Sword Stand (Kake)

[dillon]

About spirit swords: I see.

There are actually more antique Japanese blades in the US than in Japan. After the war ended, a lot of swords were taken home by US soldiers as souvenirs, often without appreciating their value as artwork. Also at the time there wasn't much awareness of the differences between genuine nihonto and gunto. Gunto are Imperial Army/Navy swords most often mass produced using factory stamping techniques so have no value to an art blade collector but now has a market with war regalia enthusiasts.

That was very generous of you to return the sword

[Scully]

About spirit swords: I see.

There are actually more antique Japanese blades in the US than in Japan. After the war ended, a lot of swords were taken home by US soldiers as souvenirs, often without appreciating their value as artwork. Also at the time there wasn't much awareness of the differences between genuine nihonto and gunto. Gunto are Imperial Army/Navy swords most often mass produced using factory stamping techniques so have no value to an art blade collector but now has a market with war regalia enthusiasts.

That was very generous of you to return the sword

dont gunto have military stamping in the tsuka? Thats what I heard from a Japanese war buff, I'm not sure, I know my cousins first live blade was a war one, wasn't in brilliant condition but deffiniantly di the job.

I was happy to give it to him, I was actually quite happy to have found its owner, it was a beautiful sword come to think of it, but I guess isnce it was a birth right through his family (until it ended up in a pawn shop) it only really felt right to give it to him.

[dillon]

Generally yes, as I understand it the stamped out gunto had a stamped sakura-hana (cherry blossom) mark. Yes they can cut but they wouldn't be considered "art blades" nor can they be called "nihonto" despite having the same shape. In Japan they would be classified as banned swords and would be confiscated and destroyed. In fact, all swords except NBTHK certificated "nihonto" and (I'm guessing as I can't imagine otherwise) museum pieces are banned and subject to confiscation. Uncertified blades can be sent to a NBTHK shinsa for evaluation and certification (assuming it passes).

As an aside, some gunto were actually family heirloom blades refitted with military furniture.

[Cailin Coilleac]

My suggestion for scanning items larger than the scan bed:

Actually, if you have a smartphone things can be so much easier

Using CamScan or a similar tool, one can take a photograph of a document, which is then corrected by the software to make it a proper scan. This includes getting rid of distortion caused by the angle of the photograph and of the lens.

Taking a photograph using CamScan will probably fix these distortions to ensure that at least the basic shape is correct. The OP can then resize the image as desired to make a template.

On the other hand, personally I don't see how GPrather's images is NOT enough to go by. If OP is handy enough to make a stand by himself, then he'd definitely be able to sketch the shapes and make the templates himself. You can do it!