Kuniyoshi in gunto mounts.

[Tavroch]

I thank you all for your comments and suggestions so far.

But there's still some unanswered questions:

 

1: Can this be called a Gunome-Choji hamon?

And if not: what would you call this type of hamon?

 

2: The ji has a definite convex shape (niku?), especially near the ha.

Can I take this as a sign that the blade is quite healthy?

Can something at all be said about the tiredness/healthyness of this blade?

 

3: Is it ok to clean the seppa and tsuba any further? If so; what would be the best way to do this?

Should I try to polish out the marks left by the sanding? Or are they best left as they are now?

 

4: What kind of mounts would you suggest as appropriate for this kind of blade?

[Mark Green]

Hi Rob,

It would be very hard for anyone to tell you how healthy your sword is without seeing it in person. It has some nasty rust stains, and other 'things' going on with the steel. But, it is not that old, as Nihonto goes, so it could very likely have plenty of 'meat' remaining.

It would be nice to see it polished, but I wouldn't go spending a bunch on that. The value of your sword just does not make it a great idea.

I would think that your saya is very likely a BIG mess on the inside. If it was mine, I would get it out of that old saya asap and keep it oiled well. Make a simple saya for it if you are good with wood. Bass wood works well, as do some others. Stay away from any big sap woods.

I would just put it in a shira-saya, unless you are a samurai buff. than, go to town.

The hamon looks to be Gunome-choji or Gunome-midare. With very nice nie.

I am a lover of swords made from that part of Japan. So welcome to the club.

If you feel you need to clean the WW2 fittings any more, just use some mild metal cleaner.

enjoy. Mark

[Tavroch]

Thanks Mark.

The blade hasn't been in the saya since I took it out and I don't intend to put it back in again.

I was indeed thinking of making a basic shirasaya myself, if only to be able to ship it to a polisher if it comes to that.

I was able to remove the habaki recently by gently tapping it with a piece of soft plastic.

There's some caked on rust and other goo that prevented it from easily sliding off.

I read an article about removing old rust from tsubas by Jim Gilbert;

he suggests removing old rust by rubbing with a piece of bone or something of the kind.

Think this method would be okay to try to remove the caked on stuff that's on the nakago of my blade?

Or should I leave that to the polisher if it comes to that?

When having a blade polished is it always necessary to have a new habaki made?

Or does that depend on how much metal will be removed?

I may have found a nice tsuba to go with the blade;

any ideas on what the gunto mounts would fetch in case I'd want to sell them?

[Brian]

Do not use anything to rub on the nakago. I would suggest pure alchohol or similar to remove the caked on oil. You don't want to remove any patina.

In most cases, a new polish would suggest a new habaki. The polisher should tell you if a new one is required.

Gunto mounts only fetch about $250-300 nowdays, and if the sword was carried to war in them, then they should remain with the blade as part of its history anyways...have a tsunagi made and keep them with the sword.

 

Brian