Down the nie/nioi rabbit hole...

[Banton989]

Hello all, just after a bit of guidance, I'm trying to learn all I can about my new sword :-)

 

In my pics (apologies for the poor photos) is that nie along the hamon line? Not handled an older blade before so it's amazing looking close up at the depth of the construction. I could look at it for hours lol.

 

Is there a name for the particular nie pattern?

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Sorry I'm such a newbie! Thank you for your patience.

 

Adam

[Banton989]

Pic 2

[Rivkin]

Yes, in a better Mino nie can concentrate towards the upper portion of the hamon in a pleasant rather than ugly-clustered formation. Very nice. I do have high hopes for the blades with these photos in terms of being an upper class of Kanemoto lineage. Also top level polish because these things are hard to accent and often hadori obscures the finer activities in the habuchi area.

Nioiguchi does not seem to be too consistent which detracts from the beauty.

 

[Robert S]

The metal grain of that blade is quite interesting.  It's hard to tell from the photos, but I wonder if this blade had experienced some corrosion in the past.

[Matsunoki]

25 minutes ago, Robert S said:

It's hard to tell from the photos, but I wonder if this blade had experienced some corrosion in the past.

What makes you think that? Interested to hear your reasoning.

[Robert S]

Well, it's hard to see, and may be an artifact of the photography, but it does look like some of the granular structure along the hamon may have corroded in the past, leaving slight depressions.  If so, I'm thinking the more recent togishi decided not to polish them all the way out, in the interests of reducing metal removal.  But looking at the actual blade may tell you that I'm wrong :-)

[Matsunoki]

You are totally wrong and making such comments based on guesswork when someone is enquiring about the nie structure is both unnecessary and unhelpful. This is a beautiful blade in excellent condition and with a high quality polish. 

[Lewis B]

4 hours ago, Robert S said:

Well, it's hard to see, and may be an artifact of the photography, but it does look like some of the granular structure along the hamon may have corroded in the past, leaving slight depressions.  If so, I'm thinking the more recent togishi decided not to polish them all the way out, in the interests of reducing metal removal.  But looking at the actual blade may tell you that I'm wrong :-)

Can you highlight the areas? I'm having a problem seeing anything resembling what you describe. I'm sure you're not referring to the Nie particles indicated below. To me this appears like a healthy blade based on the limited photos with some inconsistency in the nioiguchi along the Hamon line as Kirill mentioned (lighting might be playing tricks). 

 

[sabiji]

Robert, do you mean the “black dots”? They are Nie. 

[Banton989]

Thanks for all the opinions so far, my photography probably isn't helping.

 

The nioiguchi is actually very nicely consistent down the length of the whole blade.

 

Good to know what nie looks like as I have never seen it before in person.