Hello Greg,
You can also try using a hair dryer - covering the hulu (hilt) by holding it with a heat resistant glove and pointing the air stream towards the blade tip can help to minimize adverse effects on the wood/etc. While heating up the base of the blade, try repeatedly to loosen up the tang mainly by turning the hilt (with not too much force); sometimes repeated heating/cooling cycles can do the trick with stubborn blades (more often than not it's mere rust rather than resin).
Regards,
Kai
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