how its made: Mekugi-ana?

[remzy]

This might sound like a silly question to some but i couldnt find any information regarding this, how did they traditionaly made mekugi-ana in the nakago?

There is zero info about this in pretty much all of the books that i have red and this kind of tickle me curiosity!

 

Thanks

Remy

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Punching with a tool in the ancient times and drilling it later.

Hard tome to say when the shift happened but its a thing to watch at

that can help to identify a Koto versus Shinto blade.

[Stephen]

went the Portuguese showed up in Shinto times...one way to tell a older blade from Shinto..punched or drilled

[remzy]

I totaly would love to see the process in a video or pictures, also how you tell the difference between punched and drilled, i presume we are talking about handmade drilling here

 

Remy

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Hi Remy.

 

Punched seems a less "refined" circle and the middle of the inner

section many times is another hint to watch at.

 

Drilled usually is closer to a perfect circle and the inner part is different.

Hard to explain with my english.

 

Even if I'm sure that water-propelled tools were used in Edo period and

possibly before, I'm not sure a steel-drilling machine existed, so I'm for the drilling by hands, but I can be wrong.

[remzy]

Drilling by hand must have took age to acomplish!

[Brian]

If you have "Cutting Edge" then there is a bit in there about it.

Basically they start the holes on either side, using special awls and chisels. They usually don't meet perfectly in the middle, so punched holes will not be perfectly round, and may have a ridge in the middle. They can be slightly oval or even square occasionally. (I have pics of a square ana I want to post about sometime)

Not too difficult to spot once you see a few.

The irregularity helps the mekugi to hold tighter apparently, although this was not the primary reason I am sure.

 

Brian

 

Edit to add: the mekugi ana seems a breeze to do when you consider some of the fine sukashi cutouts on early tsuba

I would love to know how they did those. Did they have fine saw blades, or use horsehair coated in abrasive materials like I have heard (but doubt)