Refinish A Two Piece Habaki?

[Daso]

Can one have a brass two piece or any habaki for that matter re-plated or is that a big no-no??  Not looking for any bling but rather just having it look as nice as the blade itself. Thanks, Darius

[Stephen]

You can replate or have a sliver or gold foil done for it

[obiwanknabbe]

You can also use a silver plating solution. I just picked up some "Nushine" to silver plate a brass piece. It works VERY well on copper too. 

 

Kurt K

[Geraint]

Interested to see a brass niju habaki?

 

All the best

[Daso]

Interested to see a brass niju habaki?

 

All the best

.

 

Sorry, my bad. Copper two piece Habaki.

[Ford Hallam]

I couldn't recommend any of the commercially available silver 'plating' solutions. These contain silver nitrate in solution but only leave a extremely thin flash coating of silver that wears off in no time. And it doesn't matter how much you rub on either, the way it works simply doesn't allow for the silver to build up.

 

I wouldn't ask a high street/mall jeweller to gold plate anything either. Their electroplating set-ups tend also to be fairly lightweight in terms of actual gold thickness deposit.

 

For something like a habaki I'd recommend a commercial plating service, they can easily be found on-line, and ask for 5 microns thick plating. I reckon that should last at least 10 years or more. Avoid any of the various gold alloy colours on offer as they don't look anything like proper Japanese metalwork golds and also avoid the 'special' extra hard gold plating for the same reason.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Darius,

Can we see a picture of the habaki?  2 piece habaki are usually well made, a sign of quality, and you may not want to gussy it up with plating.

Grey

[nagamaki - Franco]

Before plating/refoiling a proper tight fit should be considered if there is a good sword involved. 

[Daso]

Before plating/refoiling a proper tight fit should be considered if there is a good sword involved. 

Franco, yes, this is the Habaki for my second Gen Tango No Kami Kanemichi

 

 

Hi Darius,

Can we see a picture of the habaki?  2 piece habaki are usually well made, a sign of quality, and you may not want to gussy it up with plating.

Grey

Grey,  I'll take a photo of the Habaki tonight and post.  At this point I'm leaning toward just keeping it as it is.  Why muss around with it when it doesn't distract from the beauty of the sword.  

[Stephen]

Best laid plans, if its not broke, dont fix it.

 

to add : copper with a nice patina looks good, IMHO

Edited July 19, 2016 by Stephen