Jon Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 Just seen this blade with the deepest sori I think I have ever seen, not sure what school etc went for such deep Sori ? Quote
lonely panet Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 Think its representing the crescent 🌙 moon. 1 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 Or a banana...... If memory serves me right such exaggerated Sori is a sign of re-tempering. 3 Quote
robinalexander Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 Wow Jonathan....any more pics or info on this? Possibly a lot more modern than ancestral? Quote
DoTanuki yokai Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 I can remember seeing a Gassan blade with crescent moon Koshirae and a sori that looked like a perfect half circle. Must be somewhere here on NMB if i remember correctly . 1 Quote
Nihonto student Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 12 minutes ago, DoTanuki yokai said: I can remember seeing a Gassan blade with crescent moon Koshirae and a sori that looked like a perfect half circle. Must be somewhere here on NMB if i remember correctly . 2 1 Quote
Volker62 Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 I've also read that sai-ha blades have very strong sori????? Quote
Brian Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 Yes, but usually not this obvious and combine with things like open grain and weak hamon. This looks too deliberate. Maybe shrine offering etc. Quote
Franco D Posted August 28 Report Posted August 28 Like when a shinsa judge looks at a bad blade where they literally reach for the pink sheet after only a quick glance, nihonto students should do the same. If only as much time were spent studying excellent blades as folks spend time on studying bad blades. Yes, look for saiha when you see a sword with unusual deep sori. Regards 1 Quote
Jon Posted August 28 Author Report Posted August 28 Some more pictures, it does have an interesting set of koshirae to go with that insane Sori…. 1 Quote
DoTanuki yokai Posted August 29 Report Posted August 29 I don’t think the extraordinary Sori is related to saiha theory is true at all. 1 Quote
Franco D Posted August 29 Report Posted August 29 (edited) 12 hours ago, DoTanuki yokai said: I don’t think the extraordinary Sori is related to saiha theory is true at all. Are you saying this for this sword or in general or both? Regardless, it would be most unwise not to "look for" saiha on a sword with an unusual amount of sori. While I was not in attendance, myself, this information was shared by fellow RSG members following a Florida sword show in which Mr. Tanobe spoke about saiha. The other somewhat of a surprise that came out of that session was the fact that there are many more saiha swords out there than one might expect. Edited August 29 by Franco D 1 Quote
Jussi Ekholm Posted August 29 Report Posted August 29 Franco is correct that there are probably many swords that are saiha that we are not aware of. After the process they would fulfill their purpose as weapons again. There are also some famous swords that have been reforged as fired caused damage in period Japan. However for more basic weaponry it would not be documented that well. I have seen some great saiha blades, and I would not have the knowledge to tell they have been reforged. Nikkō Tōshōgū has had modern smiths reforge some of their burned blades and the end result looks very good. They had a rotation of 3 tachi per turn and all of the 3 that I saw this year and 3 that I saw last year were all reforged in 1980's. 1 Quote
Mark S. Posted August 29 Report Posted August 29 Not to hijack, but imagine my surprise… had a blade polished, only to have it judged saiha at Shinsa. My guess is the blade has mizukage and that was a tell to the Shinsa team. Polisher didn’t think so… Quote
Nihonto Chicken Posted August 30 Report Posted August 30 Mizukage can result from an original temper (quench) as my bargain basement gunto below indicates. Sorry for the fuzzy old cell phone pics, but the mizukage is unmistakable, and the left pic shows a floating island of yubashiri for added effect, likely good for an additional ten dollars upon resale. Quote
DoTanuki yokai Posted August 30 Report Posted August 30 There can be clear signs like mizukage that starts at the hamachi on a suriage blade but from my own experience you can’t see saiha on an ubu blade. Maybe if the blade is poorly shaped when retempered the sori could become ugly but what would be the reason otherwise ? Some years ago they had this on the usagiya homepage I have also done Saiha on one Tanto that I forged from Tamahagane five times and I couldn’t make out any signs of it. Quote
Franco D Posted August 30 Report Posted August 30 FYI, https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/15057-mizukage-retempered-blade-flaw-or-utsuri/ Quote
paul alex Posted August 31 Report Posted August 31 On 8/28/2024 at 9:58 PM, Jon said: Some more pictures, it does have an interesting set of koshirae to go with that insane Sori…. Jon I own this sword I think the blade pic is not correct here's what it looks like ,thanks Paul Quote
Jon Posted August 31 Author Report Posted August 31 Hi Paul, that’s brilliant that you own this one..do you have any information on the school ect…I have never seen a blade like it anywhere before. Quote
paul alex Posted September 1 Report Posted September 1 Sorry Jon I have no information on it whatsoever.ive never spent so long researching something and got so little information.i quite like the temple offering idea there is a video on YouTube where a smith makes a blade for a Shinto temple and it's the same shape as the roof but I struggle with the idea of waki sized blades as temple offerings in the video it was a big blade tachi size.thanks paul.sorry for my confusion I didn't realise the first picture is also my sword and your picture's are correct Quote
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