Hi Chris,
important matters first
.....the coke bottle is a 2 litre
....not a 3 . I don't do 'things that go bang' (due to UK laws) but certainly sounds fun.
If this blade turns out to be Nihonto, I will NOT be doing it again
unless it is not particularly valuable (monetary or historically)
Nice examples Chris, thank you for sharing.
Below are some pics of the nakago ....there does seem to be file marks ...also on the rear edge (top and bottom) some diagonal marks. I have tried again to capture the apparent 'activity' in the blade...but not very successfully. I have briefly 'cleaned' the kissaki with 1200 grit paper (not very well) but it seems to show some 'crispness' to its definition. The shinogi on mine is not as crisp as yours....very slightly rounded, but I think this may be due to poor polishing. There is a small section of the shinogi which is not perfectly in line ......at this same section on the blade there were 'ghost' marks, very unclear, but seem to have been Japanese characters which may have been polished out ....and in doing so affected the line of the shinogi at this point.
I have carefully checked for any fatal flaws ....and so far found none ....but then again a proper polish may show these more clearly ??
I , so far, have not contacted Rich yet ....I don't want to waste his time if this blade is not kosher or at least a high probabillity that it is genuine.
All the best
David
.