Bugyotsuji Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 This time I made sure to get some shots of the Karuka from the Lord's butterfly Mon pistol which I mentioned above (Pistol itself not shown). The ramrod looks to have been covered in lacquer which has mostly rubbed off, leaving only the exposed part. The slimmer end is decorated with a silver cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinawaju Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Hi, I bought a red oak jo in a budo store, altough not even started to make the ramrod. If that is to short you can buy a bo. regards, Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estcrh Posted December 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Piers, thanks for the interesting information on karuka, I had not thought to look at mine, I just took it out and it has a round hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Eric, yes it has been a really interesting discovery for me, but to most people this is probably the most mind-crackingly boring thing in the world! Glad to know that some people are pulling them out in wonder and seeing things anew! Season's greetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper6924 Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 I was going over part of my collection of kayaku-ire. In one I found a big wad of old paper stuffed in the top of the cap. Not seen it before. It´s mixed with some old gunpowder. Could it be that the former owner put the paper there acting as some sort of measure to ensure the correct amount of gunpowder for each load? The cap holds rather a lot of powder, I think. Any ideé? Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Jan, yes, I think you have hit the nail on the head. An easy way to judge/adjust the exact load for your gun. That tube holds what, about 6-8 gm? PS A funny thing happened today. At an antiques fair I found a fairly large and heavy block of Kurogaki (black persimmon) and the dealer kept telling me how valuable and rare it was and how many pairs of chopsticks I could make from it. Yes, I nodded vaguely, thinking Karuka, and eventually bought the thing. Later I mentioned my idea to the leader of the matchlock troop and he said "Don't you know that Karuka were made from Red Oak?" Hahaha, that just goes to show how receptive some people are to new ideas! :lol: Anyway I want to make one from black persimmon, even if only for my own amusement. My wife's reaction was, "Please make some earrings with it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Black persimmon (kurogaki) story, Pt II. The big block I have left at a friend's house while we think of something to do with it. The smaller section I took to a friend who has a circular saw and asked him to slice it lengthwise into six square x-section sticks. He took one look at it and said "No, too dangerous and not enough grip on it. What do you want to make?" "Karuka" I answered. He laughed. "Don't you know that karuka are made from Akagashi?" Hmmm... I was going to give two of them to him and a mutual friend. Later I went round to the hardware store and asked if they could run it along their circular saw. "Muri 無理" said the chap in uniform. What do you mean, Muri?" I asked but he just repeated "Muri desu". Hmmm... so I went in and bought a handsaw and spare blade. The cover said it was the right size and sharpness of teeth for hardwood, eg ebony etc. Late this afternoon I started sawing the first long cut on the table in the garden. What a labour/labor of love! Kurogaki is pretty hard stuff. It took me much cursing and fumbling and cutting of fingers to come up with a suitable block. The blade bent and the end snapped off. There was a strange smell of vomit all the while which I thought was maybe residual nuts from the Gingko tree that I had stepped on, but then it dawned on me that persimmon wood itself smells bad. Akagashi smells fresh like pine and artisans must have appreciated that over the centuries. Is it partly a purity thing, I wondered, that Japanese weapons makers chose akagashi for yari handles and gunstocks? Anyway, seven hours of filing and sanding later, it is 1:30 am and I have just finished my first Karuka out of persimmon, with wavy black stripes in the dark wood. This'll show them it can be done, was my guiding thought. It's not too bad a result, if a little bent and twisted, but I would not recommend anyone doing this in black persimmon. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John A Stuart Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 It sounds like you proved it was possible by hand. I remember having to use special blades for exotic woods, special pitch etc., carbide teeth and there was still a tendency for breakage on long thin pieces; so I understand why they were reticent. Some tropical woods are not pleasant smelling; it sounds like persimmon is one of these. Are you chuffed to have something nobody else has in the world? