Saya Restoration

[Henry Wilson]

I saw a very nice small wakizashi koshisrae set yesterday. The only thing wrong with it is the saya needs a new lick of lacquer as the original coat is peeling away fast and furious.

 

Can anyone give me a rough cost of how much it would cost to have the saya restored with a lick of lacquer somewhere in Japan (Tokyo). The saya is about 25cm long and appears to be sound except for the peeling surface lacquer.

 

Thanks all

 

PS four tsuba left.

 

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3918

[Brian]

Henry,

I don't know too much about urushi and saya repair, but I think that relacquering is a very difficult and labour intensive process.

If yours is peeling, then they would need to remove either all of the original finish, or most of the areas around the cracking. Then I think there is a paste/clay/paper applied and then you start with the layers of urushi. The layers can go up to 50 layers on the best finishes.

There must be guys who do it there. Hopefully someone can give you some contacts to try.

Pity Jon Bowhay just moved away from Japan.

 

Brian

[Henry Wilson]

Thanks Brian

 

It is not mine but something I saw for sale. It was very nice and I think worth restoring. It appeared that the base lacquer had been coated with a fine glossy coat that was flaking off which was unfortunate if not a little messy. If I were to buy it I would want to sort the lacquer out and have no idea at all about how much it would cost, however I agree with you that it will probably be labour intensive and thus expensive which could off set the value of the piece.

 

Does anyone else have any comments or experience with lacquer?

[Brian]

Henry,

Not really personal experience at all, but this article by Guido is well worth a read. Further down there is an urushi section under saya refinishing:

http://www2.una.edu/takeuchi/DrT_Jpn_Cu ... 5B3%5D.htm

Also, check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2621 and download the file I uploaded in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2251

 

Regards,

Brian

 

PS - Buy the koshirae! I can tell you want it. :D

[Guido]

Henry,

I don't know too much about urushi and saya repair, but I think that relacquering is a very difficult and labour intensive process.

If yours is peeling, then they would need to remove either all of the original finish, or most of the areas around the cracking. Then I think there is a paste/clay/paper applied and then you start with the layers of urushi. The layers can go up to 50 layers on the best finishes.

There must be guys who do it there. Hopefully someone can give you some contacts to try.

Pity Jon Bowhay just moved away from Japan.

 

Brian

What Brian said - there are no shortcuts, as there are no "touch-up polishes". Anyhow, even when living in Japan I had my lacquer work done by someone in the US, the very same person Jon Bowhay and Ted Tenold work with now after I introduced them to him (I'm a certified saint occassionally ).

 

Shoot Jon or Ted an e-mail or PM, and I'm sure they'll get the job done. Be prepared for a rather long waiting time, but the result will be worth every single Yen/Cent, plus you don't have to deal with the "difficult" (and I'm being nice here) traditional Japanese craftsmen who refuse to give you a cost estimate before doing the job, expecting you to pay any price they ask *after* finishing the item, if you like it or not (both the workmanship and the price).

[Ford Hallam]

traditional Japanese craftsmen who refuse to give you a cost estimate before doing the job, expecting you to pay any price they ask *after* finishing the item, if you like it or not (both the workmanship and the price).

 

I'm a sucker for tradition....perhaps I should adopt this way of doing business myself :D

[Mike]

Since you asked for price, I had saya restored 6-7 years ago in Europe and it cost me about 500 euro, the restoration was mainly re lacquering. That of course gives you rough estimation only. Hope it gives you some help. Mike

[Henry Wilson]

Thanks all. After reading through every thing, I think I will probably live to regret not buying the koshirae as follow up costs / hassle sound a bit beyond me and my interests at the mo. Saying that the DTI is coming up and I have been working hard and saving so if nothing "Tickles my fancy in Shimbashi" you never know... I could just take the head-staggers....