Japanese Sword metal PICS added&?

[owlbait]

I was just given an old Japanese sword, possibly WWII era. It has no handle and the wooden sheath is split and has writing on it. It seems pretty hard. Any suggestions on how to make knives from it or should I just keep it?

[Bobby Urban]

If it is real you should keep it.  Possibly have it appraised.

[owlbait]

Any suggestions on where to have something like that appraised?

[kurtbel5]

If you want send some pictures to me,there is a Japanese antique store  in town that has a wall of them.
Some in the 5 figure range!!

[owlbait]

Thanks Kurt I will try to do that.

[owlbait]

 
 

[owlbait]

Sounds like there is no EXTRA value to this sword. Any suggestions on knife designs or techniques to try?

[Jeremy]

Can you tell how it was constructed?  single piece of steel or complicated billet?  Hard to tell from the pics.

You have to be careful with declaring the WWII swords as having no "EXTRA value"  It was common to take an older sword and convert it to use the military fittings.  If that's case the blade is worth lots more.  Is the tang signed?

I've handled a few of these and had the opportunity to buy one a few years ago very reasonably... wish I had the cash back then b/c the return of investment on that particular sword would be staggering!    

[owlbait]

The tang is the roughest part of the sword and I see no signature. There is a small copper? gaurd where the tang meets the blade. It looks like a single piece of steel but I'm new to this knife building stuff. At some time before I got it someone attempted to sharpen/grind an edge and it is still fairly sharp.

[kurtbel5]

I hope you find out its worth more as a aword.

[owlbait]

Yeah, it is kinda neat. I sure appreciate your help Kurt.

[Jeremy]

Chances are it's one of the machine made blades from the middle of the war.  The blade as it is now is worth more than the metal in it, so I'd really advise against scavenging it.  A few years ago those swords in decent condition were going for ~$400... so by now the blade alone is probably in the 250-300 range depending on condition.  Just a guess, as I stopped following prices.

If it were me, I'd clean it up and do a proper polish (or the easier equivalent) and either make a presentation storage sheath (can't remember the name for 'em now, but it holds the whole blade and was used to store the disassembled sword blade) or make/buy the fittings.  Put the storage sheath and the sheath it came in on a lacquered display stand and you have a very nice conversation piece.

[Squirrel Bait]

Guys Ray Hammond has my Japanese sword that my grandfather got out of a tank the blew up in New Ginuea, it is all together. You might contact Ray to see if he can put some pics of it up for you to see. Mike

[owlbait]

Thanks for all the information. I think I will "scrap" my idea of making knives from it. I like the display idea Jeremy, Thanks. Quess now I'll try to find out what the writing/symbols mean on the sheath. Would be cool to see Ray's sword to compare.

[mullet]

"I'll trade you almost every knife in my collection. Kidding, I used to collect and train with swords. I've been training in Japanese martial arts for 40 years. That is a short, Daito, or long Wakizashi.Do not clean the sword till you get it appraised. The handle and Suba and other hardware are not important. Rarely, you will find an old , family Suba on a WW2 era sword. These swords are hard to come by now and worth a lot more than the used to. It looks like a mass produced sword, except they wern't really that short.It looks Japanese Naval to me by looking at the Saya, and if you know what happened to most of their ships you will then realize not many Naval swords survived. Get it checked out, it might be worth your while. Or send it to me. ;^)

[mullet]

Also, do nothing to it but oil it with vegetable oil. Machine oil will turn the metal dark. Too bad somebody tried to sharpen it.

[Jeremy]

Don't use the veggie oil.  It works well if you're using a blade often, but for long-term storage it's a bad idea.
The traditional Japanese oil is called "clove oil", but it's 99% light mineral oil and 1% clove oil for the smell.  I use straight mineral oil for everything.

[owlbait]

Gosh mullet, I was just down to Northern Florida. I could've given it to you there! Thanks again guys for all your help and info.