KungFooey

🎶 Round and round the houses we go! 🎶 Dee😂

Papered signatures on the left, Yahoo 'bargain' on the right. 🤣

Hi all, Yesterday I was amusing myself watching a Yahoo auction for a - wait for it - Rai Kunimitsu tanto. 🤣 All it takes is a look at the signature on the unpapered auction tanto and some genuine examples and you can pretty quickly figure that it isn't some Japanese dealer who's suddenly gone all soft hearted. It chugged along at ¥48,000 and then suddenly turned into a feeding frenzy in the last few minutes - but it was cancelled by the seller anyway at ¥112,000 who obviously thinks there are bigger suckers to be had. 🤣 Dee PS: if the photos appear out of order (as they often do) just look at them from the lowest price up to the highest!

OK, now I've got to get real serious and bring back my ace in the hole - the 'JB Weld enhanced tsuba'!!! Dee

You've outfuglied me completely!!! 🤣

Which means it was actually made for combat - not just for some high ranking fop to wear to a poetry reading. Awesome - this is my dream sword!!! Dee

Maybe the NTHK?

Neanderthal man flipping the bird to a midget witch. https://page.auction.../auction/h1165979047

Hey Bruce! I'm a little confused - I thought the NBTHK itself was formed in 1948? Thank, Dee

Now that is a very precious - and beautiful - piece of history. 😍

Oh my word! I honestly thought it came direct from "Mr Chang's Workshop of Bronze Abominations"! I had no idea it was actually based on Japanese originals - my world is falling around my ears. 😩😩😩 Dee

No way is that Chinese! 🤣🤣🤣 I think sometimes the people who only study Juyo swords forget where we normal folks start out. You've got a real, old, genuine Japanese sword there. Okay, the fittings have been messed around with - so what? There are more Frankenstein's out there than unmessed-with swords - even in the Japanese market. As regards it being signed katana side, I would say the lower, punched hole is the original making it an uchigatana and the higher, drilled hole was added when the machi were moved up to shorten the blade length (maybe it was stuck in gunto mounts in World War II?) Enjoy it! All the best Dee

.... this little fella. Must have made some samurai look really kickass back in the day.

Honestly? I think the koshirae is absolutely exquisite, but the blade ...... meh. As long as you enjoy it, that's the main thing. Dee PS: Good luck fitting the new tsuba - it's 1mm thicker than the original.

Hi Dale!

Karasu-guchi - "crow's mouth". fatal crack at tip of kissaki.

Very tired blade (same one as above) showing core steel and laminations opening.o

Hamon runs off blade at kissaki - no boshi. Lower photo shows how hadori can create fake boshi.

Mukade-shinae or "centipede-wrinkles"

Hi everyone As some here know, I recently had a panic with my first ever blade as I thought it had a bad kizu. I discovered then that descriptions are all well and good but a real picture is worth a thousand words - so I thought it might be useful for non-experts like me to have a thread where they can see actual photos of flaws in blades all grouped together. (If this should be moved somewhere else please go ahead.) Dee Here are some to kick off.... please add any photos you think will help.

Well said! It's as much a piece of history as a 700 year old blade with a big cut in its back! Dee

Hi, With all respect, your question sounds a bit like "I've just passed my driving test - should I buy this 1906 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost with a huge, irreparable dent in the fender?" Why do you really want it? Will you be able to live with the dent after the honeymoon period? Can you look after it as it deserves, without inflicting any more damage? Just my thoughts as this is way out of my league! Dee

Jean, I KNOW that swords should always be displayed in a stand with the hilt to the left and they should be passed to others in the same manner to show passive intent. But respected dealers in Japan stand behind their swords with the hilt facing THEIR right. So It's ridiculous to expect the smith to do otherwise. Dee

@Jacques D. Tell that to Japanese sword dealers at the big shows. I would've thought they would know something about sword etiquette. 🤔

No, the position respects etiquette by presenting the tsuka on the left of the viewer - as represented by the cameraman.