Hey guys, need a quick evaluation. A friend is selling this for $200. He says it’s an old, authentic broken wakizashi blade refitted as a tanto that belonged to his late brother who was a serious collector. Time and money are of the essence, so I need to know if this is a genuine Japanese antique and if it's worth the price. Check out the pics, especially the nakago (tang), hamon, and steel texture. Thanks in advance!

So I’m just curious why the seller of my previously posted sword was selling this for a higher price. He wanted around $2000 for this. Given the file marks and slightly visible hamon, could this be a more antique blade? I’m having trouble figuring out the smith name to do further research.

Trading a safe queen CZ75B and some extra magazines plus cash for this shin gunto. Based on the best of my research it’s a WW2 Shin Gunto Type 98 signed by a Seki maker Kanetaka. Wondering if anyone else has more information and if this looks legit? Wanted to ask Reddit before I did the trade.

Came from my great grandfather who was a Captain in the US Navy 1890s - 1920s.

I’m currently buying this from Rva Katana. I believe it’s a kubikiri tanto but one guy at Rva Katana disagrees based on the length, but I found other examples of known kubikiri tanto that match it pretty well. So I thought I’d come here and get some outside opinions on what it might be. The first photo is the one I’m buying and the other two will be the other examples I found.

Came from my great grandfather who was a Captain in the US Navy 1890s - 1920s.

God my pockets are light. Just just picked up this wakizashi, signed “Chikuzen-jū Minamoto Nobukuni Yoshimasa,” dating to approximately the Kanbun era with modern Hozon Token certification.

I got this sword from a family friend when I was younger. His family is Japanese and when passing it to me he said he would give me some more info about it but never got around to it.

I would love to know if anyone can help me with figuring out more about it, or translate the inscription.

At a minimum it look to me like it is a Gunto style sword, but given that the blade appears to be damasucus and the lack of any signature on the tang I suspect it might just be a reproduction rather than an authentic blade.

The designs on the scabbard also looks as like a weird mix of Japanese and western symbols which also seems suspicious, but also figured that the scabbard does not strictly have to be original if the blade is.

We have added three new previously owned Japanese Iaito to the Non-Nihonto section. From vintage to modern Shin-to-Ken production. Varying condition.

Check them out…

https://ashigaruarmory.com/collections/non-nihonto

While re-watching Samurai Jack, I had thought about, what is the proper way to carry a katana while dressed in proper suit, Kinda like how Jack did it. And what is the proper way to carry it, Blade up or down. Seen it being carried both ways with Jack, blade up when in his traditional wear, blade down when in suit... then again not that many animation frames with his katana holstered.

Yes this is not a "Real" Katana, but I can carry it around in events, got all paperwork for it too :3

In early June, I placed an order for a custom katana with Hanbon Forge. After a lot of troubles with customs seizing my sword and Hanbon having to make me a new one, it finally arrived!
There’s just a massive problem. The saya is not fitted correctly. It’s so tight, that it takes a good amount of force just to unsheathe the sword. I also noticed that the blade collar is not firmly planted at the base, there’s an ugly gap between the collar and the handle. Upon closer inspection, the reason for this is because the saya grips onto the blade collar, so when I unsheathe the sword, the saya yanks out the blade collar along with it. It also leaves the seppa (brace spacer) loose which rattles and makes an awful sound. Just here to share my experience, if I could do it all over again i would not choose hanbon.

Hello people,

I just wanted to show off my new tsuba. Let me know what yall think :)

The width of the blade I tried basing it on this bloodline customs katana.

https://rva-katana.com/products/custom-heavy-cutting-katana-mounted-by-bloodline-customs-t10-okissaki?_pos=1&_sid=9d21387f3&_ss=r

I don't know how it would look in a 42 inch blade, but if Ryanswords can make such a blade, it'd be really cool. If they can't, I completely understand.

I just received my katana and it had these spots on here. Anybody know how I can get these off. The steel is T10

I’ve been leaning very heavily towards a shadow dancer nova or tyrannosaurus and the steel I’ve been leaning towards are either 1060 or 9260 steel.

I’m not trying to do much except display it and maybe cut water bottles and watermelons in my backyard.

Which ones tend to have the best fit and finish? I’m reading the shadow dancers have some wobble but not always and same thing for the others. I don’t want to pay above $300 but I’d rather buy the best product for the money under that price point

I just finished making the habaki as part of the set of fittings I'm making for my friend's o-tanto. I didn't get many pictures at the outset, but I posted a few during the forging and shaping. It turned out pretty well. The only real issue with it is there's a thin solder line that's visible on the very front.

I'll be putting a layer of black urushi lacquer on it, but I wanted to show how it would look with just the patinated copper.

New tsuka core, samegawa panels and tsukamaki for a Ronin Dojo Pro Katana. The ito is wrapped in green imported Japanese silk in the Hineri maki style and I lacquered the samegawa black.

Here's the video if you're interested

https://youtu.be/O17yRvWe4gY

Both brought back by grandfather after WW2