Couple of specific questions about fittings

8

8thsinner

Joined
Sep 13, 2001
Messages
1,292
1) Has any one noticed a wolf/ wolf in forest type menuki anywhere?

2) Who is good at making custom fittings? Specifically tsuba?

3) How about custom ito, To match a sageo I have?

4) Which is the toughest and at the same time longest lasting toughest laquer to have in use? Or is it possible that a cashew on top of the nuri would keep the nuri in good condition?

5) All these saya variations, Has any one ever saw a braided turks head type covering even part of a covering? For hand grip area in paticular?
 
1.) Not in antiques, but my experience is limited...

2.) Lots of people can make you a custom tsuba - Jason Valera of Warrior Koshirae is someone whose stuff I've seen up close - he's doing menuki now (and could probably do wolves for you), but is ramping up for tsuba and fuchi/kashira as well. Prepare to spend money. Lots of money. :)

3.) Good luck. If it's just a color, than you can probably find a match. If it's a multicolor weave, you're out of luck. Remember that sageo are not generally as fine and flat as tsukaito. Unless you can find some guy to make it for you, and then have your mounter agree to use it. (Unless you're doing it yourself. In which case buy a ton, you'll need a lot of ito for practice).

4.) I'm assuming you're talking about saya? In that case, there are many things that will protect the color underneath. Kashu and other modern lacquers, urushi (if you can get over that whole toxic thing), epoxy, etc. The saya itself is a consumable... since you're an iaidoka, you will most likely wear out the inside of your saya before you hit the limits of whatever you put on the outside.

5.) Same, bamboo or rattan seem to be the most common wrappings for the saya. Also ito, but I've only seen that on tachi. Whatever makes you happy, really...
 
1) Production - no. Seen snake, bat, dragonfly, and rabbit.... Custom they can probably do whatever you want...
2) Ranges from Patrick Hastings to Henry Ahmu with plenty in-between and better and worse...
Jason Valera's castings are pretty good. I really like the feather one - the rabbit one I saw was a touch too rough... but he improves rapidly... and they DO look good.
3) Shadow of Leaves, Fred Lohman Co.... couple of others that export (or are in Japan) - Namikawa Heibei Ltd for instance
4) Synthetic cashew lacquer is good - very good wood-finishing skills, nice, thin even multiple coats with sufficient time to dry in-between for saya and such. It's really about care and consistency during the work. Some have had custom auto paint shops do the paint and lacquer work - probably works pretty well. Presumably you don't want to see nasty dents and such - so a good lacquer job is necessary. Consider reinforcing saya or having a thicker, "club-like" saya with appropriate reinjforcements. Epoxy on ito and then a simple lacquer job works wonders for keeping the wrap stable...
5) Turk-head finishing (like some Western "Japanese-inspired" knives) - nope - don't see why it couldn't be done though - might interfere a little with sayabiki? Getting a simple "stone" finish would also work - or the above-mentioned ones for modding saya...
 
Thanks guys.
I am well of the money part, My plan is to get a katana for practice and tameshigiri, and over the next year or two slowly have the custom stuff made for a design I worked out.
So I will be asking around a few people for the stuff...just not sure for the menuki for example how many are willing to draw out the design, I am no artist.
And if I manage to design the stuff with 12 months I will be happy.

And for snake, are you refering to the sword, Killing snake? That has to be the coolest menuki I have saw yet.

As for the rest of the work, saya for example, I am going to try and have two made, One plain and simple but still with copper collar at least and the other more elaborate for resting the sword in. Possibly resting in urishi (thanks I couldn't remember the name) Besides it's only toxic until it's dry. Each of us probably walk past more deadly substances every day and consume even more than that.




Knife saber, Are you assuming that my koshiare will all be matching? Or do you mean simply paying for all the custom will be expensive.

I have thought a bit about this and I will be choosing not necessarily matching fittings, but something which may seem a little mixed up to anyone but me.
As I said I expect all of this stuff to take a long timeto gather and in that time it may change.

If your curious......heres a pic of the sageo I want copied as ito.
 
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Heres a pic of the katana too, Katana pic dates from about september 2004
 
The thing about urushi (and working with exotic woods for that matter) is the sometimes severe toll it takes on the craftsman....
 
What I meant by "prepare to spend money" was that custom work is expensive - regardless of whether you go to one man or several. Unless the work is easy or the guy is new to the trade, quality costs. Tsuba by custom makers can go for $400+ easily. Menuki can be had for less than $100, depending on the artist and the complexity of making them. Fuchi and koshirae by a respected name can be several hundred dollars as well. Add to that the added complexity of adhering to a client's design rather than just making whatever seems right, and you can easily go to multiples of those numbers.

I don't know about you, but that's big money for me... :)

As for the urushi stuff - walking past the stuff isn't really the issue... it can cause severe allergic reactions on contact with the skin. You might walk past a patch of poison ivy, but you'd have to be paid pretty well to jump into it naked. Urushi is also not that great at enduring exposure to UV light. But hey, if you find someone who'll do it, and you can pay his fees, why the heck not?

