Bugyotsuji Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Posted January 30, 2011 Carlo, very good! It is a gun carriage from the hill overlooking the estuary to our city. As the Western powers were messing around with China the Japanese ordered the provinces to rearm and prepare against attack. If you remember Britain had just formally signed an end to the Opium Wars with China at the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The name on the box was 河合佐平治 Kawai Saheiji I believe.
estcrh Posted February 2, 2011 Report Posted February 2, 2011 fashioning wooden pins to knock into the holes, Now thats dedication, I have several boxes that need repair, I just cant get started on them...what did you use for pins
estcrh Posted February 2, 2011 Report Posted February 2, 2011 Carlo, very good! It is a gun carriage from the hill overlooking the estuary to our city. Did you just push it home in the middle of the night....for safe keeping?
Bugyotsuji Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Posted February 2, 2011 Eric, you can whittle down the ends of toothpicks, or kushi-katsu (shishkebab?) sticks, made from bamboo. You can buy various sizes here in the Hyaku-en Y100 shops. If the old pin has dropped out, knock in a slightly fatter one, or change the shape from round to square cross-section or vice versa. Dip it in wood glue before tapping home. File off and rub around to allow the wood colour to blend. Often the pins have popped because the wood has dried and warped, so simple replacement may not be enough. Find the spacing of the pins and add extras in between in a way that doesn't stand out. The gun carriage is at a friend's place. Not quite sure how he got it, but I'll ask him.... Gotta rush now! Some years ago I visited that hillock with the gun emplacement and the view across the choke point in the estuary.
Bugyotsuji Posted February 5, 2011 Author Report Posted February 5, 2011 Here is a box that I refurbished for insertion of a Tanto, Shirasaya and Koshirae, side by side. The paperwork, history etc., goes inside underneath the bundle. Nothing great to look at, but this box has some decent age, is made with wooden pins and has small copper ring handles on the sides. The top was covered in brush writing, but with a little elbow grease and a magic wand, that has now disappeared.
Lorenzo Posted February 7, 2011 Report Posted February 7, 2011 Well done my friend That set really deserved it's own box Lorenzo
Bugyotsuji Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Posted February 7, 2011 There is praise that I value. Thank you. Congratulations on the Kinko name, by the way! Very nice avatar!
Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini Posted February 7, 2011 Report Posted February 7, 2011 That set really deserved it's own box Piers, now Lorenzo is driving me curious. Any pic of what is inside ? or already posted and I skipped it ?
Lorenzo Posted February 7, 2011 Report Posted February 7, 2011 Very nice avatar! Told you my box is cute :D
Bugyotsuji Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Posted February 7, 2011 Piers, now Lorenzo is driving me curious. Any pic of what is inside ? or already posted and I skipped it ? Ask Lorenzo about his box first... :lol: (Actually, yes, I have posted some of the contents on this site in the past and even ran a thread on it, a Shinshinto tanto made personally by the seventh Lord Date Munetada of the illegitimate Date Daimyo line in Uwajima, Iyo.)
Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini Posted February 7, 2011 Report Posted February 7, 2011 Actually, yes, I have posted some of the contents on this site in the past and even ran a thread on it, a Shinto tanto made personally by the seventh Lord Date of the illegitimate Date Daimyo line in Uwajima, Iyo. Ah, skipped or forgot it. I'll make a search. Lorenzo is getting better at his work.
Bugyotsuji Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Posted February 7, 2011 Agreed about Lorenzo, or Renzo the Kinko as he is now officially called. Here is the thread, but it's quite old and maybe out of date/Date? viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2524&hilit=Daimyo+katana+kaji+Date+Munetada
Lorenzo Posted February 7, 2011 Report Posted February 7, 2011 Better in person Those pictures doesn't give justice to it. It's a cute blade, very tidy. I love the lacquer work on the nurizaya as well, very precise.
Lorenzo Posted February 7, 2011 Report Posted February 7, 2011 ...and you should provide some room in your boxes for a crowbar, your shirasaya are so tight! :lol:
Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini Posted February 7, 2011 Report Posted February 7, 2011 Thanks Piers. Forgot about it. Nice one . Reno the Kinko?
Sporkkaji Posted February 8, 2011 Report Posted February 8, 2011 Not exactly Edo, but it's a really pretty air defense medal. Feels and rings like real silver, and seems to be a unique design since I haven't seen another one like it with the buildings and searchlights.
Bugyotsuji Posted February 8, 2011 Author Report Posted February 8, 2011 Kanto air raid practice commemorative medal! Very interesting. Personally I like WWII stuff from all sides in the conflict.
Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini Posted February 8, 2011 Report Posted February 8, 2011 Not exactly Edo, but it's a really pretty air defense medal. Feels and rings like real silver, and seems to be a unique design since I haven't seen another one like it with the buildings and searchlights. You might be interested in Rich's site : http://www.imperialjapanmedalsandbadges.com/
Stephen Posted February 8, 2011 Report Posted February 8, 2011 Thank you Carlos I had not known about Richs other site.
Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini Posted February 8, 2011 Report Posted February 8, 2011 If you're interested he's publishing his 3rd e-book on Japanese medals. All available thru the above website. EDIT : of course is Rich Catalano, not Rich Stein
Bugyotsuji Posted February 15, 2011 Author Report Posted February 15, 2011 Almost a week now. Not a lot to report. The Kuda-yari I posted up on the 'Where were the Yari' thread. On Sunday I went to the last antiques fair to be held in Bessho, east of Himeji. They will be moving next month to a temple not too far away. There was a lovely old black lacquer Edo Period No-bento carrier frame containing a tray and some drawers for the food, and a large square lacquer container for the Sake. It had iron clasps and locks and square iron rings to take a carrying pole. I hesitated over buying it, but now I am wishing I had grabbed it, even though I've not had access to much spending money of late. Heavy snow here lately. An evening project? Did someone mention boxes again? ... Following the fun I had with the Tanto box on the previous page, I have been working on creating or should I say adapting another box for my Tanegashima pistol. It is now just about ready, apart from the choice of ribbon or cord to tie it with, and the attribution to write upon it. The first job was to find a Japanese traditional box with enough headroom to contain the gun upright. (Most flat Western gun cases open to reveal a gun or a pair of guns lying on their side in shaped hollows.) I found a copper-nailed box with rather thin walls and lid, removed the brush writing on the cover and reduced the surface to a nice consistent plain finish. Inside I wanted to create a removable display stand which would serve to a) strengthen the sides and lid of the box from within when closed, b) protect the gun in transit and c) pull straight out for instant display either on top of the box or elsewhere. The temporary result is generally satisfactory, given the limited choice of materials and tools I have to work with. It may need some further minor changes. Some pics will appear here in a little while...
Bugyotsuji Posted February 15, 2011 Author Report Posted February 15, 2011 Bonus shot. Various boxes for various projects...
John A Stuart Posted February 15, 2011 Report Posted February 15, 2011 Piers, we will have to change your nom de plume to 函殿 Hako-tono. John
Bugyotsuji Posted February 15, 2011 Author Report Posted February 15, 2011 And my daughters are Hako-iri Musume?
Bugyotsuji Posted March 7, 2011 Author Report Posted March 7, 2011 Quick question about metals. I bought an 'iron' cannonball at an antiques fair in London yesterday. The elderly dealer knew nothing about it, apart from the fact that he had bought it many years ago in Salisbury. It's quite small at just under 5 cm in diameter, about the length of a matchbox. It weighs 9.5 oz, or 260 gms. The surface is not flat and appears covered in generally smooth melty Tekkotsu like on the Mimi of a good old Tsuba. Good dark brown almost black patina as you would expect with old iron. It looks like a meteorite, but it is too round to be natural. No seam that I can discern. This morning I tried some fridge magnets on it, and to my surprise it turns out not to be iron. I don't think it's heavy enough to be lead. It may not even be heavy enough to be iron. Even so, this is heavy and would do damage if I threw it or even dropped it. In a couple of places I can see internal material that looks a little like slag. 'Now, if it's not iron, what other candidates suggest themselves?' is what I am asking myself. I do not really want to scratch the surface. Copper, brass, bronze, ... what would go dark iron-like like that? What non-magnetic materials were (English?) cannonballs made of? (Was hoping to upload a picture, but there is some setting on this new netbook which is telling me that card reader drive E, ScanDisk, is empty, when I know it's not. I had the same problem on another computer. Somehow I have to go into settings and activate 'hidden', but can't remember where... grrr....)
Justin Grant Posted March 7, 2011 Report Posted March 7, 2011 To make hidden files "visable" In the folder you are interested in, click "Tools" from the menu. Click "Folder Options", Click the "View" tab, under "Hidden files and folders", Click the "Show hidden files and folders". It may have more to do with the file association. If an "viewer" is not installed, it won't display the files, but the above steps will make the files show up.
watsonmil Posted March 7, 2011 Report Posted March 7, 2011 Dear Piers, Possibly Kryptonite, .... The only two materials that cannon balls to the best of my knowledge have been made of were 1stly Stone, ...... 2ndly Iron. All other materials were considered too expensive to be tossing about. I do know that bronze can take on quite a black patina, .... but I don't believe bronze was ever used as cannon fodder. ... Ron Watson
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