1kinko
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Everything posted by 1kinko
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Oceanonox- when your Japanese improves, please translate the articles you cited above and see if they make sense to you. They sure don’t make sense via Google Translate, and with one exception seem to make no mention of cast iron tsuba made in Japan during the Edo period or earlier.
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My admittedly cursory reading of the online literature on tetsubin production suggests it was centered in the Tohoku region and more specifically to the village of Morioka. So why is there no reference to the Morioka School of tsuba makers? The only reference I’ve found to Morioka is a Tetsugendo tsuba (Christie’s), and while it certainly is Edo period, it certainly isn’t cast iron.
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I suggest a read of Chinese Sword Guard Types, Characteristics, and Theory found online (7 April 2023) in Sword Encyclopedia (although the author is highly suspect). Interesting sections on Chinese swords guards, heavily inspired by Japanese design, exported to Japan, nanban, exported to Vietnam, Canton-gata and more. Just food for thought.
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But, but, but Haig’s of Rochester is in the heart of Japanese culture country of the US and so knowledgeable that the 2-hitsu ana tsuba they are selling was pictured upside down like a sword guard on a western sword.
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Proof that jewelers and auction houses have no knowledge of kodogu or metallurgy.
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Shoreline erosion prevention efforts with woven bags to hold stones?
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San Francisco sword show
1kinko replied to Brian's topic in Sword Shows, Events, Community News and Legislation Issues
The Marriott passkey didn’t work for me, no rates were displayed, and I thought there was a group discount if you supplied a keyword. -
San Francisco sword show
1kinko replied to Brian's topic in Sword Shows, Events, Community News and Legislation Issues
Probably, but haven’t made reservations yet: -
Agreed. My point was more related to the proposition that Edo period tatara reached temperatures that produced molten iron/steel or “cast iron”.
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I’ve melted a lot of copper but not iron. The melting point of copper is 1981F (1083C) and the melting point of iron is not 2000F, but 2802F (1539C). However, it takes a little higher temperature to actually pour molten metals, in my experience.
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I wouldn’t want the job of handling ashes with chop sticks- though it could be a full time job.
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Certainly not my forte, but Google says Tokugawa max katana length was 84.8 cm and wakisashi max 51.5 cm.
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Yup, and kogai are usually made of shakudo or another copper alloy that had better be very sharp or it will surely bend thrusting it through the skull deep enough to label it as your kill. Oh, maybe there were cast iron kogai!
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The backs are remarkably clean and look modern but the craftsmanship is very high, probably Meiji. I see layers of different alloys as well as either fire gilding or soldering, not necessarily true inlay.
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Where’s the source for the assumption that kogai were worn by samurai going into battle? More speculation? And just how would a kogai be used to stitch anything and with what? I think the Japanese knew about needles since Chinese silk embroidery was an ancient art.
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We need to see the other side.
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Check out the FB site “Projects step by step-Katana forum”. Robert Lisnafali has shown remarkable restorations on rust exposed kinko tosogu and rust removal on helmets and menpo. He does a lot of microscopic work but when I asked about his methods he only mentioned Vulpex which is a “non-acid deep searching cleaner…”
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Markus Sesko’s “Koshirae, Japanese Sword Mountings”, has quite a lot of information about early tsuka wrappings.
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Well, once you know the amount of slag and other impurities remaining in your iron/steel then you have to be able to measure the content in 200 gm rather than pounds per square foot and account for the measurement error. All of the non-invasive methods I’ve found (regarding the composition of Japanese swords and helmets) only penetrate the surface in the nm to um range.
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There’s a video with English subtitles available from Namikawa Heibei- Japanese sword, all the techniques of tsuka maki, by Mitani Shuji. About $55 with shipping. Very good on how to hold the ito during wrapping and tieing the knits. No information about carving the tsuka or the notches for the knots in either Buck’s booklet of this video.
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I’d stay away from water, boiled or not. If there’s a Chinese restaurant near you you might get bamboo chopsticks and trim them down to size. You buffalo could be shibuichi, but yamagani or copper could also turn that color over time. Really any hard wood may work - oak?
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The steel wool will also introduce a form of steel that will rust very easily. I’d start with a bamboo toothpick.
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You can buy it ready made online, Nori brand, and it’s really cheap.
