shan

Hi, I have a few shinto Blades that have two or three Notches but under the habaki on the mune side. I also have a couple with them in line on both sides of the nakago at this point (one on mune and one on ha side) I thought it might be the position of the Habaki at first or an intended alteration ,but now i am not so sure. If the honami school did the Burnished striations under the Habaki as an identifier perhaps other schools of polish used the notches? I have more with Notches than striations. Not a useful input for you but there you go. regards shan

Hi Jean, I understand this is true if it is only moved a very little ,but would this statement be accurate on the Nakago in question? Whats the definitive "giveaway" that the nakago is not untouched at the Machi? Yakidashi? I understand that if a blade was yakidashi then any movement would be detectable to a degree. If Yakiotoshi then a lot could be "taken back" before the blade appeared machiokuri. Is this correct? Many thanks shan

I am adding these images for a size comparison with an unpolished 52cm sanbonsugi blade of shinto origin and also with a Takada saneyuki blade of 54cm from approx 1790 at the very bottom. This should help people to see the narrow aspects of the blade with Bo Hi. There is evidence just above the first mekugi ana of at least Machiokuri on one side of the nakago but it does not translate in the images. Hi Markus,the Beer must be Extremely good in central europe as thats a somewhat cryptic statement that you have added there. Not sure what the sugestion is, but thanks for the input. There is no guarantee of a polish until i know if it is worth the cost. The hamon is quite neat, is that then a bad thing? Here are the size comparisons

Hi Mark, Thanks for the opinion,i will post again when its polished. Remember the important info is: that it is only 25mm at its (very) widest point at the hamachi/munemachi (motohaba) This i think makes it a very slim blade compared to other wakizashi i have and although its sugata is quite "bold" when not up against a "normal" waki,it is in fact very very slender when side by side. regards shan

Hi Mark, Thanks for the reply. some interesting points raised in there. Well this was part of the question. If a hamon runs into the nakago without stopping off at the Ha machi in classic Yakidashi or yakiotoshi then would this indicate either Machiokuri or suriage or did some blades hamon finish well into the nakago? If there has been machiokuri then where is the second(first) mekugi ana? Hi Jacques, thankyou for the responce. http://www.nihontocraft.com/Ura_Nihon_no_Toko.html. item number 2 could be the oshigata of my blade ,boshi included and bar nakago of course. this is what made me ask the question. Not quite as exagerated but still undulating. If Not then what hada is it? i just don`t know.

Second and final question is this . O suriage short blade 40cm Nagasa with 2 mekugi ana and a hi both sides. Narrow motohaba of 25mm blade with Gunome/inverted gunome and Jizo Boshi,Itame with masame hada in the Ji. What does this sugest to the forum? I was thinking Sue seki? Could it be a lot older and was once a katana/Tachi? many thanks if you do respond. shan

Hi all, Been a while but hopefully someone will offer some help. I have this Blade that has some anomalies and I would like some opinions based on what i can show in images and describe to you. Blade is now of 50cm Nagasa Wakizashi length with Low mune and normal shinogi and opinions are that the hada is an older style Ayasugi of possibly Koto Gassan style. I have someone who thinks it is late Gassan school or associated and is Ubu Nakago wakizashi form of the shinshinto period. Would anyone else agree with this opinion? The nakago does appear to be relatively recent (last 150 years or so at a guess) but the Hamon runs almost straight into the Nakago. Would this indicate Machiokuri? If so then if there is only one Mekugi ana, then is it safe to assume O suriage due to the nakago being so "clean"? I am sorry if the images are not too good, I have larger ones I can email. The general consensus is Koto,O suriage,Ayasugi,Midare based on suguba with Uchinoke,inazuma, etc. I am not sure the blade is meant to have a Yokote either as although it is in fair polish none is evident. Please feel free with your findings as I am not sure of what direction to take with this blade and need your help with a decision on polishing it. Thanks in anticipation Shan

Hi all, I got this tsuba as a favour for a so called friend (the chap Named "Jim" from Northampton,you remember,The Guy who destroyed the Tanto nakago by grinding it to fit a tsuka because Don Bayney said it was worthless) and was to let him have it for exactly what i paid for it. He agreed and sent me a cheque but after about 3-4 days he sent me an email stating that he had Shown it to Mr Don Bayney of Greys antiques market London. Apparently MR Bayney stated that it is in fact a fake chinese tsuba that has been artificially patinated and so "jim" said he no longer wanted it. As i Bought this Tsuba from the website of Andy Quirt i find this hard to believe but perhaps This Mr D Bayney is right.(after all he has been for this guy in the past) I would love your opinions on whether this does look fake and whether it would fool Andy Quirt if it was. i will note responces and not defend the tsuba in any way. Thanks shan

Also note that there are UK sellers on this very forum who will sell you a sword and advertise there sales here in the for sale section. I doubt that any of them would try to rip you off as the goods are posted with all the info the seller has on the items. Everything depends on your budget though. I have a Later soshu sunobi Tanto and a NTHK Kanteisho den Takada Saneyuki Handachi thats in the "For sale" section and i always offer a money back guarantee,as i want the buyer to be happy. I think there may be a few more that also can offer you this degree of safety. have a look at the section regards shan

I was told they are called Atari and if they are oriented in the wrong Place/direction, then the mei is almost always wrong or Gimei. Its like not crossing your letter T`s or missing the middle stroke of the letter F or a similar comparison,its just not a mistake that a person familiar with the Letter(or in this case mei) would make. .........But i may have been misinformed.......

