Chris Osborne

So many great conversations on the forums over the years and learned so much from him and his articulate explanations. Meeting Keith and Ted in Tampa and getting their critique on whatever I was working on was always the highlight of the show for me. Very sad that he's gone.

Hi Ken! Yes it is swords I'm wondering about. I'm hoping there's a collector here that lives in Mexico or someone who has experience shipping there and can advise me a bit. ☺️

Has anyone had experience shipping swords into or out of Mexico? We are considering a move to Toluca, Mexico and I'm trying to figure out the difficulty involved in shipping. One gentleman told me shipping to Mexico wasn't a problem but that customers had difficulty shipping swords out of the country to the US. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you! Chris

I spoke with Jon by email a couple of months back and he seemed fine. No mention of being ill then. He's on facebook if you have an account. Chris

Singer sewing machine oil, which you can get at most any large store, is what you need. It's a high quality, thin, clear mineral oil. $1.88 last time I bought it. Chris

Show was excellent this year! Want to say "thank you" to everyone who was involved.

I would say the show was anything but "ho hum". As others have said attendance was considerably better than last year and the general mood of the room was very positive and upbeat. I know I had a marvelous time and learned a lot thanks to all the effort many put into it. If I were to name individuals I would certainly leave some out so I will just say a general THANKS to everyone who was involved in making the show so great this year. I see nothing but great things ahead.

Had a friend bring a freshly polished sword to a seminar I was at and he was very upset because a spot of rust had formed next to the hamon. In about five minutes, to his amazement and relief, the rust spot was removed without altering the color of the ji or hamon at all. Fortunately it was fresh and had not yet started to pit the blade, so after it was gone there was no trace it had ever been there. I've also removed fingerprints with noxon many times where people were told the sword would need refinishing to remove them. Noxon does have some extremely mild abrasiveness, but it's abrasiveness is hardly(if any) more so than a cloth itself. It will not leave scratches on a burnished area nor will it shine or remove the finish in the ji..... "if used properly". Noxon doesn't work through abrasion, it breaks down oxidation through a chemical reaction. A small amount of wiping as the product works will aid the process and not cause harm, but scrubbing the spot vigorously will certainly lead to trouble. Chris

Since this is a sword for training and doesn't have a high end polish you can use a product called Noxon7. Noxon works through a reducing agent that breaks down oxidation so therefore it's virtually non-abrasive and if used properly will not affect the polish. Keep in mind though that even a dry, soft cloth can make a shiny spot if overused. Providing that a gentle wipe down with alcohol doesn't remove the prints(and it most likely won't) then apply noxon with a soft cloth and gently rub it in and allow it to sit for a minute or two but not dry. Then rub it lightly some more. You can repeat this a few times and be sure to work a larger area and not just a very small spot. I've removed rust spots in the ji on freshly polished blades like this without any noticeable effects to the finish. Best of luck. Chris

Edited

What has always amazed me, is that there's no shortage of blades which have been whittled down to mere pencils with only a sliver of their yakiba left, bearing little to no resemblance of their former selves in either shape or appearance, yet they are still considered art pieces and "collectible". As a weapon, the healthy and well made sword which has lost it's boshi is still far superior to the art pencil in every way. As an art piece, it is unfortunate that it will have lost all of it's desirability. I know there are exceptions, but they are rare. As for the nakago, I think that's been answered pretty well already. Sorry for the OT rant.

Going to have to pick up that book. Thanks Ford.

To answer the original question, which I failed to do in my rambling previous post, I collect swords as both art and artifact. I've had quite a few older blades of low quality that were basically of no or little artistic merit come my way over the years. While certainly not pieces I would have any interest in studying, I would also not toss them out either. Good or bad they are all objects from an era that I have a great(albeit romanticized) fondness for, and I always feel a bit giddy holding an old Nihonto, even if it isn't an art piece. Don't know if there's much interest in these parts for seeing such but sure.

