bones

[peter]

Hello gents

could someone post or send me some images of, ' Bones ' on tsuba.

[drdata]

search is your friend. This thread may help:

 

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12556&hilit=bones

[peter]

Thanks Henry.

A question then to add to the 1st. Define bones so i know what i.m looking for.

[runagmc]

http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/tekkotsu.html

[ROKUJURO]

  runagmc said:

http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/tekkotsu.html

The description is o.k., but the definition is not. I have researched in this matter and it is definitely not steel which is protruding from the surface of the TSUBA. Also, TEKKOTSU can be seen on newly made TSUBA, so the theory of 'wearing material off' in use cannot be substantiated.

 

We have been discussing this subject here in the forums.

[peter]

Thank you all

still learning a lot.

Peter

[Gunome]

You have also this kind of bones

 

[peter]

Very good Sebastien

Bones on top of Bones this must be the rare graveyard tsuba.

Peter

[runagmc]

  ROKUJURO said:

The description is o.k., but the definition is not. I have researched in this matter and it is definitely not steel which is protruding from the surface of the TSUBA. Also, TEKKOTSU can be seen on newly made TSUBA, so the theory of 'wearing material off' in use cannot be substantiated.

 

We have been discussing this subject here in the forums.

I have always heard tekkotsu defined as being differing qualities of iron forged into a single plate, where over time the softer iron shows more wear, leaving high spots of harder iron and low spots of softer iron. I'm not very knowledgeable on tsuba, so I'm just going on how I've heard it explained.

 

So, in your experienced opinion, how do you think it should be defined... or are you still unsure what causes it?

[ROKUJURO]

  runagmc said:

.....I have always heard tekkotsu defined as being differing qualities of iron forged into a single plate, where over time the softer iron shows more wear, leaving high spots of harder iron and low spots of softer iron. I'm not very knowledgeable on tsuba, so I'm just going on how I've heard it explained.

 

So, in your experienced opinion, how do you think it should be defined... or are you still unsure what causes it?

When you forge-weld sheet metal of steel (with carbon content, a material that can be hardened) and iron (with a very small carbon content of sub 0.22% so it cannot be hardened), and you grind one side flush and even, you will see that with further forging and hammering it is the softer iron which protrudes between the layers of steel. From my experience as a smith this is logical and expected.

 

I know that in TSUBA literature every author repeats what he has read in other books about it, but no one ever has questioned the real cause and researched in this subject.

 

I think that TEKKOTSU is softer iron squeezed out between layers of steel.

 

Many TSUBA have undergone chemical treatments not only for surface colouring and patination but also for aging. These etching procedures mainly attack the steel layers in a composite pack, not so much the iron which can lead further to the forming of TEKKOTSU also on the flat sides of a TSUBA. This is another fact which supports my belief.

 

Again I would like to mention that TEKKOTSU can be seen on newly made TSUBA, so there is no 'wearing-soft iron-off the MIMI' in use.

 

If someone had a worthless (damaged) TSUBA with good TEKKOTSU tested with a Rockwell HRC device (this test would leave two small dots impressed on the TSUBA which you probably don't want to see on your genuine YAGYU....) it would be a proof. We could then state for sure if TEKKOTSU is harder or softer than the rest of the TSUBA metal.

 

We have been dealing with this subject in an earlier thread, and I would invite Ford Hallam to let us know again his sight of the phenomenon.