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Post by stickem on May 19, 2012 1:15:17 GMT
AJ ~
I haven't taken it apart yet, but yours' is a very good solution to the :?: at hand!
Certainly I will do this and get opinions from the board. Give me a little time to get some pics up for ya...
And certainly more eyes are better than mine alone, and as always, my gratitude for the neuron power you guys display.
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Post by stickem on May 19, 2012 2:50:56 GMT
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Post by randomnobody on May 19, 2012 3:11:49 GMT
Definitely looks, to me, like it could be tamahagane. The hamon is definitely etched, and hard, but the steel itself looks good enough to convince me, at the least. Granted, I've seen a lot of different steels that look a lot like tamahagane. How 'bout some kissaki shots, for giggles sake? Either way, a nice, tight grain pattern; looks like a well-made sword. Nakago looks particularly good, for a "production" blade; odd that it has no markings on it.
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Post by stickem on May 19, 2012 3:30:38 GMT
Here's a kiss for ya... assuming your avatar correctly represents you as a female... hope there's no gender-bending shenanigans involved Apologies for the crummy resolution and click on thumb as usual... And here's Huanuo's website. I had to use Google Chrome to be able to view it in English: www.huanuosword.com/?Haven't found a listing for any tamahagane swords yet, but they probably don't use the Japanese word anyway. My best guess is they call it "jade steel." Here's one that looks to my untrained eye like the one I received today: www.huanuosword.com/?product-189.htmlAttachments:
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Post by randomnobody on May 19, 2012 3:35:02 GMT
Hmm, that bohi termination and yokote placement are somewhat unsettling...but that's no automatic sign that this isn't the sword it was advertised as. As to bending genders, well, as per the nature of the internet, the men are men...the women are men...and the children are FBI.
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Post by stickem on May 19, 2012 12:48:15 GMT
Can I order one of those in a Catholic school girl outfit? I'll leave it to you to figure out whether I'm talking about men, women, or children... :lol: In regards to the steel, here's one that discusses how to grade steel with the eye. www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/steel.htmlIn the meantime, I'll polish the sword up a little & shall try to get more pics up from a better camera as soon as possible. This way y'all will be able to see the detail better. Thanks for your time!
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Post by stickem on May 22, 2012 19:41:19 GMT
Ok, after a little detective work by calling in Charlie's Angels... Here's one possibility: www.swordsoftheeast.com/dynastyforgedaimyotamahaganekatanawithchoiceoftheme.aspxDynasty Forge offers tamahagane with different themes... could be some customization going on that makes the sword on hand look just a little different than the current silver bamboo tama... or could be some of the details have changed in the standard DFsilver bamboo tama since this one was forged. Not sure if Huanuo offers any customization options since my Google translator turns their Chinese-language website into pigeon English jibberish... but will look into it. Another possibility is it is Huanuo's Silver Tiger katana, which looks like this: but obviously the tusba is different, the blade is no-hi, and the grains in the steel look very different from the sword I received, even to my inexperienced eyes... so it seems doubtful.
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Post by stickem on May 24, 2012 13:18:02 GMT
And here's someone from a different place in a similar position, looking at his new Silver-Bamboo-Katana-from-Dynasty-Forge (click on the pics for hi-resolution larger images): www.olorinonline.demon.nl/Katana/While the fittings oh his DF look exactly the same as on the tama I received, obviously the folding pattern in his DF sword is much larger and more pronounced than the subtle hada in the one I received, which leads me to the conclusion these definitely are different blades...
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Post by randomnobody on May 24, 2012 19:51:50 GMT
Wow, his grain is pretty big...and kind if ugly to me, but it's still a valid hada. Mokume, arguably. I'm not entirely sure based on what i can see in your pictures, but yours looks almost more like itame? Doesn't automatically separate your sword from his from the same line, I'm not sure what consistency the Chinese forges have in their folding methods and resulting grain patterns. Might just be that yours was folded so much as one more time than his. There are a lot of variables. No matter how many swords you gather, none should have identical hada and hamon. Especially swords likely made by different people, not to be confused with different production forges.
I kinda like your sword better, myself.
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Post by Vue on May 25, 2012 5:36:39 GMT
I agree with Random, your blade has much tighter grain which is a lot nicer. These swords are production yes but remember they are still hand forged and so each will be slightly different.
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Post by stickem on May 25, 2012 23:52:49 GMT
I agree with you both Was definitely after a tighter grain for this one, so am pleased it doesn't look like the DF blade shown previously. My only wish is they hadn't etched the hamon with acid. Not a big fan of fake anything. I don't want to mess up the polish on the blade, but is there a way to remove the fake hamon etching stuff with some sort of polish I can do myself without FUBARing the total blade polish? Forgive my ignorance of such things as I haven't undertaken sword polishing before... knife sharpening with a waterstone I can do... but sword polishing :? Again, an acid etched hamon is preferable to me ruining the blade, but how difficult is this task to undertake for any of you who have done it? Just wondering...
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Post by Adrian Jordan on May 25, 2012 23:59:03 GMT
Some Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish will take the etch off without damaging the polish. Stuff is also really great for stains and light rust. It can be had at most auto stores...in the world.
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Post by stickem on May 26, 2012 7:13:28 GMT
Ok, so looking at the Huanuo website, here is the closest thing I could find to my sword: www.huanuosword.com/?product-91.htmlIt has customizable silver furniture... the blade looks similar... as does the red saya. Anyone able to translate the Chinese on this webpage into meaningful English?Using Google Translator gives me this gem of helpful info:
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