I think it would be hard to sum it up much better than that, whether speaking of older blades mounted for the war, gendaito, or simply mass produced gunto. For good or ill, these items were made for and accompanied these swords through an extremely significant time in the worlds modern history. If for no other reason, this should guarantee them a measure of respect from anyone interested in the blade that resided in them for a time, even if they have no interest in such things. This discussion caught my attention since at the moment I'm taking a break for a few minutes from working on a WWII era Gendaito. This blade has had an appropriate shira-saya made and thankfully the present owner did recognize the significance of the mounts and choose to have a tsunagi made and keep them with the blade as they should be. Certainly the sword need not be stored in or even displayed with these mountings, but while it is not of any artistic value to keep the war mounts, it is certainly of historical value as well as a part of the swords history.

It's impossible to tell from the picture really. You can inspect it with good light and a magnifying glass for a better view. If it "were" a crack/future chip, and provided it runs the way you have it depicted, it is not fatal and would be easily repaired by an experienced polisher considering it's location, size, and depth. Hope that helps some. Chris

Thank you Stephen. Chris

Hi Stephen. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to this blade yet. My father's health took a turn for the worse about 8 months back which ultimately led to his passing three weeks ago. He had Parkinson's and required around the clock care. Needless to say I've gotten very behind on my polishing work as a consequence. Things are looking up however and I'm beginning to get back into a normal routine. Hopefully Slavia will have some pics to show in the next couple of months. Chris

Last I spoke with Jon he was charging around $1600 for wakizashi and $2000 for katana length blades, pending evaluation of course. Don't know if his rates have changed since then but Jon does great work. Definitely a fantastic resource being back in Japan. Chris

Well, I really hope that wasn't directed at me because I shared that article. This was all news to me as I've heard no mention of any of it whatsoever until now. The article seemed of interest in that regard and I had no idea I was stepping into the middle of a bunch of sword politics, which certainly wasn't my intention. Chris

Ran across this today on "Soulsmithing", Pierre Nadeau's site. Pierre is a Canadian who has been apprenticing under Kiyota Jirokunietsu. I'm not sure how it relates to the above but it is certainly of interest. Here's an excerpt: Link to article: http://www.soulsmithing.com/LIBRARY/ARTICLES/NBSKEN.html

Takeo Seki would be a terrific choice, especially if you're in Canada. I've seen his work and it's excellent. Chris

Considering mounting this sword up at the moment and I must confess not sure exactly which direction to go. Presently I have a shakudo fuchi/kashira set with a kirin theme. There is a tsuba I saw at the Tampa show which I really liked the work on and have considered it, however it's not in the theme of the fushi/kashira. It is a nanbun tsuba with an animal motif. Am I crazy to want to pair these up or would this work together? http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/KirinFuchiKashira-1.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/NanbanTsuba-1-1.jpg Have to say that picture really does the fuchi/kashira no justice, it is a fine looking set in person.

Yes, it is ubu, but does appear that the machi was moved up an inch or more at some time in the past. So, this blade at one time had at least a 28" nagasa and was very wide and thick. It will be interesting to read Jimmy Hayashi's thought's on the blade when the paper arrives. Will let you guys know what he had to say on it. I think pretty much everyone who looked at it at the show were all in agreement that it was koto, most likely ko-mihara or tegai. Chris

Here are a few more shots, probably no better than the others but a little different perspective maybe. I don't have a great photo setup since moving into the new shop so getting the right light is difficult. I just took a couple with flash for a different view and they seem to show the hada a tad better. The blade has a 27" nagasa - 30mm motohaba - 5mm motokasane. Chris http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-10.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-9.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-8.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-7-1.jpg

Thanks for all the compliments. Yes, the flaw I'm sure isn't a big deal, and the fact that some of you didn't notice it makes me feel much better about it. As for the boshi, it appears to have no turnback that I can discern, but it does get a bit cloudy right up at the mune. The yasuri is a tough one as there isn't much left to see, but after examining it for a bit, if I had to bet on it I'd say taka no ha. I'll have a little more to go on when I get the write up in the mail that Jimmy did on the blade when he polished it. Judging by the thickness of the nakago behind the habaki and the fact that there is nearly no hamachi left, this was a monster of a blade in it's day. Of course it still isn't puny by any means. It appears a moderate sized blade, but when you see how thick it once was....man. Whoever made the habaki was very good. It fits up tightly on the top and bottom with a good bit of space on the sides to clear the very thick nakago, definitely an engineering nightmare. Chris