Also, traditionally speaking, a katana's resting mounts are not elaborate at all. Shirasaya do not get lacquered at all.
 
But the way I understand it shirasaya is more for retirement as opposed to just taking a break. I mean if I had to go of to some competition or something I would want a presentable saya which did not show marks which would inevitably end up on my regular use one.
 
Well, you said "resting mounts" rather than "presentation mounts," and that's what I took my cue from. Part of what a shirasaya does is to allow you to display the koshirae (with a tsunagi) and put the sword away over longer terms. Not really retirement, but storage, transport and display based on the needs of the blade and the owner.

Also, I'd be careful about how visually impressive the piece ends up being. For a training piece, even if it's going to be used at competitions, you want subtle and understated. And in iaido, the saya is a tremendous part of the whole thing - you may find it more beneficial to keep the saya you're used to, even if it is a bit dinged up. Which isn't inevitable if you exercise a bit of caution. A friend of mine who studied Toyama Ryu battodo for years has a nice gendaito he used as his mainstay sword, and its saya is pristine.

One thing I've noticed is that the more experienced and better a JSA practitioner becomes, the less he or she cares about "flash." If you'd like to see some really outstanding stuff that holds its own in use and in competitive settings (which I'm not convinced should require a prettier set of mounts), check out summerchild.com. And keep in mind that the blade should be given the most attention of all - you haven't really given any details about what will be going in those mounts, and I at least love to hear about blades. :)
 
Okay well since you want to know I will tell you my plan as it stands now, Though I will leave it to you to work out what certain things mean.

Blade shape itself I do want to be subtle, representing a time when light armour to no armour was used, in regards to sori and sugata and bochi)?
In the jihada I want a tight plain wood grain with few knots.
Hamon I have a specific idea in mind, though I have only seen one similar once before. That is of fire, Which to me representsthe suns back fire type spitting, the corona basically.
Tsuba will be an open work idea based on my work stamp logo, quite light weight.
I have little interest in representing old battles or in gold work for the blade itself.
Habaki will to the knowing will be what appears to be random display of dots.
Fuchi and other bit (can't remember name) Will be An extension to the logo style work on the tsuba quite simple and natural pattern.
Menuki I have implied towards will have wolf basis, I have one drawing in mind which shows a wolf looking out of a cave under pine trees and snow topped ground with a cub wolf in the background, It makes a simple drawing but will be difficult to get in relief pattern but still fairly small. No more than three pairs of ito strands perhaps two more to show half under the other exposed bit.
Saya I want one with removable inner section simply to show what level of craft manship can be achieved, but still with horn (if possible).
regular saya cheaper and plain, but still fully functional.
The sageo and ito are well as you can see the sageo I use now is quite a random pattern representing sort of natural ways.
The braided rattan saya grip is mainly because I love braid work. also to avoid leaving unsightly finger print marks.
The over all blade shape, Is going to be pretty damn similar to the yashima with small variations, I can't say from what part of history there from but it's based on my idea of a good sword. (that could mean any bloody thing really couldn't it.)
Theres loads of other little details but I can't remember them all right now.
I will probably want mei to be gold inlayed, simply for aging visaility, I do want to be able to pass this down one day.

Any way theres a basic out line.....

And the dinged up ness of which I speak is based on how my saya entrance (sorry I should be able to remember the name of this but can't right now) Looks but it has been misused a few years before I even started iaido, I am sure a new sword wouldn't get too damaged but if properly sharp it would take less mistakes to get tp the same degraded look. I mean these days I would make a false or bad noto once or twice a month, which isn't too bad really but you know what I mean....?
Your probably right with keeping with what I use and with luck and by the time I get it I will be good enough to not make silly noto mistakes.
 
You want an ireko saya? You must be loaded. Can I borrow a few grand? :)

That ties into one of the things I said before, though - an ireko saya is by necessity a bit bulkier than a regular saya. So it'll be different in a martial perspective.

Gold inlayed mei has a specific meaning within the Japanese context... if I recall correctly, it often indicates that a previously unsigned blade has been identified and signed by an appraiser who has confidence in the assigned provenance of the blade. Generally the mei stands the test of time fairly well, unless major work is done to the nakago over time.

It sounds like you're going custom with the blade... be careful with how specific you get here, as I know of at least one excellent smith who gets really cross when a potential client goes to extremes with specifications. A sword made to *exacting* customer specs will never be as good as one made by a smith who has leeway to do what he feels is right for the steel and the sugata.

It sounds cool, I'd love to hear more as it progresses. Just keep in mind that for a practitioner, aesthetics should never compromise function. As you progress, you'll learn more about what makes a sword work for *you,* and then the aesthetics alone won't be what makes your custom katana unique.
 
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