What causes a nakago to look/degrade like this?

[Tcat]

Please see link:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/F433-REAL-Japanese- ... n_Antiques

 

seems to be something out of the ordinary.

[Lee Bray]

The cynic in me would say somebody was repatinating the nakago and accidentally left it in the ferric chloride bath for too long.

The decay would suggest severe rust over long time - for example, fished out of a river - but the area below the machi looks to be in too good a condition for that, as does the rest of the blade.

[Grey Doffin]

What causes a nakago to look/degrade like this? Neglect.

Grey

[sanjuro]

I'm always a bit cynical about anomilies like this. It has that 'messed with' look about it.

 

Having said that however, I once owned a blade that had been stored with a wet tsuka on it at some point. The tsuka had dried of course but the rust on the nakago was reactivated by the prolonged damp it was subjected to. There was a great deal of salt still in and on the dry tsuka. The nakago on that sword was not quite as badly damaged as this one though.

[Curgan]

He has some other "interesting" items as well and a couple of wakizashi that are rusted 100% from the kissaki to the end of the nakago...

[sanjuro]

John C

 

Just for the hell of it, can you define 'interesting' for me? :D

 

1. An item of interest.?

 

2. An item that makes you wonder what the hell made the seller think it was worth something.?

 

3. An item thats dirt cheap and suspicious.?

 

I see only two of these possibilities as applicable in this case, but hey! thats just me.

This seller is not conspicuous for his knowledge of or his selling of decent quality nihonto.

[Tcat]

The cynic in me would say somebody was repatinating the nakago and accidentally left it in the ferric chloride bath for too long.

The decay would suggest severe rust over long time - for example, fished out of a river - but the area below the machi looks to be in too good a condition for that, as does the rest of the blade.

 

My thoughts exactly....

 

Just looks too badly gone to be pure water damage... and if it were then why would the blade be relatively healthy?

[Curgan]

John C

 

Just for the hell of it, can you define 'interesting' for me? :D

 

1. An item of interest.?

 

2. An item that makes you wonder what the hell made the seller think it was worth something.?

 

3. An item thats dirt cheap and suspicious.?

 

I see only two of these possibilities as applicable in this case, but hey! thats just me.

This seller is not conspicuous for his knowledge of or his selling of decent quality nihonto.

 

Sorry for the late response (blame it on vacations). I had number 2 in mind actually (and trying not to think of number 3)

:D

[Kevin]

Seen something similar, a long time ago. Somebody found a katana neglected in a shed. The tsuka was wet and rotten and the blade rusted. He got it off the owner and had it polished. The blade came up OK, though the nakago was seriously eroded for much of its length. The wet rotten wood kept the moisture against the nakago, though the rest blade had the opportunity to periodically dry out, starting where the tsuka ended. It did look a bit odd - damned good blade and ratty eroded nakago, with almost as abrupt a transition as this one. However the guy was quite happy about having saved the blade. :-)

 

Must admit that this one looks as if it may have had a bad case of chloride corrosion. If it has, and hasn't been dealt with, it's just going to go on. Just the smallest amount of salt is needed - it is a battery effect. A small amount in the wood, plus a lot of neglect, would do it, and ferric chloride is hygroscopic - it will attract moisture. As an example, I've just had to deal with a lump of sea iron my parents found years ago. It was very mineralised. However, despite lots of washing when they found it, there was still some salt in it somewhere, so it kept on corroding inside until it developed a split and leaked iron salts in solution everywhere. My father gave it to me. It needed a quick dump in a chemical bath to deal with the chloride ions.

 

Chloride damage is a common problem for marine archaeologists, though it also affects coastal areas due to salt spray.

 

Kevin