Francis Wick

It is katana mei not tachi mei so probably not pre 1500 anyway …..

I must be a samurai then ! 😂😂 yes as far as I can make out the hamon slopes down as it goes into or at least near the nakago . The nakago it substantially thicker than the blade most likely due to many polished I would think. It has been polished plenty as it has “openings “ in the metal grain

I am sorry it is 2 mm short of 30 inches 😞

Thank you so much I added a few measurements , and pics I sure have high regard for everyone’s time and knowledge 🙏🏽

Posted thank you

The habaki is solid silver the handle missing the wrapping and the fittings nice and old but not signed and not “ high end “. The saya is cracked and beat up handachi type . I don’t think the blade has been shortened but I’m a total novice ……

Thank you for the advice and input the motogasane is 4 mm and the nakago is thicker in the middle at 6mm I posted measurements at the base and end of the blade it tapers quite a bit the hamon drops off the edge before going into the nakago it doesn’t continue into the nakago there is utsuri ( if I’m looking at the correct feature a dark line above the hamon ?? )

Ok thank you so much indeed

Ok David thank you. I won’t do anything violent or stupid. I read up a bit on sword care and won’t start cleaning or rubbing or forcing anything. The handle does have real nice gold fittings on it so maybe it is a better blade. The Tsuba was missing so perhaps it’s just gone or maybe it was nice and someone took it off.

Ok thank you so much I will measure the actual width I see I am not being precise enough for folks to help me. My apologies. It is hard to help without the blade in hand. I’ll post pics in a few hours when ye olde doge is up. Thank you so very much. I’ll try harder to get the habaki off or at least out of the way and then take pics and post them.

Hi J no not really ,but google is a wonderful thing ! I spent a bit of time tying to learn what attributes a blade might have to place it on a timescale of history. I’ll try in the morning to move the habaki and take a picture of both sides and measure the motogasane. The blade is in a safe where the dog sleeps. He’s old so if a wake him up he will be up and wanting outside so I’ll get it out in a few hours. Thank you for looking at my post and commenting on it , I sure appreciate it and am excited to see what the experts think. I’m sure it takes years of study to get better at judging the age and school of a Nihonto. Do you think the mei is YUKIMITSU ? It’s possibly also YUKIMOTO ? thank you muchly indeed Francis

Ok thank you, it’s a katana which is why I am thinking it’s not that old. The habaki is so tight I can’t actually get it off ! I can try harder I guess. The kissaki is hard to see it’s a bit obscured by some surface rust but looks like a small kissaki . The blade has funbari about twice as wide at the base as near the kissaki. The Hada looks to be masame

Hallo and thanks I bought this katana a few days ago and am just not sure which era it may date from ? I think Koto maybe. The nakago is dark almost black , it is signed Yuki Mitsu ( I think ) . The Nagasa is 30 inches. Any ideas on age ? thank you Chris

Thank you so much members. The insight and experience is much helpful. It is a Koto blade , osuriage in mid range tachi fittings so I think it best to give it to a good polisher to see if they think an attempted rescue is warranted

That’s an area that the previous owner did not buff. They omitted to remove the habaki first ( probably didn’t know it could be removed ), no it’s not scalloped it’s smooth

Like cleaning a coin ….

Thank you , yes I bought it this way and a person with no knowledge of restoration had buffed it but seemingly with a soft wheel. Hopefully not enough heat was generated ti change the crystalline structure of the metal 🙄

Hallo and thanks firstly please allow me to express my condolences to the family and friends of Darcy Brockbank. He will be missed. may I ask if a member has experience with a blade having been buffed by someone ? Does it destroy and chance of polishing it ? It’s an otherwise good Koto blade. Any advice or experience with this will be appreciated thanks chris

Sword sold to a member for $2000

Thanks Franko again helpful info thank you

I ran this question by Mr.Tsuruta San of Aoi Japan who works closely with the NBTHK. He thinks it’s early Muromachi around 1380-1400

That is super interesting and helpful information. Clearly you have taken a lot of time to study the school and the subtle differences in productions through different eras and how to identify some of the features that change as time goes on. Thank you very muchThank you very much