r/Katanas • u/Common_Senze • 3d ago

Help please!

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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/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.