Shirasaya Conundrum

[ckaiserca]

The sun-nobi tanto I just received arrived without a shirasaya. It does have a fairly nice koshirae. When I asked about having a shirasaya made while the blade was still in Japan, the vendor stated it already had one, but alas, it arrived dressed in its koshirae. 
 

So now I have a blade in need of a shirasaya, and I live in Canada. What is my best option for having one made?

 

Thanks for any input you can provide. 

[Alex A]

Where is its shirasaya?, if they have it ask them to ship it

[ckaiserca]

7 hours ago, Alex A said:

Where is its shirasaya?, if they have it ask them to ship it

It turns out it doesn’t actually have one. They gave me erroneous information. It only has a koshirae. 

[Surfson]

John Tirado or Brian Tschernega

 

[Mark S.]

Mike Virgadamo is another option.
 

[Fuuten]

I would contact the seller see if they can refund part of said sword to cover the cost of having one made (if that is cheaper and returning it is out of the question).

[ckaiserca]

12 hours ago, Fuuten said:

I would contact the seller see if they can refund part of said sword to cover the cost of having one made

I did contact the vendor. They have refunded what I feel is a fair amount of money for their error. I am now weighing my options for having a shirasaya made. I will probably have a better idea after the weekend, as I will have the opportunity to talk with some local collectors on Saturday.

[Alex A]

Just a thought............does it really need a shirasaya ?

 

The saya with the koshirae appears to be in good condition, perhaps an unnecessary expense and a risk of more hassles shipping it.

 

Would only bother if it really needed it.

[ckaiserca]

52 minutes ago, Alex A said:

Just a thought............does it really need a shirasaya ?

I would like to store the blade properly, and my understanding was that a regular saya was not the best option for that. Obviously the blade has not suffered too much from being kept in its current koshirae at this point, but I was thinking of the long term. I am sure that I will get some good advice this weekend.

[Alex A]

It depends Charles, had a few blades sat in old koshirae and never had issues, modern home and a fine coat of oil.

 

New polish and old koshirae then then thats a different story and i would have shirasaya made.

 

I would always think twice about shipping a sword unless i really had to in this day and age. Stuff going missing in the post and the rare occasion where the craftsman turns out to be an $$£ole and has your stuff for an eternity (not talking about anyone mentioned in this thread), but it does happen.

 

Hope you get my point.

[Fuuten]

I suppose it is mainly important if the sword is stored for longer periods at a time. The lacquer work is good against keeping for instance rain out but also air, where shirasaya leave some room for the contents to 'breath'. However I do fall in with wanting to store something correctly I also see the merits of realizing shipping is always a risk of sorts.. it's a conundrum 🙃 (as you already stated).