Just purchased

[MalcolmS]

Hello. I just received this sword and I was curious what members on the board think about it.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

[Stephen]

the paper label on the saya tells us its from the Seki culinary co...which mass produced blades for the war. most likely showa-to

[MalcolmS]

  Stephen said:

the paper label on the saya tells us its from the Seki culinary co...which mass produced blades for the war. most likely showa-to

 

Thanks Stephen. A couple of questions. Being a mass produced blade, why would it be customized with the paper shims? Also, why is the hamon so nice yet the tang has no signature? The fittings make me curious because they seemed very generic yet they aren't a nice smooth fit on the tang although the whole thing feels nice and tight when it is all assembled.

 

I had another absolutely original officer sword and the quality of the handle furnishings was vastly superior to this one, the furnishings on this sword are very flimsy and very flat compared to my last sword. Any comments on different grades of handle furniture from WWII?

[Stephen]

you have a nice officer sword and it was meant to be used in battle, I'm sure its got a cutting edge that's sharp, most likely it was oil tempered and put into the war machine, sometimes the tech's signed them and sometimes not. the mounts were late war and not much care or time was taken, the shims...cartoons are they old i.e. from the 40S?... or do you think they were added later. In guntos you have to remember the officers had to buy them so it was what he or his family could pay. lot of different grades of mounts relating to cost. F&Gs book states the stamp is rare to find, so id cherish it as a WW 11 Relic for which it is. btw a fare price for gunto sword nowdays.

[MalcolmS]

  Stephen said:

you have a nice officer sword and it was meant to be used in battle, I'm sure its got a cutting edge that's sharp, most likely it was oil tempered and put into the war machine, sometimes the tech's signed them and sometimes not. the mounts were late war and not much care or time was taken, the shims...cartoons are they old i.e. from the 40S?... or do you think they were added later. In guntos you have to remember the officers had to buy them so it was what he or his family could pay. lot of different grades of mounts relating to cost. F&Gs book states the stamp is rare to find, so id cherish it as a WW 11 Relic for which it is. btw a fare price for gunto sword nowdays.

One of the cartoon shims has a Japanese character printed on the back so I would have to deduce it is a wartime Japanese cartoon. Very good quality cardstock. Yes, the blade on my other sword seemed dull compared to this one, I humbly did feel the edge and overall not razor sharp but in some spots very sharp to where I think originally it was a very sharp blade.