"repaired" sword?

[Weidas]

Hello everyone,

 

there is interesting gunto om e-bay - mix of kyu and shin gunto. However, there seems some marks of overheating near tang. Like it was re-heated. What is your opinion about that?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/VERY-NICE-Japanese- ... 2a01dd3652

 

thank you!

[oneshot onekill]

Yea... That would scare me a little. I'm still learning but I haven't seen any Koto blades yet that have that kind of discoloration... FWIW.

[pcfarrar]

  Weidas said:

, there seems some marks of overheating near tang. Like it was re-heated. What is your opinion about that?

 

Heated when when it was shortened, would need repatination to fix it.

[Weidas]

sorry for perhaps stupid question, but why to do that on the begining of the tang?

[pcfarrar]

  Weidas said:

sorry for perhaps stupid question, but why to do that on the begining of the tang?

 

To remove the hardened edge and make it easier to reshape.

[Ted Tenold]

This is not an uncommon thing to see on swords that were altered for military mounts. Old swords lost a large part of their percieved value and artistic appreciation after the Hatorei so they weren't altered with the same level of craftsmanship or consideration. Combine this with a shop that is basically an "outfitter" for Officer's military sidearms, and many *many* Japanese officers who themselves likely knew little or nothing about old swords, and you end up with something like this. I have a Rai sword here that was shortened during the war, and although (thankfully) it was not heated to anneal the yakiba, it was shortened none the less and the polished part of the sword extends far past the habaki area because it was also never repatinated. Very unusual yet intriquing to see this.

[drbvac]

I wonder if it was heated because it was bent?

[Weidas]

my thought was the same.. however, it seems, that this sword should be considered as "roughly" altered to fit into kyu-gunto mounts. but why to alter blade lenght if you can shorten nakago...?

[Dave0258]

Ted,

I'm trying to follow your description of the modifications to the sword that you described. Any chance you could grace us with a photo to help with the understanding?

Thanks,

Dave

[Ted Tenold]

Dave,

 

Here's an image of a sword that is osuriage, and had it's notches further moved forward without heating the edge to remove the hardening.

 

Heating the edge to soften it prior to filing the edge down not only facilitates easier work, but it also meant less chance for causing a deep chip in the hardened area should the tool or stone grab or catch. The skill and care of the person performing the process in either case was the most important factor in determing how well it was done. Some are just plain dreadful, having been done in a sloppy or hurried manner.

 

As for heating it to remove a bend; this is really not necessary. Bends and twists are generally removable at room temperature, provided your room isn't in the Arctic circle. :lol: Gentle heat is applied to swords in other processes, but I would qualify "gentle" as a heat well below that which would cause any molecular changes. That heat would be measured by being only so much that would make it mildly uncomforatble to hold against bare skin, and that is far below the gradient of altering the structure of the steel.