Need advice, please!

[hxv]

Hi,

 

I bought a tsuba from ebay that I thought had potential. It was in really bad shape when I received it. With advice from Matt L., I bought some deer antlers to remove the rust. With a lot of rubbing and dish soap, I managed to clean up the tsuba reasonably well (considering its poor state when I received it). Below are before-after pictures for your reference. I have a couple of question for the membership here.

 

1. It looks like an Onin tsuba. Am I correct? Muromachi jidai?

2. Should I keep rubbing it with deer antlers to rmove more rust, or am I in danger of over-cleaning it? It looks like it can use some more cleaning, but I want to make sure I ask the question.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[rkg]

Hi,

 

I'd go with edo period heianjo, and I'd probably stop, at least on the brass, which appears to already be overcleaned.

 

Best,

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[watsonmil]

Dear Hoanh,

From where you started to where you ended up was nothing less than miraculous. Perhaps a little more on the red rust. The brass looks fine and will develop a nice patina over time.

... Ron Watson

[Lindus]

Well done old chap,perhaps a little work with a fiber glass pen will improve ,but,good job.

[Jiro49]

Nice job! Another saved...

[raiden]

well done, i would stop on the tsuba for now, apply some choji oil (lightly) and then give it some sun and air.I really am impressed!

[drbvac]

I am impressed - how long did it take you to salvage this from loss ?

[hxv]

Gentlemen,

 

Thank you all very much for your advice and encouragement. I'm not entirely happy with the remaining red rust but will heed Mike's advice with choji oil & sun & air to see how it will look in a few days. If the red rust still remains problematic, I will carefully clean it using deer antler and a fiberglass pen without touching the brass anymore.

 

Brian: It took me the better part of my weekend. My wife is not amused.

Richard: With the ten zogan, it sure looks like an Onin Ten Zogan tsuba. But, I do understand your direction. It could be a Heianjo Zogan tsuba.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[peter]

hello all.

brilliant job. well saved and good spotting it amonst the junk.

Peter

[Ruben]

Hi Peter,

 

well done!

Please don´t touch the oil, the wire could or will come off!!!

For the iron, I would use a bamboo needle instead glass- fiber pen, it´s safer.

I think you will not over clean the iron, just take off all the red junk!

 

Greetings!

 

ruben

[chris covington]

Hello Hoanh,

 

I was just wondering if you had any updated progress photos of how this tsuba looks now? I recently posted about a Heianjo tsuba I bought years ago that I did some restoration work to. http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17071&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=heianjo&sid=854aeac23eb821f946e4c4ff8802fec0 While trying to get a better understanding of Heianjo brass inlay tsuba I came across this old thread and thought I'd ask.

 

Cheers,

Chris

[kusunokimasahige]

Hoanh, very well done !!

 

And dont worry about the brass too much, that will darken by contact with air faster than you would expect.

 

There is another difficulty with photos. They often show more rust than our eyes can see.

 

My tetsubin for instance. When I look at it it is black. When I photograph it, especially when using a flash, its rusty.

 

KM

[hxv]

Dear Chris and KM,

 

I salvaged this tsuba because underneath the dirt, grime and rust, I thought it had potential and didn't deserve to be treated like junk. It is probably for the same reason you rescued your tsuba - a really, really nice job on your part. I can't really tell you how my tsuba looks right now because I already sold my tsuba to acquire another piece.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[chris covington]

Hoanh,

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad you were able to give this old tsuba a 2nd chance. I've had mine of close to 20 years now. I think I am going to keep it. Something of a good luck charm

 

Best regards,

Chris

[hxv]

Chris,

 

For what it's worth, I find your tsuba very, very attractive, even though I don't collect Heianjo tsuba (not yet anyhow). If it were mine, I would keep it, too. You did a tremendous job on this tsuba.

 

Regards,

Hoanh

[Peter Bleed]

Hoanh,

Terrific work and a very positive result. Better than anyone could have expected. Like everyone else I am sure the brass will take care of itself.

Given the overall condition and integrity of the guard, I think you ought to very carefully inspect it to see if you can reconstruction how the twisted brass wire strands were inset. I just bet that if you carefully inspect the joints you will be able to figure out which wires were placed first. and from that, I bet you will be able to determine where the inlay started and how it progressed across the iron plate. I'd love to read that article!

Peter

[hxv]

Thank you for the encouragement, Peter.

 

Regards,

Hoanh