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Piers, thanks for the laugh. The mental picture when reading your post was priceless. :lol: Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 John, interesting post, thanks, and.... chuffed, yes indeed! :lol: We are having a party on Sunday with all the characters from the teppotai and people will be bringing interesting 'bits' of this and that. I will be carrying some recent experiments in karuka, and a question about the silver signature on a pair of abumi. Brian, you should have seen when I blew my nose last night. All black, every speck of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabowen Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 persimmon wood is in the ebony family, and is extremely dense. It is extremely beautiful but as you have found out, it isn't much fun to shape without sharp carbide tooling. My inlaws demoed their home last year and asked me if there was anything in the house I wanted....I would have loved to have had the large persimmon beam in their tokonoma but it was just too much a hassle to get it on the plane... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Chris, that's what the dealer said it was, a 15" section of the 主柱 omobashira from a Tokonoma. Really heavy. Whereabouts in Japan was your house? :lol: Sub-block, rough cut-out, and experimental finished ramrod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Gaijin Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Hi Piers, Our local Antique timber restorer won't touch any dense hardwood that is being worked without gloves and a respirator. I don't know about persimmon, but certainly ebony dust can have a toxic reaction on the throat and skin if you are sensitive (a bit like Urushi). Here's a link that he gave me: http://www.trueart.info/woodworking.htm Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Malcolm, I fell asleep three times while reading that but I got to the end eventually. Mandatory reading for anyone proposing to work with wood. Glad I didn't see this before I started. What a complicated world we live in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Gaijin Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Hi Piers, Complicated indeed...... However, the end result is really interesting, particularly how the wood is "moving" from the linear. My restorer friend told me once about certain hardwoods trying to find a semblance of what he termed "their natural direction", no matter what shape you try to impose upon them. Just a thought, might the saw shop operator have meant inadviseable and was being polite? One for the library? http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalog ... odbook.htm Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridfiat Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Certain timbers despite their apparent suitability will demonstrate an unwanted feature. Sheoak is a beautiful hard easily polished timber found across Australia. It is great for floors and make spectacular gun stocks that will move with the weather and change the point of impact from day to day. I once bought a block of Zebra wood from Africa to made some 'different' pistol grips. I started tio regret my decision as I sawed the first peice. A smell like the black stuff found between a tramp's toes rose from the cut. It became so bad as I carved it that I had to leave the workshop . No amount of tung oil could disguise it. Lesson learnt. Listen or read about those who have done it for centuries and use what they recommend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Good posts, Malcolm and Steve. My Karuka is slim enough to fit into the socket, but it has a bow to it that makes it a tight fit and difficult to remove. PS How did you know what tramps' toes smell like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Gaijin Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Good call Piers....I was wondering that one too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridfiat Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Good posts, Malcolm and Steve. My Karuka is slim enough to fit into the socket, but it has a bow to it that makes it a tight fit and difficult to remove. PS How did you know what tramps' toes smell like? My first day in the ED was memorable for a couple of things; 1 As I stood in the middle of resus watching people being wheeled two and fro I smelled Salt and Vinegar chips so I asked loadly if they wanted to share. The ED stopped and all looked at me and a pitying nurse took me aside and explained that what I'd smelled was the homeless mans unwashed feet. So cheesey, minging feet are unfortunately not unfamiliar to me. 2. The man who looked like your archetypal Ahole who had taken an overdose of speed and was standing in the middle of Monitor swinging his fists until we tackeled him and chemically restrained him. What fun we had. