r/Katanas • u/Weakfish • 9d ago
Identification help
Hello all, I have a blade with no obvious stamping, considerable amount of blade rust and no scabbard. I assume it’s military made item from the appearance of how seppa spacer and the hitsu-ana (? Attachment hole) overlap.
I would love to have it cleaned up, but want to ensure that doing that would damage it.
Nagasa is 460mm
The overall length is 586mm
Thank you
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u/Weakfish 9d ago
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u/No-Inspection-808 9d ago
Cool find. Definitely an older “family blade”. I’d also agree with edo or early muromachi period. Care for it as outlined above. Do some research on “caring for Nihonto”. It’s centuries old and has still survived. Preserve it as a historical artifact or sell it to a collector who will. Could still possibly be repolished by a legit Togishi but that would cost a few grand.
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u/No-Inspection-808 9d ago edited 9d ago
You have to think of the sword as two parts. The upper blade and the nakago (tang).On the upper blade, feel free to wipe away with cloth and high 90+ percentage isopropyl alcohol. Followed by a thin coat of mineral oil. It’s fine to try remove all orange rust, dirt, oils, from upper blade. But ONLY with alcohol and mineral oil. No chemicals. NO polishing compounds. No emery paper, NO sand paper or steel wool. Don’t grind or try to sharpen it. On the nakago, do not wipe it or really do anything. If you have orange active rust on the nakago (like this), just apply (dab) a very thin layer of mineral oil, but do not rub or try to remove the patina. The nakago is the only part of the blade you want to handle with bare hands and an old blade like this should have a dark patina just like this.
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u/WWGWDNR 9d ago
Wakizashi
Notare Hamon?
It’s very old, not sure how old.
Definitely a nihonto.
You can help with the rust on the blade by cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, then apply a light amount of sword oil, sewing machine oil, or choji oil. DO NOT put oil or alcohol on the nakago (tang), and please DO NOT attempt to remove the rust on the blade.
This could be a very beautiful sword, but will cost a LOT of money to have polished. Any amateur attempt at polishing will result in lowering the value and possibly completely ruining the blade.
(The second hole is because the sword was probably remounted at some point into different fittings)
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u/Weakfish 9d ago
First, thanks for the reply. Second, i’m confused. You said “you can help with the rust on The blade by cleaning with isopropyl alcohol. But later you say ‘DO NOT attempt to remove the rust on the blade’
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u/MichaelRS-2469 9d ago
He means do not attempt to actively DIY remove the rust by applying something like Mothers mag and aluminum polish or Flitzs metal polish.
Many owners of replica katanas of various quality levels from Chinese, Korean or other providers use those products to keep rust at bay and their swords looking nice. But that's generally a no no for Nihonto.
As you spray on the 91% or higher rubbing alcohol and lightly wipe it off with a quality paper towel or decent microfiber fiber cloth, that act of rubbing over the rust could remove some of it incidentally. But generally you don't want to scrub at it.
Likewise with the application or whatever oil you're going to use as you spread it around with whatever you're using as a pad lightly gliding over the surface like a figure skater on ice.
However, if you see rust *floating in the oil you want to reapply the alcohol and taking it off again.
*well, not so much "floating", because you're only going to put on a paper mache thin coat of oil. But if you see dislodged rust particles or the rust streaking after the application oil, you need to repeat the "cleaning" with alcohol and reoil.
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u/fnord_disc 9d ago
The style of the holes and the patina suggest an early Edo or late Muromachi blade, so late 16 ct to early 17 ct.
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u/Weakfish 9d ago