Looking for advice on a katana blade

[Martin Prear]

Hello Everyone

 

I have a katana blade and am looking for more information about it.

For starters the blade is almost black from oxidation and heavily pitted.

It is 23 3/4" long including the tang and the collar appears to be brass.

 

Looking for opinions on whether this blade is worthy of restoration or if it is too far gone to spend much time or money on.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[xiayang]

The signature appears to be

 

若狭守源廣政 = Wakasa no Kami Minamoto Hiromasa

 

Whether the blade is restorable at all I cannot say.  Probably best to get a polisher to look at it.

[Martin Prear]

Thank you xiayang.

 

 

[Jacques]

Chu-jo saku. Was in the Tsuda Sukehiro mon, most of his works are gasaku. 

[Martin Prear]

Thank you very much Jacques.

7 hours ago, Jacques said:

Chu-jo saku.  Does this mean better than average quality>

 

7 hours ago, Jacques said:

Was in the Tsuda Sukehiro mon.  What does this mean?

I am very new to this 

[ROKUJURO]

Martin,

welcome to the NMB forum!

I suspect you have a WAKIZASHI, not a KATANA. How long is the blade, measured from the notch on the back (MUNE) to the tip? Remove the HABAKI (collar) for measuring. In case this is less than 606 mm, it is not a KATANA.

Consider the cost of a polish (perhaps about $ 2.000.--) plus new HABAKI plus SHIRA-SAYA versus the potential market value of a WAKIZASHI. I don't know if HIROMASA is sought after and collectors are prepared to pay a premium in case you want to sell it one day.

[Martin Prear]

Thanks so much ROKUJURO.

 

What an interesting topic these swords are... as I am learning.

 

I didn't remove the HABAKI because I have no idea how to properly do that... but the blade from the tip to the beginning of the HABAKI is about 440 mm.

 

So... I guess I have a WAKIZASHI blade.  Something more to research... lol.

[Bazza]

Martin,

 

The heavy "pock mark" pitting and tang colour suggest to me the possibility of fire damage.  Decades ago a policeman gave me a confiscated wakizashi blade that he told me had been found in the remains of a fire.  Re-tempering is also a possibility.  A polisher or very experienced collector should be able to help with an opinion.

 

Regards,

BaZZa.

[Franco]

3 hours ago, Bazza said:

The heavy "pock mark" pitting and tang colour suggest to me the possibility of fire damage.

 

This goose looks cooked. Dry, scaly, = fire damage. A polisher could/will confirm to be certain.

[Martin Prear]

Thanks much Barry and Franco.  I was hoping this blade would be worth the cost of restoration... but it doesn't seem like it would be.

 

Great community here and lots of knowledgable and helpful people.

 

 

[Martin Prear]

I wonder if this might be a blade that a novice polisher might be interested in for a cheap price?

 

I would like to see it restored to it's previous glory if at all possible.

 

 

[Robert S]

If it has been in a fire, it has possibly lost its temper, which makes it not worth polishing unless the smith is of quite high reputation, and retempering is possible.

[Shugyosha]

12 hours ago, Martin Prear said:

I wonder if this might be a blade that a novice polisher might be interested in for a cheap price?

 

I would like to see it restored to it's previous glory if at all possible.

 

 

 

You could ask a polisher to do a window polish: to polish a small section of the blade to determine whether or not there is a hamon there. As Jean says though, you still run up against the issue of whether or not it is economically viable to have the blade polished or even to open the window and it almost certainly isn't. Unless you have some particular emotional connection to this blade, I'd leave it as it is and either keep it as an artifact or move it on and put the money towards something better.