fortunately he didnt follow my instructions as Id be out even more money.( see attachment) I went to the DTI in 2019 and met up with Micheal- while I was in his flat the sword arrivedand he advised/ wanted me to take it home with me- 2 problems- I was spending 3 weeks traveling around Japan and also most impotantly he had not presented it to NBTHK for shinsa- tell me, who would send a blade to be polishedto Japan without it going to shinsa!#!# Have to say I was totally jet lagged as hadnt slept on plane, Micheal picked me up off bus and took me to his. The sword I will detail in my next installment. The first thing I recieved was the tsuka so Ill do this in order! I met up with Micheal at DTI and was surprised to see my wakizashi in his haversack- more on blade next email. I didnt know he had my tsuka in his bag at all- didnt see it in Japan at all!!! But Michael mentions it in an email - hold that thought! It finally arrived to me in Tasmania! And I saw red/ blue and purple- some Neanderthal- no guesses who- had used contact glue to permanently glue the fuchi to the tsuka!! I had asked for jinbara and I wanted the menuki gold flashed and had also supplied both kashira,fuchi and 2 sets of menuki. I emailed him- after some research**- and told him I was not happy- Why would anyone do that, never seen it before! It looked as though it was being carried around to show or something ,I said. He emailed back saying he knew nothing about it and it was never shown around!! it must be the weather conditions in Tasmania!! Now he didnt know but my research had included chatting with other Sydney collectors, one who had a private viewing of my blade and also the tsuka????? I was surprised to find he had seen my tsuka and I hadnt! I advised of how it had arrived back home- he told me he wasnt going to show it to you as he had not finished showing it for competition or exhibition- I wont name that person but Im sure he will chime in later! I didnt expect to write so much, apologies but its like it was yesterday, cant wait to VISIT Tokyo again and Queensland. I will sort a summary in the near future and get to the best bits- habaki next!! Then how I lost my blade!!! Check the white between jinbara and fuchi- look closely and you can see the staining from excess glue - I ask you Is this the person yoh want to look aftwr your collectables? Hi Steve, maybe you dont realize you have had problems! Chat soon but will condense and summarise- I could write a book on this- and remember nearly all is on hard copy! Much more to come! ps. ALAN- Spell my name as MICHAEL -but you have never called me that - ever! Regards

Hi all, Apologies for delay on posting- bad time of year really! Only have my phone at present and a very poor reception area. I have all , his and mine ,emails and hard copy mail so you will able to form your own opinion! My post was initially a quick note to warn any Australians if they were considering using an Australian agent. Clients are gathered/ collected in person as I am looking around for any advertising but no luck so far - he does not advertise on this forum at all and I have never seen a post from him- havent looked either- not sure if he is even a member? Not being the most experienced with anything like this I sort legal advice! If I can prove what I say- ie letters and emails then I can not face deformation charges - as already mentioned / threatened by Bijutsu Antiques- run by Micheal Cummins. Not being the most savy with computers- hence phone- I have been delayed exposing all, so I have decided to supply a quick summary then supply pics etc when necessary, as this goes back to 2018! Stay tuned you will enjoy the journey. Cheers

Hi all, Just a short note to advise to avoid an Australian agent, base/ living in Tokyo for any Nihonto related services, I am told he is in Queensland now. If you are thinking of using his services then please contact me! Also regardless of the recommendations you get from any long time collectors please ignore them and contact me. Also if any members are on any other sites or pages please advise. This has a lot to reveal- just the start of a very long journey! Dont use an Australian living in Tokyo!! Cheers

Many thanks Stephen, didnt think of Bob. Cheers

Hi Bazza, Yes I have come across those aswell- sadly! Darryl, Many thanks for the contact, Ill get in touch- really appreciate it👍 Cheers.

Hi Brian, Thanks for reply and never thought of asking for ' better' quality that they hold back on- but now that you mention it that completely makes sense! All the best

Hi All, I have purchased same from Namikawa Heibei and have tried to choose best skins but I have never seen the quality of these old examples- especially the centre tsuka! Does anyone know of other suppliers for same ? Or are these old ones representative of what used to be available? Many thanks to one and all and continued gratitude to Brian, thanks mate.

Hi Bryce, Think your koshirae fittings are nice, subtle and subdued, all in dark patina. Only my opinion- really worth nothing- but the tsuba your chasing/ showing - in my mind does not match the other fittings. Look around and dont discard iron- some nice dragons aswell. I was able to match a kinko fitting to a large iron tsuba and I am very happy- mind you project not finished yet- importantly the dragons matched. Best of luck- but think about your fittings before you 'glam it up'. Best of luck, it really does become a dragon hunt!

Hello Moriyama san, Many thanks for your infomation. Apologies for delay in reply, thought I had but obviously not. Many thanks again, Mike.

Also, is there a fee for deristration to send out of country? Many thanks Mike

Hi all, Just wondering if anyone knows the fees for a) Torokusho and then b) replacement of certificate if it is misplaced? Many thanks to all who offer advice and share their knowledge. All the best Mike.

Hi Piers, Great find, really appreciate you taking the time. Ive put them side by side for comparison. Cheers mate, Mike

Many thanks Matt.

Ah, pics would be good, hahaha!

Hi all, Purchased this as I had not seen a dated example! Im not that flash with translations at the best of times but theres a couple here that have us stumped, any help at all on a translation and date would be greatly appreciated. Brian, hope you have a great trip- try to keep us in the loop - but Im sure it will be a whirlwind- enjoy. Many thanks in anticipation, Mike

Hi all Joining this a bit late but Im reading 'carried by a samurai'- so matched swords- same maker and matched koshirae made this century dont qualify as daisho? Was one for sale on this forum last 6/12 mths doesnot qualify- not carried by a samurai? Think it was mukasa smith aswell? Think some are "Romancing the stone" - sorry its a daisho regardless of period.

Hi Brian, opened forum and was directed to this page. Great idea to keep us on the straight and narrow. Wish I could catch up in US but not possibly this year- maybe next!! Have a good one and many thanks for all you do for this forum. Regards