Shinae question

[davidtorez]

I have a question about shinae. I have recently acquired a shinsakuto, but i have not had many to compare it to. I think it may have shinae, so I tried looking up pictures on the net. I found pictures of shinae on Usagiyas website showing what they look like.

 

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/flaws.html

 

The shinae on their website look like white cracks running perpendicular to the blade, whereas the flaw Im seeing in my blade can only be seen in a certain angle of light, and dont appear to be white cracks. It is near impossible of me to take photos and show you guys also, as it is very hard to get the lighting correct to see it. I guess what im asking is, are the shinae shown on the usagiya website only seen in a certain angle of light, or should you be able to see them even without backlighting the blade?

Cordially,

 

D. Torez

[Marius]

Shinae will jump in your eyes. I suppose your problem are tiny scratches.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi David,

The pictures on the website are something different from what you're describing on your blade. The shinae you describe sounds like the last shinae discussed on the site, which are wrinkles usually associated with bending and straightening a blade, not cracks in the surface. Or, as Mariusz states, they might be scratches only. Any case, only with pictures will anyone be able to say much for certain.

Grey

[davidtorez]

Thanks fellas. In the case of mukade shinae, or wrinkles from bending, would you see it on both sides of the blade normally, or is it more usual to see it only on one side? Also, is mukade shinae more common on the shinogi-ji or the hiraji?

Cordially,

 

D. Torez

[jeremy]

Hi Dave,

 

Im far from being an expert on the subject on nihonto in general, but I can speak from experience.

In our curriculum of Japanese Sword Arts (Nakamura Ryu), I am involved in cutting targets on a regular basis. I have cut with many nihonto and Japanese -style swords, and have bent quite a few in my time. I can say from what I have seen, most of the time the mukade shinae will end up being on the shinogi-ji and extend through to the hira-ji sometimes. Sometimes,but not all the time, you will see the shinae on both sides of the blade where the sword was bent. But I havent seen a blade that has been bent with mukade shinae only on the hira-ji, its always had it in the shinogi-ji. Hope this helps. If anyone wants to add anything to what I have said or correct me if I am wrong, please feel free to do so.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jeremy Hagop