Would like some info on this one

[azizaedelam]

Hello you experts,

 

i would like some information about this Tanto/Wakizashi.

Who was the smith, in whith time did he operate, something else?

Its 46 cm long, so i guess its something between a tanto and a wakizashi?

 

Best Regards /Mikael

[azizaedelam]

Some more pics...

[Brian]

Yasu..... (possibly Yasushige)

 

Will await better confirmation from others.

 

Brian

[kitsune]

Yasushige saku (probably Shimohara school).

[azizaedelam]

Is it possible to say which YASUSHIGE in Shimohara it is?

I found this one

http://www.sho-shin.com/tokai8.htm

Is it CHIKASHIGE, who in the year of 1523 changed name to YASUSHIGE?

Or is it one of his followers? I guess sons. Also i have a question which oil

to use for this kind of old sword.

[kitsune]

It's difficult to say which. This school (shitahara or shimohara) shows a nioiguchi urumu and mokume (with ayasugi fu hada). It was active starting from Muromachi, sue koto. I already saw a hira zukuri blade with the same mei and identical hamon.

[azizaedelam]

Thanks for your answers, so it should be a blade from the end of 1500 something? I came over it by a change really, and im not going to sell it, but it should be interesting to know the approximate value of this blade. I have it in a shirasaya mounting, that should be perhaps fropm the 1800- something.

[azizaedelam]

Please if someone else have some more information, i would appreicate very much if you can tell me. Would be nice if possible to pin-pint which

Yasushige made this tanto/Wak

[azizaedelam]

If someone have some pictures of another one with the same mei, it would be interesting to see....

[Ken-Hawaii]

Mikael, most of us use choji oil on our Nihonto, but any lightweight oil will work just fine.

 

Don't try to remove all of the old oil with anything except a clean non-abrasive cloth . Using uchiko is often suggested, but that's a fairly strong abrasive, & it will also remove some of the metal, including your hamon.

 

I keep my blades in a display cabinet with a dry-rod, & oil them only once a quarter or so.

[azizaedelam]

Hi Ken,

 

thanks for the info! I will try to find that kind of oil. I have never owned a Nihonto before and as i by a change got over this one, i wasnt prepared for it. Ok, a drying rod, whats that and where can i find it?

 

Best Regards /Mikael

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

You can use rubbing alcohol (90°) instead uchiko, it's active and without inconvenience.

[Darcy]

Rubbing alcohol contains water, generally a good idea to avoid. You would be better off with methyl hydrate that you can find in a hardware store, which will contain no water.

 

You don't want methyl hydrate on your hands though, it is very efficient at stripping the oil from your hands and the results can be very painful if you stay in contact with it for a long time.

[Jacques]

In France, where i live, rubbing alcohol contains 90% alcohol, i use it without any problems (it's promptly dry and no scratchy). Perhaps rubbing alcohol is not so pure in Canada or States.

[remzy]

I powder *very* lightly with uchiko and carefuly wipe it off with 2 or 3 strokes maximum.. (but then again, i do not soak my blade with oil so to preserve the shirasaya, a very thin oil film should do the trick) this shouldnt scratch your blade unless you use the hijax they pass out as uchiko on some martial art websites.

 

Personnaly, I would avoid any kind of chemical on my blade, be it gasoline, alcool or vaseline *gasp*no telling what happens on a microscopic scale when you apply such things. Also, i do not want to imply you are ignorant but, i would also recommand taking off any watch/bracer/rings off while handling your blade.

 

I love choji oil smell, is it edible? :3

 

Remy

[Ken-Hawaii]

Mikael, the dry-rod is available at http://www.dealerease.net/catalog/produ ... _id=139995 for under $30, & I highly recommend it. If it kills the humidity here in Hawaii, it's likely to work fine for you, too.

 

I strongly recommend against rubbing alcohol on your blade!! It not only contains up to 30% water, it also attracts water from the atmosphere. If you (for some strange reason) have to use alcohol, at least use denatured to minimize the water. but unless you have gum on the blade, alcohol should be avoided. Methyl hydrate is probably methanol, which isn't much different from rubbing (isopropanol) alcohol. Enough chemical engineering!

 

Similarly, uchiko, as I mentioned before removes small amounts of metal from your blade. Not surprising as uchiko is nothing more than finely-ground polishing stone. I don't know why you would want to remove metal from your Nihonto just to clean off oil each month...a soft clean rag works just fine unless you've let oil build up for several years.

 

Choji oil is available from many sources, Mikael, but you can try http://www.e-bogu.com, which is where I get many of my supplies.

 

Have fun!

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

I think there is a misunderstanding, i use alcohol only in subsitution of the uchiko powder (old oil tends to get hard) after that and when my blade is absolutely dry i apply a thin covering of new choji oil until i need to clean my blade again.

[azizaedelam]

Hi folks,

 

Thanks for all the tips here! I must say i agree with Ken-Hawaii here. I wouldnt dare to use a lot of chemicals like alcohol, isopropanol etc, also this

uchiko powder i guess should be avoided until very necessary, as Ken says

its made from stone. Why is it ever used?

perhaps a novice word, but previously i believed that the powder used

on blades was to dry out potential humidity before adding oil to it.

[azizaedelam]

... or the uchiko is like a rubbing when cleaning a car laquer? If a lot of oxides on the car laquer you might use a rubbing compound to remove it, prior to vaxing/sealing it. The rubbing compound also have some weak grinding properties.

[remzy]

If Uchiko powder is so bad for your blade, it makes me wonder why Japanese has been using it all of these years on their blades...

 

But then again, im no expert.

 

Regards

Remy

[kitsune]

Hi,

I use uchiko and katana abura since thirty years and I'm satisfied with the result.

Regards

[azizaedelam]

i think this is probably (as the mei says only Yashushige???):

 

 

YASUSHIGE(2) TEN-SHO (f: YASUSHIGE 1): YAMAMOTO TOUEMON. Worked

from TEN-SHO 1573 to KEICHO 1596. Standing, evenly set

JORIN-MOKU HADA. KO-NIE GUNOME with ASHI-IRI undulates.

KO-MARU BOSHI or TOGARI. FUKUGATA Belly-shaped NAKAGO

finds KURIJIRI.

MEI: YASUSHIGE

 

 

got it from:

http://www.sho-shin.com/tokai8.htm

[Gokaden]

Generally, Chyoji oil has been used to treat Japanese swords. This is a sticky vegetable oil traditionally used in cleaning swords. It promotes oxidation of the blade that will result in rust in the future. In our opinion, and based on our experience, we advise you NOT to use chyoji oil. We suggest that you use high-quality machine oil or gun oil on your sword. This is the same type used when maintaining guns or sewing machines, and it is the only oil that we use with our swords.

 

The Japanese sword does not rust easily, so it is not necessary to apply uchiko too often. In fact, using the uchiko too frequently could result in slight scratches and over time the texture of the jitetsu will lose its brightness. Please realize that the uchi-ko is made of a fine powdered whetstone known as uchigumori-to. Occasional care and caution when maintaining your sword is good. Excessive cleaning however, will cause damage.

 

I times of war, where swords where used as weapons, of course uchiko was used more frequently to clean the swords after battle.

 

To clean blade that is stick with old oil proper use Pharmaceutical Grade Benzinum Medicinale ACL to remove old oil, the apply new oil. The blade will not damage from 100% Benzinum Medicinale.

[azizaedelam]

Thank you really much for your tips regarding sword maintainance, its really interesting to hear what you have to say, thank you again!.

[azizaedelam]

but, not so much information about the subject of this post , doesnt anyone has some more info on my Tanto/Wakizashi, please see beginning...