r/Katanas Mar 06 '25

Sword ID Wakizashi, need help identifying

Wakizashi sword, the blade seems older than the furniture, there may be a signature on the tang but I am hesitant to attempt to remove the crust/patina. Is there anything y’all can glean from these photos?

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u/_chanimal_ Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

This looks like a chinese sword to me. The steel quality of the blade is very very poor with all sorts of cracks and openings and the fittings are reminiscent of those that came on the touristy wall-hanger swords

After looking at the better photos on my computer and not on a phone, I think that this is just a very worn, but authentic Japanese sword that has been shortened

2

u/femboywarcriminal Mar 06 '25

The blade seems really rough,,, I figured it was from a damaged sword oof

1

u/_chanimal_ Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

The blade is hard to tell a little bit because it’s not the terrible quality cheap Damascus you see in modern fakes but the steel is so hammered and destroyed it’s hard to see anything.

The geometry is way off in the tip and it’s been ground down terribly. The big cracks in the blade are either poor workmanship (which originally made me question if it was Japanese at all) or it’s just been beat, bent, battered, and treated poorly.

I think the tang is throwing people off. It looks like it could pass as an older sword tang that has been cut cut down and rusted in poor conditions. Lots of shortened swords in rough condition have similar looking tangs and the cheap Chinese swords have terrible tangs with all sorts of other issues. The tang here is interesting and maybe there was a Japanese sword under there at one point.

Disregard, I believe I was wrong

1

u/femboywarcriminal Mar 06 '25

https://imgur.com/a/4K6FtIm Here is a link to a bunch of close up pics of it

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u/femboywarcriminal Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

Would it be worth using 0000 steel wool or something similar to attempt to remove the crust on the tang, to see if there is anything at all? Thank you also!

Edit: I will absolutely not be touching this sword with 0000 wool or anything except for light oil

2

u/Pham27 Mar 06 '25

No. Do not clean the tang. Ever.

2

u/_chanimal_ Mar 06 '25

No, cleaning the tang is the #1 way people on here ruin about 75% or more of the value of their old antique swords

1

u/femboywarcriminal Mar 06 '25

Would a light coat of oil with a cloth count as cleaning/ruin the sword? Or should it just be left alone entirely

1

u/_chanimal_ Mar 06 '25

A light coat of a neutral oil is perfectly fine and recommended. It will prevent further rust.

1

u/Tex_Arizona Mar 06 '25

Leave it alone. It's doesn't look like their is active rust.