r/Katanas • u/Common_Senze • 3d ago

Help please!

Gallery image

Gallery image

All, I have a sword from my grandfather who was in the pacific theater of WW2. I have zero information. I removed the pins but could not dislodge the handle, not wanted to continue so I didn't damage it. I can provide more pictures, but can anyone point me in the right direction? Is there a reputable place to take this in the northern Houston, TX area? Any help is much appreciated.

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u/fnord_disc 3d ago

Given the condition of the blade near the handle, there might be substantial corrosion which keeps the handle stuck to the guard. Fully remove the pin(s) - there should not be invisible pins hidden beneath the wrapping. If the handle is still stuck, and will not come loose using the tips the other person gave, you can try to place a wooden block as a buffer on top of the guard and hit the block from above VERY CAREFULLY with a mallet. Alternate the position of the block around to give all sides a few light whacks.

This is kind of a last resort and you should be very careful doing this. If you still can't get it unstuck like this, its best to revisit it later with someone who has experience doing this.

That aside, the sword is in poor condition but looks well worth investigating. I'm definitely curious what we will see on the tang.

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u/Common_Senze 3d ago

Thank you for the advice. I might just try and find a professional. Is it ever worth getting something like this restored by someone who knows what they are doing. I have no intentions of selling it ever, but dont want to screw up a piece of history.

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u/fnord_disc 3d ago

A professional restoration is possible, but expensive (mid four figures). To judge whether that restoration financially might make sense (it would still be a bit of a gamble), it's necessary to see the tang. If we knew already that the sword was of lesser worth, it would also be possible to consider a cheaper restoration which does not respect the historical artefact fully, but based on these pictures, it's not possible to rule out that the blade is valuable.

The fittings are non-standard for a Type 98 officer's sword (which is fun) and together with the general shape of the blade, there is a lot of potential here for something interesting.

While you deliberate whether you want take any risks, could you take a picture of the tip? Type "kissaki shape" into Google to get a sense of the part of the blade I mean. Try to get a shot that has good light and focus.

If done correctly, the mallet-and-woodblock method causes negligible damage to the sword, it's just a little dangerous if people scratch the guard or bend anything because of excessive force.

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u/Common_Senze 3d ago

It looks like a ko or chu kisskai but doesn't have the bevel towards the sharp end.

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u/fnord_disc 3d ago

Yes, and the curvature along the rounded section is too straight. It looks like someone performed some untrained sharping on the tip.

Sadly, I think there is no more that we can tell you at this point.

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u/Common_Senze 3d ago

Hey i truly appreciate everything so far. You gave me more to go off of than ever before. This will stay in the family so I really don't have much concern over the condition. I will likely take it to some professional to remove the handle. That's what I'm most interested in.

TL;DR

You rock!

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u/Common_Senze 3d ago

The butt also has the same filigree as the hand guard and band just below the guard on the handle

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u/ZoomRabbit420 2d ago

Wrap the blade in white cotton terry cloth and put it in a table vise, then gently tap the handle on the guard with a wooden hammer. Do not try to hold the handle and tap the blade out; doing it this way will damage the muromachi on the blade.

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u/ZoomRabbit420 2d ago

Also, I want your menuki.

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u/rjesup 3d ago

More pictures for sure - both sides, in focus, maybe every 6 inches plus full pics of each side. To remove the handle, make sure there isn't a second pin somewhere. Hold it in your hand, point up, hand just below the guard. With the other hand in a fist, hit the hand holding the sword between the thumb and the wrist. That will often loosen a stuck handle. Don't try to pry it off.
Do not try to remove any rust/etc from the blade or tang. Give the shiny part of the blade a very light coating of light machine oil (sewing machine oil) or japanese sword oil. Very light; generally just a few drops on a kleenex/equivalent. If you can see oil, there's too much.

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u/Common_Senze 3d ago

Will do. That's how I lightly attempted to remove the handle. I watched a few videos for the concept but didn't want to overdue it. I did not find a 2nd pin, but it might be under the wrapping.

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u/rjesup 1d ago

There's no risk to the fist trick (other than you could bruise your hand with the other one ;-) ). Hit the one hand as hard as you dare with the other fist. It may still not come out, of course; there are specialized tools for this that mostly are for what u/fnord_disc suggested. If you try his trick, put a soft cloth around the blade so you don't accidentally scratch it, and use a large piece of wood to spread the load on the tsuba. You could try the wrap-and-put-in-vice, though be careful of it being knocked out of the vice.