-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
WIP: Uzumaki Kotanto - parts of Model T fender from the forest - finished!
- Thread starter islandblacksmith
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2008
- Messages
- 524
Beautiful work!
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 297
**This segment sponsored by a good samaritan who made it possible to recover these deleted photos from the camera card...thanks!**
In the late 1980's, every tourist stop gas station gift shop in Western Canada had these pairs of buffalo (or possibly even bison) horns mounted on hardwood bases and incised with maple leaves and the word, "Canada"...I found a pair recently in a secondhand shop and put them to use making the reinforcements for this saya...
It's tough on delicate saws but nothing like bone...the main feature of horn is the smell...its like filing fingernails but many times stronger....carves into shavings that look like fish scales, though not as defined as wood, the grain does affect the carving...in this photo, flattening both sides on a granite block.
Carving away the wood where the horn koiguchi will sit, this is a patience building activity.
Getting close to the final fit, the horn sits just a bit proud so it can be dished down ever so sightly to the wood.
Rough shaped using the seppa and the saya to trace an outline.
A thicker piece farther up the horn will become the kojiri to protect the end of the saya, I was tempted to try and keep the leaf motif as a tribute, anyone who knows them would recognize it immediately...perhaps on another project sometime.
The bamboo pegs give some additional stability against lateral bumps, but I will not likely use this method again, i think the wedged horn or wood tenon system is easier to align and tension properly.
The two recycled souvenir parts ready for installation with rice glue.
My old friend the leather strap doing some clamping overnight.
In place, scraped even with the wood, ready for some sanding.
Once they are solidly in place, I will file them down to even more closely follow the outline of the saya.
In the late 1980's, every tourist stop gas station gift shop in Western Canada had these pairs of buffalo (or possibly even bison) horns mounted on hardwood bases and incised with maple leaves and the word, "Canada"...I found a pair recently in a secondhand shop and put them to use making the reinforcements for this saya...
It's tough on delicate saws but nothing like bone...the main feature of horn is the smell...its like filing fingernails but many times stronger....carves into shavings that look like fish scales, though not as defined as wood, the grain does affect the carving...in this photo, flattening both sides on a granite block.
Carving away the wood where the horn koiguchi will sit, this is a patience building activity.
Getting close to the final fit, the horn sits just a bit proud so it can be dished down ever so sightly to the wood.
Rough shaped using the seppa and the saya to trace an outline.
A thicker piece farther up the horn will become the kojiri to protect the end of the saya, I was tempted to try and keep the leaf motif as a tribute, anyone who knows them would recognize it immediately...perhaps on another project sometime.
The bamboo pegs give some additional stability against lateral bumps, but I will not likely use this method again, i think the wedged horn or wood tenon system is easier to align and tension properly.
The two recycled souvenir parts ready for installation with rice glue.
My old friend the leather strap doing some clamping overnight.
In place, scraped even with the wood, ready for some sanding.
Once they are solidly in place, I will file them down to even more closely follow the outline of the saya.
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 461
Speechless. Now, i able to differentiate between "just do it" and working with passion and love, combine with talent and skill. Fantastic
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 297
@stuart, i'm sure yours was far more neatly done, though! you got the madd wood skillz...
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 297
A friend of mine dives 50' down holding his breath, sometimes he brings back old iron he finds in the ocean...this old piece of wrought iron has a nice low-res grain to it so i used it as a compliment to the wrought iron tsuba (guard)by forging a kurikata from it. Kurikata translates "chestnut shape" and in its basic form is the tying off point for the sageo (cord) that attaches the saya to the obi (sash/belt) so it stays in place on a draw. They are often made of metal or horn, and sometimes wood depending on the type of knife. You can usually spot wrought/bloomery iron as it corrodes into a wood grain pattern. Modern mild steel rusts into a cratered moon surface rather than linearly.
Rough forging to shape to get the layers to flow with the top of the finished piece, wrought iron needs to be worked quite a bit hotter than mild steel or it will split along its slag layers.
The opening drilled, cold chiseled, and filed, then the outside is shaped.
Taking shape, hacksawing off of the main rod to finish the other side.
Cleaning up with drawfiling, a little chalk on the file helps keep the gummy wrought iron from clogging the teeth and galling the piece.
Back into the fire for a little final shape adjustment and then high heat and strong air blast to get the surface to oxidize and bring back the natural grain texture. This process is called yakite or yakinamashi, one case where the smith wants heavy scaling to occur! Between heats it is quickly dipped in water and cleaned with a wire brush to expose new iron to the fire and air.
Out of the fire, a nice improvement over the shiny filed surface! It will be soaked in vinegar and water over night to remove the fire scale and then brushed clean.
Because of its tapered shape and slightly curved bottom, it can be tightly mounted in a keyway in the saya. A fine saw and small chisel are used to create the channel. A few taps with a wooden mallet sets the kurikata tightly home as the curved bottom lifts it up into place.
