Hi Jim,
Thanks for the response

. I did not know trade blades were used on shotels, but I was aware of Wilkinson and others producing gurade blades.
Here are some shotel examples from Oriental-Arms and they look a lot like mine with the exception of the hilts.
http://www.oriental-arms.com/search....el&s.x=0&s.y=0
I'm not aware of blades being done differently although I know some have extremely high curvature.
Best regards,
Eamnuel