Advice for a first time tsuba-fitter!

[Todashi]

Hi there, I have a couple of modern-made tsuba that I would love to fit to one of my iaito or nihonto.

 

They're not hugely valuable art piece - in fact their value is mostly sentimental but they are properly made. Because they're new, they've never been fitted to a nakago before.
 

Now, my experience with nihonto stops at appreciation and mild collecting. I'm a budoka primarily, so while my interest leans towards the artistic, I'm mostly concerned with the practical. As a result, I've never taken a file to a tsuba before and before doing that I thought it might be prudent to ask some advice.

So, what should a clumsy amateur know before attempting to fit their first tsuba to a sword?

 

[Ford Hallam]

well it is at least a genuine Ford Hallam design, created fro Paul Martin's dojo some years ago. 

[Todashi]

Hi Ford, yes of course you're right! I absolutely love this piece, and was grateful to get a few of them back when they were offered as left overs. As I recall, your design but made by a student?

 

(If you'd made it, I wouldn't fit it. But I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to afford to buy it if you'd actually made it!)

I would love to fit it to a sword so it gets used for practice. But . . . I'm painfully aware of the limitations of my own knowledge. In particular I don't want to damage it while clumsily trying to fit it.

Any advice?  

[ROKUJURO]

A very much reduced description of the process just in case Ford doesn't find the time:

How well does the TSUBA fit to the respective NAKAGO? If it wouldn't pass up to the HABAKI (plus one SEPPA), you may need some fine files to remove material. Take care to have the TSUBA well centered on the TSUKA.

Basically there are two ways: In case the TSUBA fits almost perfectly, you may remove a tiny bit of steel at a time with a fine file where it is necessary. Try the TSUBA on many times!
The professional way, though, would be to insert copper pieces (SEKI GANE; you can see where to insert them on many TSUBA photos) in the NAKAGO ANA and then remove some material until you have a tight fit. The TSUBA should not have any play or even rattle.  

[Dan tsuba]

Hello Alex,

 

I have mounted antique tsuba on two of my iaito.  The nakago ana of the tsuba was too large to fit tight on the tang of the sword.

 

So, what I did was take a pair of tinsnips and cut a small piece of metal thinner than the thickness of the tsuba.  I then took long nosed pliers and bent the metal strip (so that it fit inside the nakago ana) and lined the inside of the nakago ana with the metal piece.  They work fine with no movement at all.

 

Upon rethinking it, I maybe could have used a piece of stripped copper wire to line the nakago ana and accomplish the same thing?

 

But like Jean stated, if the nakago ana of the tsuba is too small for the sword I guess the only way to fit it would be to file it down or file down the sekagane if it is already in the tsuba.

 

Hope this helps you out somewhat.

 

With respect,

Dan

[Todashi]

Thanks everyone. I'll update this thread in a few weeks when I get a chance to fit this tsuba