Suci Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 Is anyone able to help me confirm or otherwise this is signed "kuni sada" please? Thank you Suci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 The smith is Kunitada. https://www.google.com/search?q="ikeda+Kunitada"&oq="ikeda+Kunitada"+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAjIHCAIQIRiPAtIBCDg3MDVqMWo0qAIOsAIB&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suci Posted October 13 Author Report Share Posted October 13 Thank you Ray There are no stamps next to the signature; is that a sign the blade is better quality please? Is the date also August 1943? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 Yes, that is the date and this appears to be a gendaito (a traditionally made Japanese sword from that time period). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suci Posted October 13 Author Report Share Posted October 13 Bless you, thanks again Ray. One last by the by question. The blade was secured in the grip by two steel bolts (that had seized), not pegs. Is that normal? Likely Japanese done or the British soldier that brought it home? We had to ask a friend to drill the bolts out and am glad now that we did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 Please show photos. Type 3 gunto koshirae had two screws. Both the normal mekugi-ana and a second shinobi-ana at the bottom. Those screws are rare and desirable. If you have photos of the mounting and the screws or bolts that were previously there, please share here in the post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suci Posted October 13 Author Report Share Posted October 13 Hello Ray. Oh, or rather "Oh no"; the bolts got binned, the nuts are still there behind the ito (can not photo the smaller one as secure behind the ito). Rare? Should I go through the garbage to see if I can find the smaller bolt? They were basically non-descript flat head screw bolts. The nuts were / are different to what you normally see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conway S Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 I’d start digging through the garbage if I were you… If they are the correct screws for the koshirae then you will be hard pressed to find another one. In fact, members on this forum usually inquire where to find reproduction screws, because both original and nice quality reproductions are hard to find and expensive. Conway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suci Posted October 13 Author Report Share Posted October 13 We've replaced them with pegs; not the "nuts" / flanges, they are still there. The main bolt is toast as it had seized, so we drilled it out. The smaller one we got out and binned. What is the value of that bolt do you think? As going through garbage is not my idea of making money, unless gold! As I said, the nuts / flanges are still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conway S Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 Did the screw look like this? Can you post a picture of your sword? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suci Posted October 13 Author Report Share Posted October 13 6 hours ago, Conway S said: Did the screw look like this? Can you post a picture of your sword? Yes, slightly rounded top. I did not see the whole bolts as a friend actually drilled out the big one and threw away the smaller one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conway S Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 See below. Volker was selling some reproductions. Maybe they are still available. It’s still worth it to look for the small one if you can find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 Before we go any further into this, I would still like to see a photograph of the mounting so that we know if we are dealing with a type 3 koshirae. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suci Posted October 14 Author Report Share Posted October 14 Photos before drilling the bolt out 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Singer Posted October 14 Report Share Posted October 14 That is indeed a Type 3 koshirae, and as discussed earlier this is the type where screws are a standard element of the mounting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pennington Posted October 14 Report Share Posted October 14 That bottom one definitely looks like the head was messed up. Might have had to drill it to remove it. But original. If you can't find replacements, many of these are found with bamboo mekugi, and some with a mix of both, so it won't hurt the originality if you decide to replace them with bamboo. Also, I only have 1 other Kunitada on file with stamps. Can you check the nakago mune for Na stamps, please? The other was posted by @Itomagoi, also an August 1943. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suci Posted October 15 Author Report Share Posted October 15 Hello Bruce - no stamps whatsoever anywhere - we triple checked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pennington Posted October 25 Report Share Posted October 25 On 10/13/2024 at 4:37 AM, Suci said: a sign the blade is better quality please? Another sign is that the blade is in upgraded fittings with 2 screws (instead of bamboo pegs) and 2 latch release buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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