Newly Acquired Type 95 And Type 98(?)

[DavidCarroll]

Greetings - I'm new to this forum and to swords in general. I was given two swords that had belonged to my wife's grandfather, who was a civilian engineer with the RAF, stationed in the Far East during WWII. As I understand it, he had an eventful war, including getting out of Singapore just ahead of the Japanese takeover, escaping from a sinking ship that had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, and hiding out on an island for 6 weeks before being picked up. He brought home these swords, which ended up in my in-laws' attic for decades. Based on my internetting, including on this forum, as best as I can determine: Sword 1 - a Type 95 NCO, aluminum handle, Serial# 63654. The inspection stamp to the left of the serial#, and the shape of the metal fitting at the end of the sheath suggest that it is Nagoya-made. The sheath itself bears a matching serial# Sword 2. I think this is a type 98, but it has no markings or numbers that I can find. I have not attempted to remove the handle at this point. The sheath is painted wood and has a full-length leather cover. The handle is traditional wrapped over ray skin, held in place with wood pegs. So - my main question is - what to do with these? I won't sell them, as they're interesting family artifacts, and I don't believe that they're particularly valuable. My first thought is to simply clean them up - polish the blades and maybe repaint the type 95 handle and sheath - and then put them on the wall. Right now, they look old, dusty and rusty - like they've spent the last few decades in an attic. I'd appreciate any thoughts on how to proceed from here.

[PNSSHOGUN]

First of all: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RESTORE THEM YOURSELF. Simply wipe the blades down with a light gun oil and t-shirt/old towel. Any value they have will be quickly reduced by *any* untrained meddling!

 

The Type 98 is a "Combat Grade" type mounting, which was a lower cost option compared to standard Type 98 mountings. It has a civilian sword guard or tsuba, which is seen on these mounts now and again. As for the blade, it's in very rough shape, you'd have to take off the handle and take some detailed pictures of the tang to determine if it's of any significance or worth professional restoration. You will need to take out the wooden peg with a appropriately sized punch and gently tap it out. Once the peg is out, hold the handle with one hand (tip pointed up) and give the handle a couple of firm strikes with the bottom of your fist.

 

As for the NCO Type 95, I'll let more knowledgeable members tell you exactly what you have.

[Shamsy]

You have a nice enough Type 95 with the Gifu subcontractors stamp. There are a few variations of varying scarcity, but this does not appear to be any of those. It is complete and matched which is a bonus. Gifu are not the most common subcontractors but sit around the middle.

 

The sword has developed a lovely, genuine patina to the brass over time. It would be a crime to shine that up and destroy one of the more difficult signs of a genuine sword (not that fakes are that great yet). As to the handle and scabbard, know that anything you attempt will diminish value, ‘professional’ or not. The blade... Well I am personally against it, but you could give it a fine oil and clean to remove the rust. That's rather (unfortunately) common, as any shiny NCO with dark pits will attest to.

 

But it is your sword, so it is your choice.

[Bruce Pennington]

David, nice collection with signifcant family history! I have "cleaned up" several of my swords over time and agree wtih both the guys above - do less rather than more. On my first attempt to buff up some fittings on my dad's sword, I realized in removing rust/oxidation, I was also removing some of the original coloration of the fitting! Ouch!

 

A lot of guys have been recommneding pure alcohol (found at hardware stores) for the blade. I tried that recently and it does put a shine to the bare blade, however it doesn't seem to remove any rust. The method I like is to take a rag and sprinkle a small pile of baking soda on it. Drop some lemon juice into the soda, and while it fizzes, rub the rust with the mixture. I would only do this on the Type 95 blade and metal parts.

 

Like John said, your Type 98 might be a low end blade, HOWEVER, the handguard looks civilian and I've seen several family heirloom blades fitted with the leather combat cover like this. So, it's "possible" that the blade might be an older blade worth exploring. It'd remove the handle and bring us some pics of the tang.

[EdWolf]

The method I like is to take a rag and sprinkle a small pile of baking soda on it. Drop some lemon juice into the soda, and while it fizzes, rub the rust with the mixture. I would only do this on the Type 95 blade and metal parts.

 

 

Hi Bruce,

Never heard of this method before. How do you clean the blade after rubbing the blade? Just water, drying the blade and a thin coat of oil? Thanks for sharing!

Best regards,

Ed

 

[Shamsy]

That's a much gentler way to do it Bruce. I see a lot of sandpaper jobs with the blades, sometimes taking off a fair bit of metal.

[Dave R]

 I have not seen the baking powder trick before either. For a mild abrasive I use scrunched up aluminium foil as a scrubber, but you have to make sure to remove fragments of foil afterwards.

[Bruce Pennington]

Hi Bruce,

Never heard of this method before. How do you clean the blade after rubbing the blade? Just water, drying the blade and a thin coat of oil? Thanks for sharing!

Best regards,

Ed

 

Ed,

 

It's a very weak acid and takes a lot of elbow-grease to work the rust off. I've mostly used it on seppa that had a lot of grime on them. It won't take that annoying black stain out of blades, but it will help remove active built up rust. Afterwards, I use the alcohol to clean and then apply oil.

[EdWolf]

Bruce,

Thanks for your reply!

Best regards,

Ed

[DavidCarroll]

Thanks for the responses folks. I'll remove the handle (I'll have to start learning the terminology!) from the Type 98 and photograph the tang, and give the blades a gentle clean. 

[DavidCarroll]

So, I removed the handle from the Type 98, by tapping out and gently pulling the wooden peg. The tang has a long line of stamps (see pics) one one side - nothing visible on the other. Any insights as to what they represent would be most appreciated. Cheers. Dave.

[David Flynn]

Noshu Seki (no)Ju Okada Kaneyoshi saku.    

[Dave R]

 And a "Sho" stamp! Non traditionally made in some aspect of manufacture/