New Osuriage waki

[Wickstrom]

Hello Gentlemen,

 

I am in the process of purchasing this sword from a member of the board here. Recently received It in the mail for inspection and i was wondering if anyone could give me an estimate on restoration? Is it worth restoring?, it has a nice bo-hi and the blade still has a nice shine although it has some medium/bad pitting on the blade. As far as i can see there isn't any blisters or serious flaws. A couple of microscopic chips towards the tip and under the habaki, But nothing terrible. The point of the kissaki has been flattened but this would most likely be repairable. Its Mumei and has never been papered i believe. Estimate on a polishing window? The nagasa is around 20 3/8 i belive.

 

 

 

Thanks,

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Andrew,

I was willing to look but the 1st picture is too large, takes too long to expand. I'm afraid I'd spend the better part of a half hour waiting for your pictures. If you took smaller (digitally) pictures and cropped out the useless background you'd get more response.

Grey

[Wickstrom]

Thanks Grey, I'll resize them and re-up right now.

[Wickstrom]

More Pictures

[Gabriel L]

There's something unusual going on in "waki 5.jpg". In the newspaper, that is.

[Wickstrom]

  Gabriel Lebec said:

There's something unusual going on in "waki 5.jpg". In the newspaper, that is.

 

 

I see nothing.

[estcrh]

I think knowing the price paid would help people decide of its worth restoring.

[Wickstrom]

well i got a steal on a modern made yoroi for $200 USD. The owner of this sword wanted 950 i believe but he offered to trade me it for the armor instead.

[rkg]

That's a tough one.

 

You used to figure polishing cost at ~$100/inch + a few hundred for a shirasaya (+ shipping + fees ++ if you send it to Japan for the work) - but with the dollar falling so much against the yen, that might be low these days. There are guys that work for less (both here and in Japan), but...

 

It looks like an older blade with some pitting(?), so there's also an increased chance kizu will "appear" during polish.

 

And in general, wakizashi don't sell for much these days unless they're something special. I can't see enough in these images to even offer an attempt at kantei

on this (probably just me, but...).

 

Good Luck on your decision.

 

Best,

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[Jamie]

You might consider getting an opinion from a polisher rather than just posted photos.

It's very hard to tell from photos- and ultimately the polisher you choose will let you once they have it in hand anyway.

[Wickstrom]

  rkg said:

It looks like an older blade with some pitting(?)

 

Yes i talked with David Mcdonald and he said that its probably sengoku from the bo-hi. I am really on the edge about this...I have a waki with hozon papers that is out of polish also and was debating on seeing how this blade turns out or getting my papered waki polished and then get the papers up to date instead.

[Brian]

Personally I would rather be sitting with this sword (even without having it polished and just doing regular uchiko work) than a repro decorative set of armour.

If it were me, I'd jump at the trade. Your choice though.

 

Brian

[reinhard]

  Wickstrom said:

it has a nice bo-hi and the blade still has a nice shine although it has some medium/bad pitting on the blade.

 

"Nice bo-hi" (whatever that's supposed to mean here) and "nice shine" are of less to no importance when buying a genuine NihonTo. You better think about it again. Is that what you really want?

 

reinhard

[Mike]

The bo-hi looks a bit odd to me, but I'll go with Brian, it is better than any repro yoroi, though I wouldn't invest in restoration.

 

Mike

[nagamaki - Franco]

Greetings,

 

  rkg said:

And in general, wakizashi don't sell for much these days unless they're something special.

 

Recognizing that "something special" can take on different meaning from one collector to the next, it is worth noting that unless an O suriage wakizashi is nambokucho or older it will not be considered for higher level origami.

[Ted Tenold]

Andrew,

 

It really comes down to a few succint factors. In order of importance;

 

1) Does the sword's present condition allow for restoration?

2) Does the sword's quality make it a candidate for the costs of restoration?

3) Are there any extenuating circumstances that might allow for a variance in either of the first two catagories? In otherwords; Is the sword of such extreme age, rareity, provinance, or sentimental value, that an exception might be made to any conditional or qualitative issues?

 

Regardless of the esteem in which we all hold Nihonto, not all of them are "art swords" and not all of them are restorable by today's equations. Images on the internet rarely confirm a swords restorability, and rather are more apt to discount it.

 

Beyond all the pontification of whether you should restore it or not is the essential arithmetic;

 

Polish; 20 inch nagasa @ $100 per inch = $2000.00

Habaki; Basic Copper Hitoe (single piece, functional, well done, but nothing dressy) = $400.00

Shirasaya; Honoki with no frills = $600.00

Shipping costs back and forth to Japan with insurance, tracking, good packaging = $125.00

Brokerage fee in/out of Japan = $300.00

Torokusho fees = $65.00

Shinsa fees (if passed to Hozon) = $250.00

 

Total = $3740.00

 

Bear in mind that these are conservative numbers (the yen is trading at 88 right now ) and don't include what you paid for the sword.

 

So, at the end of the day, what could a collector acquire for the same amount of money, and would this sword, if it were restored, be comparably equal, less, or more than those other options . Bear in mind that there's a time element involved which could run you into *years* of waiting for the various processes to be completed, not to mention the risk (and angst) of unforseen problems that could be encountered. So there's also measure of patience and anticipation that must be paid, because until it's all done and the fat lady has finished her aria, there's a lot of things that can go wrong and you will pay for processes performed to that point.

 

I'm not judging this sword as posted and it's not my intention to interfere in any transaction. These are standard considerations for any restoration project.

[cabowen]

Maybe I can be even more succinct: as a rule, few osuriage, mumei wakizashi are worth (economic valuation) the cost of a proper restoration. This does not look to be an exception.

[Wickstrom]

I know wakizashi are not worth much, but its not so much about re-selling them and trying to make a profit...my main question is do you think this sword is worth polishing?, i talked to Fred Lohman today and he said he would reccomend his level 2 polish which is basic but brings out whats nice in the blade for around $795. Its not so much as a economic investment as it is just something i can admire for the history of it.

[cabowen]

Polishing is always a gamble as you never can be sure what lurks beneath the surface. Flaws can appear and make the blade look worse....

 

A lot depends on how many polishes the blade has had previously. You do not show any photos of the nakago mune which would show if the blade has been polished extensively already.

 

If the blade is still healthy, there is no reason why it could not be polished. If there is deep corrosion, again, hard to tell without seeing the blade, a lot of steel might need to be removed, potentially causing the above.

[Wickstrom]

  cabowen said:

Polishing is always a gamble as you never can be sure what lurks beneath the surface. Flaws can appear and make the blade look worse....

 

A lot depends on how many polishes the blade has had previously. You do not show any photos of the nakago mune which would show if the blade has been polished extensively already.

 

If the blade is still healthy, there is no reason why it could not be polished. If there is deep corrosion, again, hard to tell without seeing the blade, a lot of steel might need to be removed, potentially causing the above.

 

 

Are there any specific signs that indicate too many polishes on the nakago?

[cabowen]

Look at the thickness of the blade just above the munemachi in comparison to the thickness just below it. If there is a noticeable thinning of the blade it may have been polished quite a few times already.