Opinion please--Gunto w/Old blade?

[spiral]

I could be wrong Trenchy, but 2 tangs are shown & I think the uncleaned one is the posters?

Lets hope so anyway!

spiral

[trenchwarfare]

You are correct spiral. However, both tangs have been cleaned. rasjid's, as well, just not as aggressively.

[spiral]

Ahh I see!

On those size/quality pics I cant spot the cleaning of the better one on my screen..

But I take your word for it.

Spiral

[rasjid]

Yes, mine is on the left n handle rusty as shown. On the right is someone else in Japanese shop for comparison.
How to stop the rust getting worse? I understand that we should not "clean" the nakago. Maybe preserve it?

[trenchwarfare]

Don't do anything to the nakago. That rust, is considered patina on Japanese blades. It tells you the true age of the sword. Yours has some deep pitting. The nakago should be black, not gray. It has been cleaned. The only thing that is sometimes done, is to burnish the tang, with a piece of bone. This will only remove surface rust scale, so as to be able to read the signature.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by trenchwarfare

Don't do anything to the nakago. That rust, is considered patina on Japanese blades. It tells you the true age of the sword. Yours has some deep pitting. The nakago should be black, not gray. It has been cleaned. The only thing that is sometimes done, is to burnish the tang, with a piece of bone. This will only remove surface rust scale, so as to be able to read the signature.

Red rust would be undesirable, the nakago should have an age related patina which is a form of oxidation that will not harm the underlying metal, red rust on the other hand is considered to be live and will continue to eat away at the metal underneath until it is stopped.

[trenchwarfare]

Indeed.