Jeff fromNYC

Jon I would be happy to write something although I don't presume to have any particular expertise. I could certainly give some tips on what not to do! Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thanks to all forum contributors whose advice and instruction were invaluable.

The hard part was spacing the design in a way that the sageo doesn't cover up the diamonds. Also it was tricky because its a curved surface, but I am fairly handy with an airbrush and Tamiya masking tape cuts an incredibly clean edge. I wanted to do something special out of respect for the amount of time and effort it took to forge and polish the sword.

Thank you Sunny I was going for simple yet interesting. Chose the diamond pattern because it echoes the tsuka ito and it apparently was a Japanese family crest.

It would be an honor.

And 3 medium coats of SprayMax 2k clear

Yes George - carved it and painted it. Shout out to Custom Shop airbrush paints!

Thank you Grey. Trying to get it perfect!

Should the saya circumference match the seppa or should it be smaller to match the fuchi or somewhere in between?

Mekugi and tsuba update

Ian - had exactly the same experience until I got out the calculator and stuck to the lines I drew..

Mark - I didn't use a stand, but I did have the sword in the tsuka mostly. I didn't make the ito as tight as I could because I wanted to have the correct (odd) number of wraps. Specifically I had 192mms and 25 wraps, and making it as tight as possible landed me on 24.

Here are photos of the fuchi & kashira showing that the ito will sit pretty flush with the edge. The tsuka is slightly fat but I think it will be OK

Yay I got emperor's node in right spot

Stephen - see above. I was responding to Mark. I am referring to the opening in the tsuka.

Thanks Mark - watched that one repeatedly. Doesn't the opening in the fuchi have to match the opening in the nakago?

Thanks Stephen - already learned a lot from my 17 mistakes!

Hi thank you Jean. Yes I have read the articles you referenced. Poplar was used as it was recommended by various sources. And no, I am not going to swing it until the zombie apocalypse gets underway...

Haha I didn't notice the upside down shitodome - thanks! (put it back in wrong) Yes I am going to do a full same wrap. The nakago fits pretty snug and yes it gave me an appreciation of how good the masters are at basic chiseling...My efforts were a gouge-fest.

Some photos:

They seem to be pretty average size from what I've seen. I have a 27" wakizashi. The fuchi is 38mm and the koshira is 35mm in length.

After buying a blade which came in a shirasaya I decided to try my hand(s) at crafting a tsuka. Shout out to Cottontail et al for their instructive videos and advice. I got some poplar and started carving away, then I bought a samegawa and fuchi kashira (if nothing else I am learning new words). What I didn't know is that fushi kashira are much smaller in real life. I have now sanded the tsuka core down to where the fuchi and kashira fit and there is very little material remaining. Is this normal? The tang on my blade is 9mm wide and the inside diameter of the fuchi is 16mm, so there is just a thin layer of wood left.

Yes its hard to photograph something reflective being a novice. Now I am trying my hand at making a tsuka...