Hi gentlemen, Not giving up collecting at all (perish the thought) The fact is that i have far too much stuff now that needs to be researched & restored & i really need to expend my energies (and cash) on what i have already got, as opposed to what i can get :D . That means there will be nothing new to ask about on the forum and therefore no chance that i can annoy anyone.(I hope!) I have a couple of deals that i will be doing in the early part of the year as i promised the sellers i would,but thats it for me for a while. I will sit back and research what i have,pay for the restoration of that which needs it,and aquire some books that will help me to achieve some of this. If you have any literary recomendations PM me with the titles and if you have any of them for sale then let me know. I need reference books on swords and tosogu but something a novice could understand so Visual & Descriptive references are the easiest i would guess. I will start to buy items in the later part of the year and will be buying items that have known provenance with the occasional "Pot Luck" Item thrown in for good measure (keeps it interesting ). I will hopefully be approaching this with a more "discerning Eye". I also need a UK Based Ito wrapper who could do the String style ito wrap shown above. Regards,thanks and happy christmas and new year to all of the forum Members shan

I forgot to say that the Ito is made up of loads of twisted, very fine string (silk i would guess) you can see a plait near the Fuchi in the multiple image picture and one that has "seperated" a little. Would this denote a high end job or again just a simple piece of workmanship? I am guessing that this method of ito wrapping would take considerably more time to do and therefore would cost more, so be of higher status? regards shan

Here is a tsuba that came with the Koshirae and Blade i have asked questions about. I believe it to be copper. Its as you can see of a rabbit and waves and i would like to know the story or Tale this might relate to, as well as a period for the Tsuba and school from the poeple who know. Does this fit with the Koshirae or would it be an add on in your opinions? This is the last of my final 3 questions. I am then going to cease to post items on the forum. again i will not respond unless asked to specifically. regards shan

Hi, I got this with the Koshirae i have asked about in another post and i just wanted some feedback on periods or schools. If i had to guess i would say it was O suriage because the Nakago steel is quite "fresh" looking and has aged like blade steel i think.The hada (if its visable in such old polish) is aged looking though. Just some pointers at period would do if reluctant to commit based on the awful images. the boshi is different on both sides. This is the second of my final 3 questions. many thanks shan

I have just recieved this Sword and would like to ask a few questions. My questions are. What do you call this type of saya decoration and fittings on this wakizashi and what period would they likely be from? Are the menuki consistent with these basic mounts or slightly more "upmarket"? This is the first of 3 final questions that i would appreciate a little help with. I will not respond to any responces unless asked to. Many thanks Shan

Strangely the high res images Link did not work on this particular sale. Anyway its old news now. :D Someone liked it so i was lucky to sell it on and get my stake back. I will be more careful in future. Happy Xmas and new Year to all shan

This tanto tsuba looks nice. any thoughts on a date and school? regards shan

Hi reinhard, Thats what i said and that is clearly what has happened. I think once someones mind is made up there is not convincing them otherwise though.

Thanks Milt, I thought Namban might be another option. thanks again shan.

Hi Carlo, No, not yet, but it has its Aikuchi Koshirae still. Are you offering? why did you quote me? :?

Yes i saw that one jacques,i mentioned it further up the page. Its very like mine but in tanto/aikuchi mounts. The rounded kojiri of my saya is traditional to wakizashi i am told. Probably wrong mind you,almost everything else i have read is.

Oh yeh i see, another a little way up as well. its not in the other image that is from a similar angle. So that would be light from the flash bouncing off other reflective surfaces in the kitchen at a guess. See these have been taken with a flash and a compact camera under a soft bulb. I can assure you that the images have not been doctored in any way other than to crop then reduce them to the 800 pixels the forum needs. I don`t know what we are seeing there but its not on the blade. I understand that you do not like the blade and its polish.you don`t have to like it,its not everyones taste. But degrading it based on imagined faults is somewhat superficial. I honestly cannot see anything wrong with it ,the lines look good to me (and ,ask anyone,i am extremely fussy.) But then i am not a polisher. regards Shan

Thankyou very much for the assistance and taking the time to respond. I will do some more checking regards shan

Hi Jacques, You said "Light never plays with lines it always follows them." I say: Depends on the angle of the light and the angle of the camera and the angle of the subject including the way the light flares when capturing the image i would guess. Photoshopped eh? .........How strange .........why would i bother Jacques? I used a homemade lightbox with Nikon D3 (without the SB900 Flash unit) and Nikkor 24-70mmm F/2.8 Nanocoated lens. I am still experimenting and clearly getting poor results,as i am a sports photographer and still life is alien to me.(as is a short lens,I am more comfortable with the 70-200mm AFS ED IF VR f/2.8 but thats a little too long for this application) I have looked with the human eye and if it was there i would merely send the blade back for relining by Les.If its there i cannot see it. I am a little confused that the blade has elicited such negative responces based on these images and when i take some that don`t show the Light fault,get accused of manipulation,but perhaps it is a bad polish from the images and maybe it should go back. :? Your right Brian,in that it would have to be a special blade to warrent a Japanese polish at Japanese costs. $101 per inch (as a start price and condition dependant) then $505 handling fee, plus the costs of sending to Japan. So thats a 9.8 inch blade.$1506 before postage and insurances. times that by 2 blades =$3012 This was not worth that cost IMHO it was too abused,so i was happy to pay the $240 Les charged for each Blade. $480 total.

Hi Jacques, can you point it out on one of these images for me? I am not seeing it whilst holding the blade no matter how hard i try. regards shan