How common are serious forging flaws/forging mistakes on historic blades?

[Scythian123]

Were blades with pretty bad forging mistakes the result of a smith who wasn’t particularly skilled?
 

Did these smiths still try to sell their subpar blades on the market at a discount, or were they discarded and simply survived to this day?

[O koumori]

1 hour ago, Scythian123 said:

id these smiths still try to sell their subpar blades on the market at a discount, or were they discarded and simply survived to this day?

Keep in mind that many forging flaws did not appear until after repeated polishing; similarly, higare often did not appear until later, when the sword was used.

[Gakusee]

1 hour ago, Scythian123 said:

Were blades with pretty bad forging mistakes the result of a smith who wasn’t particularly skilled?
 

Did these smiths still try to sell their subpar blades on the market at a discount, or were they discarded and simply survived to this day?

Reasonably (and more than expected) common 

[Scythian123]

16 minutes ago, Gakusee said:

Reasonably (and more than expected) common 

Are any serious flaws, such as a small chunk of the spine missing encountered? (The photos is not of a Japanese blade, it’s just an example of the flaw I was thinking of)

[Gakusee]

12 minutes ago, Scythian123 said:

Are any serious flaws, such as a small chunk of the spine missing encountered? (The photos is not of a Japanese blade, it’s just an example of the flaw I was thinking of)

Have not seen anything as bad unless battle damaged 

most common are kitaeware such as in the various JuBi+ Masamune below. 
 

[Jussi Ekholm]

Here is a chunk of a spine missing from Nanbokuchō period naginata that has been attributed to Ko-Uda. It is about 2 cm piece missing. I know for many flaw like this would be unacceptable but it doesn't really bother me. I will rather have flawed item like this that I like in my collection than a pristine item that does not interest me.

 

 

 

[Hokke]

2 hours ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

Here is a chunk of a spine missing from Nanbokuchō period naginata that has been attributed to Ko-Uda. It is about 2 cm piece missing. I know for many flaw like this would be unacceptable but it doesn't really bother me. I will rather have flawed item like this that I like in my collection than a pristine item that does not interest me.

 

 

 

I dont think I have ever seen nihonto that I would refer to as unacceptable, so I agree with you. The only thing I would "object" to is if you were a pirate selling this piece and did not price it accordingly. I am certain there have instances when flaws like this were marketed as "battle scars" to unsuspecting tourists in this genre. Aside from that, owning any nihonto from 14th century is a fortunate thing, especially for me, since that is by far my favorite era. 

[Jacques]

Please, don't confuse forging defects with all the accidents a sword can suffer throughout its life (falls, mishandling, etc.).

[Matsunoki]

19 hours ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

flaw like this

Jussi…..you sure that is a flaw and not some type of impact damage? Is it possible that a glancing blow from something either heavy or sharp or both could have caused it? Or rather than being hit, could it have hit something?….a stone wall corner, a boulder/rock…? Just doesn’t look like a forging problem, one end is very angular and appears to have shock cracks coming off it.

Don’t know….can you get better sharper image?

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think it might have been bit of a language barrier. I posted the missing spine chunk as a reference for the post by Ali D. where a chunk of spine is missing from European sabre? or other type of sword. Showing that you can find similar in Japanese swords.

 

I don't think the flaw on the naginata I posted is related to forging. However I translated flaw in my head just meaning a flaw/problem etc. in general. I cannot say how the damage was inflicted but I think impact damage could be a plausible explanation. The naginata is in rough overall condition but I got what I considered to be amazing deal from the dealer. People in general just don't want naginata and I would think missing chunk of blade made people avoid the item.

[Khy]

Bit of a disclaimer, I'm quite new with limited experience and knowledge (normally just lurk and try to learn), however, I thought this might be of interest considering the topic. I'm an amateur smith and had a chance to acquire what appeared to be some unfinished blades. I thought it would be great to see and study some original pieces prior to polish, as I've never been able to see anything much "rough from the anvil". They were listed as pre Showa, (again... grain of salt here) and one in particular did appear to get the first stages of file/polish, but a flaw may have indeed halted the finishing? 

[Khy]

The other 3 with no signs of even file work, if of interest. I have not had enough time to really give them a good study, so I'm unsure of what would have had them left as is.