Tanto with a stuck habaki

[Veli]

Some time ago I purchased a Mino Kanefusa tanto from an antique dealer not specialized to nihon-to. Risky business, but I had been looking for this kind of tanto.

 

 

After the tanto arrived I was facing several problems: a weak spot in the yakiba (on the verge of being nioi-giri);

 

something near the top of the habaki that might be a hagiri; and a habaki that was totally stuck. I soon realised that any conventional means of detaching the habaki would lead to complete destruction of the nice gold-foiled habaki. Thus I deviced the following procedure:

1) I oiled the blade and the habaki thoroughly

2) I wrapped the habaki and blade tightly in thin plastic membrane (shrink foil)

3) I applied a thin layer of epoxy on the upper part of the habaki, and 3 mm up the blade.

4) After the epoxy hardened I wound a reinforcing coil of copper wire around the upper part of the habaki

5) I applied a second epoxy layer on the copper wire coil. Now I had a reinforced epoxy mold that would distribute any impacts evenly on the surface of the habaki and also prevent the habaki from buckling

6) In a block of wood, I chiselled a groove that perfectly fitted the nakago. Then I screwed another wood block onto its side, and thus I had a support for the nakago.

7) I sawed a slot with the blade's cross-section in another piece of wood. This piece was used as a tool when tapping the habaki off.

 

Finally I administered a few increasingly sharp blows (hard enough to destroy an unsupported habaki) with a wooden hammer, using the slotted piece in between the habaki mold and hammer. And finally, the habaki was off, with no damage. The mold was easy to remove after the habaki was detached (see picture)

 

 

The blade under the habaki was badly rusted. Probably the habaki has not been removed in decades

 

 

It seems that there was no hagiri after all; the fracture-like patterns were on the one side only, and they seem to be related to the fact that proper blade care was prevented by the habaki

 

 

So, before anybody uses my method, please comment on the risks of removing habaki this way. It worked perfecly this time...

 

Another question, what do you think of the nioi giri? Fatal?

 

BR, Veli

[Veli]

Mei and another picture of the potential nioi-giri

 

[pcfarrar]

Nice looking tanto. Is this the suspected nioigire that I've highlighted in the photo below?

[Veli]

Yes, that is it! For reference, here's the boshi from the opposite side, where it is without faults...

 

 

 

BR, Veli

[John A Stuart]

I see a little weakness there, but, no interruption in the hamon. John

[Stephen]

id like to see the side in question in the same light as your last pix.

[Veli]

I apologize, this is not a very good photo. It is not the lighting that does the trick, but automatic exposure parameters selected by the camera based on some alien logic

 

 

BR, Veli

[Mark Green]

To me it looks just fine. I think it is just the state of the polish.

I wouldn't be too worried. Nice tanto!

Mark G

[pcfarrar]

It does look like it may be a nioigire. A good polisher would be able to hide it. I had one on a koto bungo wakizashi and it did pass shinsa eventually.

[reinhard]

It does look like it may be a nioigire. A good polisher would be able to hide it.

 

That's it! Find a polisher to correct substantial faults, but don't forget to ask him for how long the make-up will last. Interesting first-draft that is. It shouldn't be your last though.

 

reinhard

[Veli]

I do not think hiding flaws is a good policy. I would always know it is there... I think this is a nioigiri, but the question is, is it fatal? With hagiri or nioigiri where hamon runs off the edge the situation is clear: it is like being dead or pregnant - either yes or no. This kind of nioigiri is for me more difficult to classify, because it is not a complete void in the nioiguchi; there is a dim line of nioi instead of bright coarse nie. This is a very tough case to photograph: I can take a picture that makes you say: "definitely no nioigiri", as easily as one that makes you state "fatal".

 

After listening to your valuable opinions , I think I submit this to the UK shinsa; let the expert team decide how fatal this fault is. My world does not collapse if the blade will be pinked... It is a nice blade in many aspects, and seen very little polishing.

 

BR, Veli

[Gunome]

Hello,

 

I think this is a nioigiri, but the question is, is it fatal? With hagiri or nioigiri where hamon runs off the edge the situation is clear: it is like being dead or pregnant - either yes or no.

 

Once in a meeting, this question was asked to a well reputed polished who reply he didn't worried about it. Not fatal for him. Just a surface matter. The hamon hasn't nioigiri on the other face. It doesn't cross the hamon such as hagiri.

 

Sébastien

[reinhard]

My previous post was meant to be ironical. It failed. But seriously though. A blade with little nioi-giri actually can pass shinsa. There is a well-known katana by shodai MURAMASA with obvious nioi-giri f.e.. A Japanese friend of mine told me that this "flaw" might be considered a feature of this particular style, for the earlest MURAMASA blades tend to have an extremely thin and constricted nioi-guchi in places. However, nioi-giri is a flaw that should be avoided, but if the blade is very good otherwise, it will be tolerated.

 

Cosmetic repair of lost nioi-guchi exists. Adding a row of very small, super fine scratches, parallel to each other, perpendicular to the Ha and placed along the missing nioi-guchi line, will create a stunning effect when the blade is held pointing towards light. I've seen a missing boshi replaced that way and the fraud was pretty hard to detect. A shinsa-team, however, will not be fooled by cosmetics like these.

 

reinhard

[Veli]

Hello Reinhard!

 

Actually I did understand your post correctly, but failed to communicate that I did. I just wanted to make a more general statement of my personal view. I do not object to people who want to have faults "improved", if the existence of the fault is always communicated to the next owner of the blade. Personally, a hidden fault would bother me more than one that I can plainly see.

 

Sometimes, in the web, you see an oshigata where this kind of a small nioi-giri seems to be indicated, and the swords in question may still have papers. So I think the conclusion that this kind of nioi-giri is a fault but not a fatal fault seems a good one.

 

BR, Veli