Pins for Saya

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Cushing H.

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Never having made a saya, i have long had an unanswered question.

How does one go about making one of those small pins with heads that are used to hold the blade in?

A lathe seems overkill (and i dont have one). Maybe chock some wood into a drill press and have at it with files and sandpaper?
 
Wouldn’t a couple of sizes of hardwood dowels work, one size pin, one size head, glued together? Never made one either though.
 
While a mill/lathe would surely make quick work of this, I'll bet a lot more of them throughout history have been made using hand tools, (carving knife, sandpaper).

Does the hole/pin have to be round?
 
wkfl said:
Wouldn’t a couple of sizes of hardwood dowels work, one size pin, one size head, glued together? Never made one either though.
Click to expand...
I think they tend to be smaller than you can usually buy a dowel stock....
 
weo said:
While a mill/lathe would surely make quick work of this, I'll bet a lot more of them throughout history have been made using hand tools, (carving knife, sandpaper).

Does the hole/pin have to be round?
Click to expand...
Definitely does not *have* to be round. . I think the critical thing is that it is tapered so that it jams in the hole when inserted. I *think* the head is most useful just to visually identify which end is the wider end .... but functionally I would think the pin does not need to even really have a "head".

The edge on that new "shushi" knife on mine (I hesitate a little to call it a Yanagiba, as the profile is off...) is *so* delicate, I hesitate to even think about putting it in a block .... makes me understand even better the historical need for Saya....

Good point about how things were likely make through history....
 
I have turned saya-mekugi with a hand drill or drill press. Just put the dowel stock in the drill chuck and turn the tapered shank, leaving the head. Go slow. Use a file to turn it down and then sand with folded paper. Take it out, cut off the excess, chuck the shank in the drill and turn the head to shape. Sand, polish apply finish if doing that, and it is done.
Tip:
Don't finish the mekugi ana (peg hole) until the mekugi is done. Then slowly make the tapered hole to get a good fit.
 
small dowels: 6" wooden cotton applicators. maybe ca. 1/16"? nice to have around the shop.
 
I use axel pegs from a craft or box store, you can sand them slightly to give a more tapered fit bit they already have a button head and can be found in small sizes
 
tapered reamer, make the peg close to the same size using a drill as a lathe..
fine tune as you are finishing it up...
 
I made 2 or 3 of them. Used the method that Stacy mentioned. Cut rectangular piece, put in the drill chuck, grind on the belt. I made it 6 mm diameter.

One more thing to add - I found out that a piece of strong string that bonds the pin to the say is very useful :D
 
I saw this on you tube , then I make that tool and it works .Faster way to make square in perfect round
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I like the saya-mekugi to be a hard exotic like blackwood, cocobolo, Macassar ebony, DI, or mopane. Olivewood is also good. These look a lot better than a plain maple dowel and don't deform as easily. Pieces of these small enough for a peg are free or very cheap.

Pen turning and wood turning blanks are also cheap and perfect for these projects. You should be able to split a 2"x6" turning blank into a bunch of 3/8" pieces to make pegs. Woodcraft sells a lot of 2X2X6" blanks for $10 or so. That's a lot of pegs at less than a $1 each.
If you have a friend with a mini-lathe (pen turning) you can make a dozen or more in 30 minutes. Turn four or five at a time on a 6" blank. Sand them on the lathe and cut apart later. Sand the heads round and give a buff.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I like the saya-mekugi to be a hard exotic like blackwood, cocobolo, Macassar ebony, DI, or mopane. Olivewood is also good. These look a lot better than a plain maple dowel and don't deform as easily. Pieces of these small enough for a peg are free or very cheap.

Pen turning and wood turning blanks are also cheap and perfect for these projects. You should be able to split a 2"x6" turning blank into a bunch of 3/8" pieces to make pegs. Woodcraft sells a lot of 2X2X6" blanks for $10 or so. That's a lot of pegs at less than a $1 each.
If you have a friend with a mini-lathe (pen turning) you can make a dozen or more in 30 minutes. Turn four or five at a time on a 6" blank. Sand them on the lathe and cut apart later. Sand the heads round and give a buff.
Click to expand...
OH yeah - using the pen blanks is a great idea :)
 
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