Lindus

Many years ago Dr Graham Curtis wrote an article re the evolution of Bizen Hamons,Choji. Does any member have this as would be interested to read again.

Who were the best Tamba smiths?, a friend has just acquired a Wakizashi signed "Tamba no kami Yoshi michi", I had a beutifully silver mounted Tanto some years ago when it appeared they were not so well rated. What is the guideline to the best and worst {if any}?

We constantly see Hawley mentioned as far a sword ratings are concerned,Have over the years used both the blue editions & its index link to Fujishiro as well as the revised edition with Brown cover{never understood why that edition did not have the same reference},then referred to Yamanka's news letters. It seemed between the three that pretty much all led to a good research road,so, would be interested in what the opinion of the more dedicated students of Nihonto feel on the subject of these old guy's.

Surprised that little comment has been made on the Shakudo Tsuba,perhaps John or Ford may wish to offer an opinion?, just idle curiosity as it is so unusual. Roy

Agree with Ian,not uncommon but wish they were as these are about as ungainly and ugly as they come,cannot find the old pic's of mine which now resides in New york {USA},was pleased to see it leave my collection at the time.

Unless I have missed it, the guy to comment is of course Young Ford Hallem........

A while back a n old friend cleaned his blade using lighter fuel,had similar results which upset him a little as Mishina had polished the blade several months before,seem additives in the fluid added new dimensions to the Hamon and Hada

More of this please old man.

It is interesting that we have many posts re the quality of nanako,when you see the the skill required to cut these lines although perhaps not that in top nanako it is very good indeed. Agree that this is a rare design and cannot understand why it would not have had a seppa dai or signature.

Sho Shu no ju Minamoto Teru Hisa Saku' Would be interested on any information on this blade,79.5cm,fine tight hada and suguha hamon. Gunto mounts thrown away by previous owner when he had it polished so now in shira saya. Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks

Photo's please.

Have always found the second Tsuba an interesting item,some years ago it was suggested that it would be worth putting it into shinsa. I know there are some good Tsuba men out there,any thoughts on this?.

Many thanks,now for some research.

Would appreciate if any could translate and ID the maker of this Lacquer lid. Cheers

Wakizashi, not a Katana or Tanto,love them or not they are great untill you want to recover your investment and move on. The you almost allways take a financial hit. Signed...good Mumei...not so Papers....huge doubt allways Be carefull.

Have posted this tassel question befor without a conclusion so will try here. Have a perfectly genuine tassel that came on a Kai Gunto,it is green. Sword was a presentation to a German Naval officer,any Idea.s folks?.

Thanks gentlemen.

Excellent replies gentlemen,Thank you.

Several blades by this smith passed my way over the years,Oil or water tempered when polished they had a good fine hada and Hamon. Seem a decent "Gendai" type blade although the debate would go on over that statement,just wonder how many blades dismissed out of hand if the polisher was allowed to carry on as I did on several occasions would then find activity denied on such blades. Putting my head on the block once again I have to say that when tempering anything {In my case Machine tools and chisels} weather water {In most case's}or oil as requested by some, the out come was similar. I would be interested in the comments of the more eminant members on just how oil-V-water cooling alters the structure of hardness???,I remember watching the colours creeping down the metal object being tempered and selecting the appropriate colour before quenching sometimes in hot water or cold and on other occasions in hot oil. I may be out on the memory thing at my age but "Scrapers" were oil quenched while "Scribers" were water quenched. Just for fun

While looking for a suitable box to send a Tsuka in I found this,have no idea when I came by it and would appreciate a translation please,not being lazy just cannot make head or tale of the mei?????? Thanks Roy

So, we have a brand new blade but looks spectacular,not an art object but many would be happy with....what is its monetary worth?....also in a decade what would it be seen as a financial investment??? Then as with many other smiths being re-evaluated,how would this be seen in a decade I wonder. I had a sword by the 1st generation Shigetaka,when viewed many years ago by a "Major" polisher in the UK at that time, he said that at this time it was not of any real interest but this and others were being re-evaluated.......... I go back time and time again to the old rule of thumb... Can you afford it? Do you really like i?? Buy it

Nice find Steve,well done. Interesting to get the script on the Tsuka translated,why not scan it and ask for help on that.

Yes,often, but this is not run of the mill. You have a fine quality Gunto Tsuba that is Sukashi, this would have cost the officer much more as would the Mon. Some pic's of the mounts as well as the blade would be nice.

Well done young man,if you can move up from here we are redundant

No, simple answere,there was a time when Yasukuni were cheap gunto,Mantetsu were railway lines and sold for $50 or so. Now we have the complication of Chinese fakes and will not go into that as the forums has miles of script on the subject, so, even a sword by a run of the mill smith can on occasions be considered Gendaito,I quote, roughly, on a splendid blade by Nagamura kiyonobu some while back by Chris...."Every smith has his day". Obviously check out the signature & ask the question here. Look for the work in the blade,EG, Hada,Utsuri{yes this is seen on Gendai} et al. Sugata,this will or should have some elegance although that is subjective. Nakago, this is a difficult one as some are rough but on the whole quality shines through. Showato,dirty word? no they have a place for those interested in the militaria aspect of our collecting world and should not be dismissed. Over the last twenty/thirty years we have moved from dismissing anything with a stamp to a long running debate on the subject......so..........in answere to your question, no, it is time,study and mistakes,there is nothing quite like a good financial mistake to improve your learning skills :lol: I know this for a fact. ****Apologise.re read your header and then the question which is entirely different****