The finished and installed kurikata, formed from wrought iron of the sea. The shape reminds me of a westcoast form...
more info (and a photo of the original iron bar) here: islandblacksmith.ca/process/carving-saya-scabbard/#kurikata
Rough forging to shape to get the layers to flow with the top of the finished piece, wrought iron needs to be worked quite a bit hotter than mild steel or it will split along its slag layers.
The opening drilled, cold chiseled, and filed, then the outside is shaped.
Taking shape, hacksawing off of the main rod to finish the other side.
Cleaning up with drawfiling, a little chalk on the file helps keep the gummy wrought iron from clogging the teeth and galling the piece.
Back into the fire for a little final shape adjustment and then high heat and strong air blast to get the surface to oxidize and bring back the natural grain texture. This process is called yakite or yakinamashi, one case where the smith wants heavy scaling to occur! Between heats it is quickly dipped in water and cleaned with a wire brush to expose new iron to the fire and air.
Out of the fire, a nice improvement over the shiny filed surface! It will be soaked in vinegar and water over night to remove the fire scale and then brushed clean.
Because of its tapered shape and slightly curved bottom, it can be tightly mounted in a keyway in the saya. A fine saw and small chisel are used to create the channel. A few taps with a wooden mallet sets the kurikata tightly home as the curved bottom lifts it up into place.
The finished and installed kurikata, formed from wrought iron of the sea. The shape reminds me of a westcoast form...
more info (and a photo of the original iron bar) here: islandblacksmith.ca/process/carving-saya-scabbard/#kurikata
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Messages
- 3,809
+1000
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
- Messages
- 220
It is impressive enough that someone knows this much stuff about such a construction, let alone that they have the skills and patience to actually build the thing so faultlessly. Add the recycled materials and this is high-end creative and functional art at it's best. Very, VERY awesome!
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 297
Thanks, all!
I am still learning and there's a long way to go yet...likely infinite! (but enjoying the journey of challenge)
I didn't have the patience either when I started, but it is improving, slowly! ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ
　エットォ…
I am still learning and there's a long way to go yet...likely infinite! (but enjoying the journey of challenge)
I didn't have the patience either when I started, but it is improving, slowly! ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ
　エットォ…
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 297
Shitaji, Preparing the Foundation for Lacquer
There are two distinct stages to using urushi (traditional Japanese lacquer, made from the sap of a tree). The first stage is to prepare the base material by sealing, filling, and polishing, and the second is to coat with a smooth finishing layer. Urushi is used in several ways to prepare the surface, first by coating and wiping off, known as fukiurushi, and also as an adhesive and gap filler when blended with other materials such as sokui (rice glue) and finely powdered clay and earth. Each time a layer is added to the foundation, a minimum of one or two days is required for curing, and then the surface is wet polished and dried before adding the next.
Using a thin wooden spatula the saya is coated with a thin layer of ki-urushi. After soaking a few minutes it is wiped off with a sturdy cotton cloth. Raw urushi looks like weak chocolate milk but it immediately begins to oxidize to a darker and darker colour as it contacts the air.
The next day it has cured enough to handle and add the next layer.
A putty is made from ki-urushi, sokui (rice glue), and very finely ground clay. In this case the only areas that need this kind of gap filler are around the horn koiguchi and kojiri and the kurikata. A thin wooden spatula is used to work it into the gaps and remove the excess.
Two days later, the excess is carefully and sparingly sanded down with wet 400 mesh paper. When fully dry, another layer of ki-urushi is applied and wiped off with cotton cloth to saturate the filler layer.
There are two distinct stages to using urushi (traditional Japanese lacquer, made from the sap of a tree). The first stage is to prepare the base material by sealing, filling, and polishing, and the second is to coat with a smooth finishing layer. Urushi is used in several ways to prepare the surface, first by coating and wiping off, known as fukiurushi, and also as an adhesive and gap filler when blended with other materials such as sokui (rice glue) and finely powdered clay and earth. Each time a layer is added to the foundation, a minimum of one or two days is required for curing, and then the surface is wet polished and dried before adding the next.
Using a thin wooden spatula the saya is coated with a thin layer of ki-urushi. After soaking a few minutes it is wiped off with a sturdy cotton cloth. Raw urushi looks like weak chocolate milk but it immediately begins to oxidize to a darker and darker colour as it contacts the air.
The next day it has cured enough to handle and add the next layer.
A putty is made from ki-urushi, sokui (rice glue), and very finely ground clay. In this case the only areas that need this kind of gap filler are around the horn koiguchi and kojiri and the kurikata. A thin wooden spatula is used to work it into the gaps and remove the excess.
Two days later, the excess is carefully and sparingly sanded down with wet 400 mesh paper. When fully dry, another layer of ki-urushi is applied and wiped off with cotton cloth to saturate the filler layer.