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runagmc Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 Vinegar and salt chips don't seem appetizing anymore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper6924 Posted January 12, 2013 Report Share Posted January 12, 2013 After a couple of days of bad smell here at the Edo Corner II I felt the urge to purify the air. What better way than with a koro that I just picked up. Late Edo early Meiji-period in bronze with silver inlays. The Kusunoki-mon is deeply inlaid. At the other side is a fainter Tokugawa-mon. I also liked the kabuto with horned maedate and all. Ahhh, can you smell the sandalwood Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 12, 2013 Report Share Posted January 12, 2013 I like that, Jan. In the shape of a yoroi-bitsu, and the kabuto somehow reminiscent of Boy's Day, (5th May). Yes, the air smells much fresher now! This is a good change for the Edo Period corner. Has anyone else got a Koh-ro to share? (I'll post mine too!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 13, 2013 Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 KoBizen? AoBizen? I took it to the Kantei in the Bizen Pottery Kaikan in Imbe, Bizen to let the experts decide. Several hours later it was tagged "Not". The reason? Bizen pottery up until the end of Edo is considered 'old Bizen' 古備前 Ko Bizen. This Koro was made 'around' (either before or just after the end of Edo), and in the absence of total agreement they felt it safer to label it not KoBizen. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper6924 Posted January 13, 2013 Report Share Posted January 13, 2013 It seems it´s always safer to say early Meiji than late Edo. Get´s you less flak from the so called experts KoBizen or AoBizen aside, it´s a good looking Hotei any which way. Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Jan, thanks, but his left arm seems somehow a little short. Nice golden nipples, though. Notice the smoke rising from some excellent incense I picked up in Kyoto. Malcolm, forgive the oversight, but I have just looked back and seen your link to the American woods book. It looks an amazing work. My NBTHK sword teacher loves wood as a material for working on, and the resultant patterns in the surfaces. Perhaps years of reading Nihonto has given him a fatal attraction. He particularly likes Kuwa (mulberry) and the other day pulled out all the boxes and things he has nested away over the years. Recently he has been furiously working on Bunchin paperweights, to give to friends, I wonder? Into a bar of selected wood he drills a large hollow, fills it with lead, and seals the end inconspicuously. Much rubbing and polishing later and there is a weighted block of mulberry, or maple, or sakura, or Keyaki (Zelkova). At our sword meeting on Saturday he couldn't breathe, his nose blocked by sawdust. He looked quite ill, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Does anyone know what this is? From about 1700, apparently, around about the time of the 赤穂浪士 Ako Roshi incident? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanB Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Piers, It is part of a pack harness. For some reason they always seem to be red lacquered with lots of gold touches. Just how and where on a gee-gee this particular part fits I have no idea. I'm sure Eric will have at least six complete sets stashed away. Ian Bottomley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 On top of the rump above the tail... Quite sexy!?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugyotsuji Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 This is my rough translation of the titles and subtitles and some of the background calls. The video link is below that. Find somewhere you can turn the volume up loud, or use earphones! 備州岡山城鉄砲隊 Bishu Okayama Jo Teppotai (Okayama Castle Matchlock Troop) Scenes from 2012. 1. 礼射 Reisha (Opening Salute) with single 馬上筒 Bajo-zutsu (cavalry pistol) @1:52 2. 軍用筒 立ち放し一斉 Gunyo-zutsu (Army long guns) Tachi-hanashi Issei (Standing Line broadside/s) 2:39~ 構えてKamaete! (Get ready to fire!) 火蓋斬れ Hibuta Kire! (Open your panlids) 放て Hanate! (Fire!) 3. 膝台放ち Hizadai Hanatchi (Kneel & fire) 3:30 4. つるべ撃ち Tsurube Uchi ("well-bucket drop" quick succession fire) 4:19 5. 千鳥の構え Chidori no Kamae (Mixed Kneel & Stand) 順射 Junsha (Fire in regular succession) 5:08 6. 公開演舞 Kokai Enbu (Show & tell the public how to load a matchlock, abridged) "Remove one preload from your Do-ran case, pour powder and ball down muzzle, ram home with ramrod, pour priming powder into pan,... blow and place your matchcords", etc. 7. 馬上筒 Bajo-zutsu (pistols in line, for those that have one) 6:48 8. １０匁士筒 Ju-Monme Shizutsu (10 Monme, 18 mm diameter lead ball, Samurai heavy guns) 7:52 9. ２０匁大筒 Niju-Monme Ozutsu (20 Monme = 22mm Large Guns, or Hand Cannons) 9:08 10. ３０匁大筒 Sanju-Monme Ozutsu 10:47 11. ５０匁大筒 Goju-Monme Ozutsu 12:20 12. 100匁大筒 Hyaku Monme Ozutsu 14:00 (Hand cannon fired by the Taicho) First posted on NNK; I have now slightly improved my own translation. A version with this English translation will be appearing on YouTube soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper6924 Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Nice!!! Gunpowder and Bolero always works :D Where did this take place? I saw what I think is a corner tower on a castle, in the background. Wouldn´t mind pulling the trigger on a 20 monme, myself. Must be a "say hello to my little friend" moment. Thanks Piers! /Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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