lonely panet Posted yesterday at 03:25 AM Report Posted yesterday at 03:25 AM Hi guys, as the above mentioned title, i have a tosho tsuba that someone with naughty fingers varnished. is it worth the effort to remove and what are dangers and pitfalls?? regards a very disappointed Hamish Quote
KungFooey Posted yesterday at 04:08 AM Report Posted yesterday at 04:08 AM Hi Hamish, Maybe a nail varnish remover would take it off gently? If I can use it without melting my hands, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't remove patina or even rust. You need to get it off one way or another or it will promote the spread of any rust already under the varnish. Good luck!!! Dee Quote
Steves87 Posted 23 hours ago Report Posted 23 hours ago How certain are you that it is varnish? Quite a while back there was a practice that used a linseed/terps mix... this ended up with a similar shiny look. I have found it harder to remove than varnish, to the point of having to horn scrape it off. Quote
Bazza Posted 19 hours ago Report Posted 19 hours ago It was very common to lacquer iron tsuba and fittings. Decades ago I had a nice Shinshinto koshirae with all-iron fittings. It was plain that the tsuba had been painted with 'something' as I could see the thickening here and there and whorls in the coating. I tried various solvents, but nothing would touch it. I even tried xylene, which is primarily used as a solvent (a liquid that can dissolve other substances) in the printing, rubber, and leather industries. Along with other solvents, xylene is also widely used as a cleaning agent, a thinner for paint, and in varnishes. Of course, I later learned that lacquer was pretty much resistant to all solvents, so Hamfish do re-think this. BaZZa. 2 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted 19 hours ago Report Posted 19 hours ago 2 hours ago, Bazza said: It was very common to lacquer iron tsuba and fittings. Decades ago I had a nice Shinshinto koshirae with all-iron fittings. It was plain that the tsuba had been painted with 'something' as I could see the thickening here and there and whorls in the coating. I tried various solvents, but nothing would touch it. I even tried xylene, which is primarily used as a solvent (a liquid that can dissolve other substances) in the printing, rubber, and leather industries. Along with other solvents, xylene is also widely used as a cleaning agent, a thinner for paint, and in varnishes. Of course, I later learned that lacquer was pretty much resistant to all solvents, so Hamfish do re-think this. BaZZa. Given the above, one may need consultation from their nearest Alchemist....! Quote
lonely panet Posted 19 hours ago Author Report Posted 19 hours ago thanks Barry, i will hold off any plans and consault a more experanced elder. but what you discribe is very simluar to my tsuba Quote
Spartancrest Posted 18 hours ago Report Posted 18 hours ago The guard looks like it has the finish that "The Backyard Blacksmith" has on his pieces https://www.jauce.co...j2hmyuc?search=tsuba Probably uses this Tanic acid? https://www.jauce.com/auction/u1166647207 It is not a wax covering? You could try boiling in water. Quote
Steves87 Posted 16 hours ago Report Posted 16 hours ago You don't have to believe me, but is more likely to be boiled linseed oil. It looks just like the finish on your Tsuba, and in the old days was done all the time, even on Tsuba. Do a google search of "boiled linseed oil on metal" plenty of results. There are even some threads on nmb which back this up... a user named Guido can confirm this... haven't seen him on here for a while though. Quote
lonely panet Posted 15 hours ago Author Report Posted 15 hours ago Thanks. But Guido has since passed. Merry xmas to all. 2 Quote
Brian Posted 14 hours ago Report Posted 14 hours ago Last I heard, he was in a non responsive state after his stroke, and there was no hope for recovery. Can you confirm that he passed? Had not heard that. Was a huge loss to the entire community. 2 Quote
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