How do i remove blade

[dilligaf12]

G/day all, found this in my dads collection and I am not sure how to remove the blade to see if it is signed without breaking some of the bone carvings, although it looks like someone already has any help would be great

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Vaughn,

 

It might be an idea to leave it as it is, often the blade is set in with pitch.

 

It's rare to find a good blade in these mountings (though not unknown).

 

On the plus side, the quality of the carving is better than most examples of these items which were made primarily for the tourist industry.

 

Cheers

[Drago]

But when I look at the habaki and how it fits it might indicate that the blade is at least decent too. So it's not just the fittings that are better than the usual.

[mywei]

how often were these tourist pieces even signed?

[Brian]

First instinct is that these ivory carved ones are almost always junk tourist items. But yes..as pointed out, this one does seem to have some high level quality carving. And you almost never see double habaki with them. So I would give it more investigation.

But if you cannot see a peg, then it is glued in. You need to get this to someone familiar with Nihonto so that they can take a good look.

Might be you have to leave it as is, as see what the blade tells you once cleaned up a bit.

 

Brian

[b.hennick]

You could get hte piece X-rayed to see if there is a hole in the tang. If not you will know not to go furhter in this direction.

[Brian]

Good idea Barry. That definitely makes sense, and should give you an idea of the tang shape and if it is worth investigating further.

 

Brian

[Pete Klein]

Two piece habaki = possibility of old blade. Worth investigation I would think.

[Lance]

Maybe something like this will help, a set of tools for removing a tight handle. (assuming it wasn't glued in with too much pine pitch)

 

http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/tools.html

 

Regards,

Lance

[dilligaf12]

Thanks everyone for the advice I will try and find someone in my local area to have a look at it.

[Surfson]

I would be inclined to leave it alone too. You will likely crack or break the ivory. Based on the shape of the blade, and my guess that it is a rather slight blade lacking of uchisori, I would think that it is unlikely to be a special blade. Just my guess.

[dilligaf12]

G/day all,

Managed to push the blade out,no markings or signature so I am hoping the shape of the tang may help with a possible time frame of the sword that may tell if it is a touristy item.

Thanks

Vaughn

[John A Stuart]

It is interesting in that it has three mekugiana. It may be nothing to that or it may indeed be a legitimate tanto. I sure would like to know if it has an hardened edge showing a hamon. What do you see as you look along it to a bright light source? Any hint of one? John

[dilligaf12]

Hi John

I oiled it up and wiped it down which it removed some of the light rust and there seems to be a hamon on it, large smooth rounded hills or mountains if that adds up to the carvings.

I will leave a little oil on it over night and wipe it down tomorrow and check again and hope to get a photo of it.

Thanks heaps for all the help

Vaughn

[dilligaf12]

Nagasa is approx 33,2cm-13inch.

[dilligaf12]

The blade is not in the best condition nor the photo's but you can see a hamon in them

[John A Stuart]

Hard to determine if a cosmetic hamon or not, but, perhaps not. Yakiotoshi. Hmmmm? John

[Brian]

I would bet money the hamon is real. In fact...with that level of carving, I would be tempted to send it to a polisher to see what a window produces. This isn't a typical tourist piece, and all the indicators so far are positive.

 

Brian

[dilligaf12]

I would go for the window polish but i'm pretty sure there's no one in Newcastle Australia qualified to do that or is there? Any help on that?. Also thanks once again for all the input and advice and if anyone can help any further that would be great because there is not any place that I have found where I can take my swords to find out any information locally so keep the great work up everyone.

Thanks

Vaughn

[dilligaf12]

I went over the carvings with a magnifying glass and found some writing not sure if it helps with identification or it is just something the carver did to make it look good