DRDave Posted March 11, 2018 Report Posted March 11, 2018 Sword bears the signature of Tsutsui Kiyokane, and dated Showa 20. What would have produced the almost rectangular areas in this photo? Thanks! Dave D. Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted March 11, 2018 Report Posted March 11, 2018 Umegane, very bad polish, or someone doing a really bad job of cleaning a spot? Quote
Ray Singer Posted March 11, 2018 Report Posted March 11, 2018 Looks like an unintended hardened area (tobiyaki) within the ji. Perhaps a fault during yaki-ire. Quote
b.hennick Posted March 11, 2018 Report Posted March 11, 2018 Hi It seems too large an area for umagane. Perhaps it is shintetsu. Quote
DRDave Posted March 11, 2018 Author Report Posted March 11, 2018 There is one more area further down the bade with the same rectangular shape. It's fainter, but even larger, than the ones shown. The other side of the blade looks fine. Umegane was my first thought. But to that extent? If tobiyaki was intended, why only one side? And If accidental, what's the likelihood of getting those straight lines and sharp corners repeatedly? I don't know. It's unusual. Thanks! Dave D. Quote
John A Stuart Posted March 11, 2018 Report Posted March 11, 2018 It just looks like a different type of metal that wasn't homogenised perfectly during folding while being forged. John Quote
ROKUJURO Posted March 11, 2018 Report Posted March 11, 2018 Yes, what John said.It is very probably a layer of the KAWAGANE, and it is quite coarse and not well homogenized/folded. It would not affect the performance of the blade, but it looks quite unusual and not aesthetically satisfying. Nevertheless, it could be the "style" of this smith, so more research might be advisable. Quote
jeremy Posted March 12, 2018 Report Posted March 12, 2018 The koto wakizashi I have for sale has something similar in the shinogi ji which is a umegane. Jeremy Quote
Surfson Posted March 12, 2018 Report Posted March 12, 2018 Looks like it had a "skin transplant"! Quote
mfarrar Posted March 13, 2018 Report Posted March 13, 2018 I noticed this also and thought odd and maybe an umegane but then the hada is not different and flows through it. Also strange that there is no mention the of what it is in the description. Quote
DRDave Posted March 13, 2018 Author Report Posted March 13, 2018 I had emailed the seller (Aoi) about it a couple of days ago, and late yesterday, received their response; they too, say it's umegane. There is some evidence in the hada suggesting the possibility of bigger issues requiring umegane, but I still wonder. Life was far from normal in Feb 1945. Bombing of Tokyo; invasion of Iwo Jima. I wonder if maybe the additional metal was of such significance to the smith that he just wanted to incorporate it into the blade. Quote
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