Logan09

Well, it depends on the price and how much you want it. Blade looks like it is covered in something? Dried cosmoline or varnish. To have the blade professionally polished is going to cost you at the very minimum $100 an inch. Plus if a new habaki is made, shirasaya etc you're probably over $3k and you need to decide if it's worth this.

It's actually the first thing I look for. As soon as I see the Ito going the same direction I back out. Also, always buy the item not the story(or however it goes)

eBay item 323844691343. I'll admit I have never seen a Chinese copy with leather scabbard and tsuka cover but check out that Damascus blade and numbered habaki. It sold right away. I think someone is in for an unpleasant surprise.

They seem pretty thin to me. And IMO not of high quality. I imagine they only weigh a few grams and I don't know if Menuki are solid gold or if silver is mixed in as well. So I would say there weight in gold +$ because they're menuki.

I have always been Leary of this seller. They seem to have popped up out of nowhere with a bunch of Japanese swords and parts. I am pretty sure it is one of the other "well known" untrustworthy sellers on eBay.

Sounds good Bruce. BTW, I did contact Bob he said they were a little to rough for his mint Gunto.

2 Gunto screws for free if someone wants them. One of the heads is chewed up and the screw is a little bigger than standard (taken off my Gunto Saya, was interesting in that it appeared to tighten the wood liner for a snugger fit to the habaki) other one has a screwdriver slip when tightening. Both have same color patina on heads/screw slots so I am assuming the damage was done during or not much after the war(minus some of the scratches from me) might be able to turn down the head on the messed up one. Obviously these aren't going to be for mint condition Gunto but hoping someone can use at least one. I will ship for free as well.

Just returning the favor. I've had lots of help from people on here. And have been offered parts to complete my Gunto from Kurt and Bruce, which I very much appreciated.

Parts are all spoken for.

Some random Gunto parts if anyone see's something they want. The ring on the Ashi is bent. The koiguchi came off a wood scabbard(it is a hollow band) I am in the U.S. and I will only cover shipping if in the U.S. Please post here if interested. My timezone is all screwed up on here.

I myself thought why a togishi would polish this blade down this far. We/I will probably never know. I just thought I'd share as I have never seen this before. I wouldn't be surprised if the bend that was in the blade was caused by a gust of wind. Considering how thin it was.

The Caliper is actually a little above the shinogi-ji. Here was the habaki fitment.

The blade was Bent, had a few Ware and looked like the hamon ran off near the kissaki. But was in bad polish and really hard to tell. I do not have the blade anymore. Was Shobu-Zukuri but mumei.

Or is it just me. Seriously though, has anyone seen anything like this before? I didn't weigh the blade but it must've weighed no more than 8oz(19.5" overall blade) those aren't even the thinner spots on the blade, some measured as low as 1mm near the kissaki.

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Everything in California causes cancer.

As to the OPs sword I question this myself. Someone attempted to drill 3 mekugi-ana and only succeeded in one. Which is way, way below the standard "3 finger" placement.

More knowledgeable people will chime in on that. I'm not really a Gunto person. But I believe there is supposed to be 4, 6 or 8 seppa. But I have seen them with 3, and 5. Not sure if that is correct though.

How big is the gap? You can use a piece of leather cut out like a seppa. It's no guarantee that another one will be the correct thickness either. Finding the correct Seppa for these are kind of a pain to find. I myself am still looking for some for mine.

I don't know, it kind of does look like Hada? I'm not sure how it's that visible though with just a poor polish. If you plan on selling this, I would recommend not doing anymore. You're putting some deep scracthes in the blade and changing directions which will require more material to be removed(if someone wants to polish it themselves)

I believe he should be able to get his money back no problem. Put it on eBay, people that practice tameshigiri or iaido like to get these and do their own polish jobs on them and re-handle etc..

It's always easy to spend someone else's money. As what was mentioned above, if you have this fully polished all the parts replaced etc.. you're probably close to $3k. I have not seen a Mumei Gendaito(if it is) sell for that. I recently saw a Gunto blade with habaki(not traditionally made) that was signed and dated sell for $225 on eBay that was out of polish but had no rust or damage that I recall. Unless a Gunto is traditionally made, is in full polish and has all the original parts they're really not worth polishing/throwing money into.

You're looking at easily $300 just to get the correct parts. And you might be waiting months to find the correct fitting one. Factor in a polish, and Tsuka re-wrap you are way over $1k

That's what I was second guessing myself on. It does appear to be carved wood or something after looking at it for a long time. Very interesting piece. I do not see how this would be any cheaper/quicker than a cotton Ito wrap.

I want to say it's laquered leather. Where the menuki are you can see lines/creases in the "Ito" if it is a carved piece of wood/horn how would the menuki, and kashira be installed?