WIP: Uzumaki Kotanto - parts of Model T fender from the forest - finished!

[hktamiya]

nice job !

 

[SBranson]

Urushi? your patience must be limitless. How do you cure it? I was under the impression that you needed a high humidity box or dedicated space for it to cure properly. That's been my main hurdle to attempt it.

 

[islandblacksmith]

@evan, yes, it sat here long enough that i decided i'd better use it on a project or never get around to it!

@stuart it's not so bad if you do a step every day or two, i have lots of other projects to work on in between...humidity doesn't need to be insanely high...we are in the pacific rainforest after all...if the layers are thin, as they should be for the most part it cures fine in our ambient indoor climate...fukiurushi is quite low maintenance and fairly attainable (four or five wiped off layers over a nice grained wood is similar to a funadansu type finish on zelkova/keyaki), its the thicker glossy finish style that takes some serious doing...watching every one of fushimi~san's videos is a great place to start getting the idea of real urushi craft as art: https://www.youtube.com/user/fushimiurushikobo/playlists

...also i have seen a pretty simple set up of a wooden box sprayed down with a water mister before putting the piece in ('twas for kintsugi 金継ぎ repairing).

 

[islandblacksmith]

...just went back and added some of the final photos for the tsuba, after rust patina, boiling in tea, and applying fukiurushi...

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ender-from-the-forest?p=13496031#post13496031

or here for a little more detail: http://islandblacksmith.ca/process/koshirae-tanto-mounts/#tsuba

The omote side showing those lovely layers that have been in there all along.

The ura side after hammering the copper seki-gane into place and suspending in a jar with warm vinegar vapour for about an hour, round two.

After spending the night hanging in the jar above the vinegar.

After burnishing with an antler tip, the traditional way to restore flaking rusted iron without removing the patina.

After boiling in tea to darken the surface, the tannins react with the red iron oxide and convert them to more stable black iron oxide, this is a traditional finishing method for cast iron kettles (tetsubin).

After a thin layer of fukiurushi, urushi lacquer applied and wiped off, it reacts with any remaining red oxide and turns it to black iron oxide. Once cured, a final layer will give some gloss and bring back some of the warm tones.

 

[islandblacksmith]

Each time a layer is added to the surface, a minimum of one to two days is required for curing, and then the surface is wet polished and dried before adding the next. Due to weather fluctuations during this stage, I decided to place the saya in a makeshift furo, a cardboard box with interior walls lightly misted with water to attract dust and a damp cloth in the bottom to maintain humidity. @stuart, this is a fairly simple and dependable way to ensure the urushi will cure properly, it can even be set up in the car all day this time of year for an additional temperature boost.

Two layers of raw (natural colour) followed by a layer of half natural and half black, and then two layers of black. Each is applied, cured, and wet sanded with 1200 mesh paper. During the process, the black is selectively sanded through to reveal the natural urushi layers in areas of natural wear.

The koiguchi is coated with black urushi and bronze filings are sprinkled over it. When cured, the tops are polished off and three coats of fukiurushi return the gloss to the surface.

The final layer of black is wet polished with charcoal and 1200 mesh paper.

Several coats of black fukiurushi are applied to the saya and allowed to cure in the furo for a day or two each. In the bright direct sunlight, the worn and cared for negoro inspired look is quite apparent, but under normal viewing conditions the surface is far more subtle and has a dark chocolate colour and tortoise shell appearance (see the shadowed areas in the photo). The finishing touch will be a thin coat of 100% pure tung oil.

more on the process here: http://islandblacksmith.ca/process/carving-saya-scabbard/#urushi

...time for a photo shoot and a wrap on this project!

 

[evanPGH]

Just lovely my friend.

Semi-off topic...in regard to the shobu geometry, I've seen some that have the ridge line go from the center of the blade to the center of the tip and I've seen some that start three quarters or so up the blade toward the mune and end above the tip.

Any idea about the differences between the two?

 

[islandblacksmith]

@evan, i will send you to kashima~san once again... http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/styles.html

i believe you are thinking of some combination of these terms...

SHOBU-ZUKURI
blade where there is a shinogi but no yokote...most commonly found (though not common) as naginata made into wakizashi or tanto http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/naginata.html

KISSAKI-MOROHA-ZUKURI
katana where the tip has a double edge on it, sometimes called Kogarasu-maru after the well known sword of that name http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/kissakimoroha.html

KANMURI-OTOSHI-ZUKURI
small blade the forward half is swedged (but not sharp), commonly for naginata/kikuchi-yari

UNOKUBI-ZUKURI
similar to above but returns to full width before the kissaki (like a crane neck), also common for naginata/kikuchi-yari

 

[evanPGH]

Ah OK I see...I've seen that page a few times before and now I get what I've been coming across.

Ive seen tanto made like moroha zukuri but not double edged. Like a kanmuri grind with the swedge running the full length of the blade.

 

[islandblacksmith]

thanks for following along! meet the uzumaki kotanto...more photos and info: http://islandblacksmith.ca/2014/07/uzumaki-kotanto/

yoroshiku!

 

[Serge Panchenko]

Such beautiful work, thank you for the pics!!

 

[islandblacksmith]

thanks, @serge!

...i am working on putting the photos into a book that will accompany the work, telling the story of it's origins...

 

[islandblacksmith]

here is the book preview, the photos are best viewed in the thread, but this gives an idea of the presentation:





http://www.blurb.com/books/5443677-uzumaki-kotanto-project

 

[ScottRoush]

Cool stuff... and very unique and beautiful knife. I will have to go back through the thread and check it all out.. I've been absent.

Getting me fired up for more nihonto...

 

[ScottRoush]

"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."

Thank you so much for this! This has become my favorite way to treat wrought iron (and other metals) and am so glad to see a Japanese concept for it. I do a variation with quick dips in muriatic between heats...

 

[FosterJ]

Really cool. Thanks for sharing.