OceanoNox

My apologies for the thread necromancy, but I stumbled upon this article: https://www.research...Edo_period_1603-1868 The sources cited appear reliable (at least the ones I know). If the estimations are correct, some iron tsuba would be a few tens of euros.

Leaves with dew drops maybe? And this is why I think nunome is not so good for the long term, all the precious metal ends up somewhere else than the tsuba.

This is one of the only example that seems like a credible sword scar on tosogu: http://www.ksky.ne.j...9/katanainfight.html Also: http://www.ksky.ne.j.../tsubaradiation.html Here is another discussion on the topic, if you haven't seen it before:

A colleague of mine also has the 廣 kanji in his name. In that case, it's not related to old or new, that's just the way of writing it, and he said he accepted the use of 広 because the old kanji is not always known. As far as I know, on official papers, it should be 廣. I cannot comment on why the NBTHK used the new kanji instead of the new, especially if the mei uses the old kanji.

The top right of the first photo uploaded by John shows some crossing lines. As I understand, the nunome pattern should be removed after adding the wires and foils. I wonder if the person who made this tsuba had difficulty in removing the lines (I have seen artisans use a burnisher to "blend in" the lines). At the same time, since the gold is on round surfaces, maybe it was difficult to make a clear cross pattern in the first place. Regardless, in nunome zogan, the precious metal inlays are not completely flush with the iron surface. They are necessarily a bit proud. And you can get what is shown in the Aoi website links: the top surface of the inlay is removed, and gold remains in the grooves. You can see in this other example that the gold wire is still a bit raised (from ~9:30): As an aside, the modern fittings on my shinken for iai are all some kind of nunome zogan. Sometimes you can see the nunome pattern, sometimes not, but more importantly, because I use the sword regularly and it rusted, a lot of it has fallen off, pushed by iron oxide growing from below. I love the patterns that can be done, but I much prefer actual inlay.

I like the tsuba. The only issue one could have is that the tagane marks were not completely removed after inlaying the gold wires. Here are a few drawings explaining further the principle (for Higo zogan, but the same principle) (although Ford's videos are explained in much more detail). I think the pictures are clear enough that Japanese knowledge is not necessary. https://plaza.rakute...o.jp/higokinko/2000/

Rather than the hitsu ana defect, I am confused by the "dots" on the ji (I feel they would either be depressed, or look like nanako, but here, they are proud of the ji that has little hint of the use of tagane or punches), and the somewhat flared border of the nakago ana (especially beside the mei). Not being aware of the details of the sanmai process, it doesn't quite look handmade.

I'd like to see a document that describes that very special method that us stupid gaijin don't know about. I did not see anything like that in several old books (鐔に見る日本の意匠, 鐔芸術考, 鐔入門 : 百人百鐔, or even 人倫訓蒙図彙). I don't recall it being mentioned in Western publications either. So, something that Japanese and non-Japanese experts don't know about... But we do know that charcoal and urushi were, and still are, baked onto the surface of iron items. But what do I know, I am a stupid gaijin.

Easiest and fastest is X-Ray Fluorescence, but it will only get the patina composition. But this is already a big thing, because the recipes for patina should vary according to various places.

Is the mimi uchikaeshi? If so, I am amazed at the skill required to make it look so good. Very nice!

Thank you Manuel and Jean for the information. It was really helpful.

So that is why umegane sometimes look like they curve a bit towards the hitsu ana on their periphery! By inlet, did you mean that the ends of the nakago ana are expanded to insert the sekigane, or that the wall of the nakago ana had a small groove inside? Thank you for the answer.

I have been looking into sekigane and umegane in general recently. Sekigane because the iai swords I have usually don't have any (and antiques sold for iai do not either), and umegane because I think they are a very interesting way of using the hitsu ana when there is no kogai or kozuka. However, I cannot find much information (yet) on how they are made. I recall, when our dear departed Ford had a picasa page, that he said the sekigane held simply by friction. I understood it as meaning one would hammer it in place, and cut it to fit the nakago. The roughness of sekigane in general seems to confirm this assumption. I assume it is the same for umegane, but the finish is quite much cleaner for umegane in general. Do you know if there is a specific method to adding umegane? Is it simply hammered in place, and then polished and engraved? Could there be grooves carved in the wall of the hitsu ana to help secure them? Or would they be melted in cast in the hole?

Just taking a quick peak at the Owari section, and it's quite the leap from the original Japanese. I cannot understand how they got from 上下張り気味 (tends to be stretched up-down/vertically) to "squared seppa-dai". Likewise, going from 精良 to "hard and refined" (it seems to simply mean "excellent", which could be translated as refined, i.e. that forging took place to make the iron cleaner, but it does not imply hardness at all; 精 can mean strength, but more in the sense of vigor, it is incidentally one of the kanji for semen, to show the meaning of "vigor").

I don't know if this would work, but for starters, an evaluation of several dimensions for all extant tsuba would be a start. When I used the measurements from books and online collections, several times, only thickness or diameter were indicated. Proposed measurements: ➀ Easy and non-destructive: Thickness at the rim, thickness of seppadai, height/width of the tsuba, height and base width of the nakago ana, weight, shape of mimi. → This can be done readily by everyone, hopefully without scratching anything. ➁ Not so easy, but non-destructive (hopefully): Design trends (motifs, overal area cut out): possible use of AI for image analysis and treatment, Neutron diffraction (chemical analysis of iron, evaluation of forging), X-ray (chemical analysis of patina). → AI network for image analysis is being done currently. However, I have no idea how one would implement the analysis of designs. The measurement of total tsuba area and sukashi area seems straightforward, provided clear contrasting photos are used. I have personally done measurements of areas covered by specific features over total observed area, and it can show nice trends, but it is very very time consuming. → Neutron diffraction and X-ray analysis (XRF) were done by Barzagli and Kawami respectively. The XRF one is relatively easy because the tool can be rented (it's like a big hair dryer that one points at the item), but neutron diffraction is very difficult simply because one needs access to one of the few research centers that have it, and it means getting the tsuba there (as far as I understood, it's possible here in Japan to get neutron diffraction done for relatively cheap if the results are published in an open access journal. However, there is always the issue of handling at the facility and taking out the item from wherever they are stored/displayed). ③ Destructive: Hardness (micro Vickers is considered non destructive in the industry, but for antiques...). → Quite easy, although to get reliable data, a minimum of polish is typically required. Mr. Nakamura has shown such data in 1963 for several dozen iron tsuba, showing some scatter in hardness (hinting at either some forging or the combination of various irons and steels). A specific workshop or artist is unlikely to limit themselves to specific dimensions and materials. But if there are specific traits for various schools (presence of tekkotsu, prevalence of specific designs), the establishment of this kind of database could help narrow down possible origins of tsuba. With previous comments on papers being more liberally given in recent years, I do wonder whether the financial incentive to "mistakenly" attribute tsuba to famous craftsmen can be overcome. Certainly, it is possible that with this kind of inflation of paperwork, less stock will be put into those certificates, and a new system might be adopted.