lool123

I think obtaining Magnolia would be just as difficult as obtaining honoki around here. Thank for your help though, guys. It was a pleasure chatting with you all. When i do get around to making a shirasaya i'll post some pictures. Best Regards, Eric

Hi, Davis, I didn't mean to criticize the habaki or the swords it's been on if i may have sounded that way, i just, in my inexperiencedness and indelicate way of raising questions, wondering about the brass habaki on a real nihonto, as i know that brass is pretty much the only thing being used on made-in-china swords because it's easy and cheap... Although i suppose back in 1945 they should have had the knowledge to drop-forge brass, so it being used on real nihonto isn't too far fetched.

I didn't say this in my previous post, but everything i said was directed towards this point, "I won't use a subpar saya to store my blade, it has to look right, fit right, and feel right, only then would i actually use it, otherwise i'd try again untill i have one that wouldn't cause any ill effects on my blade." Bubba-san, i didn't realize it was that bad between copper and carbon steel... Though i suppose it could be possible for the copper to "weld" itself against the steel over a long time span, despite the galvanic action only producing a few millivolts at most...

Hehe, i barely picked up on the sarcasm there I have no intention of becoming anything close to a saya-maker, i just want to use the opportunity to try and make a shirasaya for myself. It'll probably take a few attempts before i make something i'll be pleased with and i can leave my sword in with a good conscience, but i wouldn't gain experience otherwise. Besides, i did tr and google "how to make a shirasaya" and the results there were decent for pointers on how to make the basic shape, outline the sword, carve it out, and so forth, the rest i'd have to improvise and get a feel of. If my blade sits well, rests well, and slides in and out on it's back without touching the saya with anything besides it's back, the saya's made of the right wood, and the outer shape of the shirasaya looks good, i would think i'd done a good job for a novice and that my blade will rest well in it.

Those look really nice. The brass one isn't an original habaki on a nihonto, is it though? A modern one in so case, because as i've learnt it, brass wasn't used in the old days, only on modern swords (Made in china swords, i don't know if they're used on modern nihonto as well, are they?) because brass can be drop-forged, while that's extremely difficult with for instance copper... I'll also post a couple pics of my habaki just to clear up the whole misunderstanding about rainbowing (which most likely was because of the isopropynol alcohol) http://puu.sh/fMkH3/1b9929be30.jpg http://puu.sh/fMkJ1/cdfc5da1d3.jpg

I took a look on the habaki again now, and the "rainbowing" is gone, i suppose it was just an effect after having cleaned it with isopropynol alcohol, kind of obvious now that i think of it... I'll clean it once more to get the oil off it, and then not mount it on the blade as i oiled the blade in it's entirety after having cleaned it with isopropynol. Right now i have it on a 3-story sword holder unsheath in anything. Inside a rather dry climate, 22 degrees celcius temperature. Shouldn't i leave it out in the open like that? Alright, thanks. So once i figure out if someone sells these wood types i'll go for linden or birch. Linden is even more uncommon than birch here though, so odds are i will end up with birch... I don't mind posting the results, but it'll probably still be months before i have the time to start the work. I have 0 saya making skills or experience. I had intended to impovise untill i had a saya where the wakizashi had a millimeter leeway on the sides inside the saya, and a few more on the front, so the sides and edge wouldn't touch the sides of the saya when drawing/sheathing but rested on it's back. As for the process, odds are i'd google "how to make a shirasaya", and use that as a pointer.

Alright. I hope i'll be able to get some from a woodwork store, otherwise i'd have to go out into the woods and chop down something and dry it myself... I'm not sure when i'll find the time, but i will do it... Thank you for your help

Ash, Oak, Hazel, Hornbeam, Beech, Linden, Maple, Pine, Spruce, Willow, Birch are all tree species i reckon i should be able to get my hands on here in Norway... According to wikipedia I should be able to get ahold of Alder too...

Oh, i see. Do you have any recommendations for wood to use for a shirasaya?

I'd heard that with wood some oil is ok, because it can breathe a little unlike for instance leather. As long as i don't drench the blade and subsequently saya in oil because then it would bulge/swell. Am i mistaken? Besides, the wakizashi isn't in a saya yet, i intent to make a shirasaya for it, albeit not out of honoki since i would probably have to import that... I'll see if some carpenter store has some nice wood i could make it out of, like oak. My other katana blades are in sayas though,, i can't say i've noticed anything in their sayas...

Alright, thank you for your help guys! I just bought a bottle of sewing machine oil over ebay, and i'll use that for my swords from now on So when using the sewing machine oil i should put the oil on a piece of cloth, whipe over the sword with the cloth, and then with a clean dry piece of cloth whipe over the sword again so almost no oil remains on the blade?

I see... Could you point me to a pure oil that would be excellent for preserving swords and its fittings? Preferably something i can get over ebay, we don't have a lot of (none i know of) shops dealing in this kind of stuff here in norway... It's not even legal to sell pure isolpropynol to private persons, only to registered companies, so my bottle is "borrowed" from work.

It's not bad, so i think i'll just leave it. The blade and habaki were all sticky when i got them, the previous owner probably used motoroil or something to oil it, so i washed over them with isopropynol alcohol and re-oiled them with Break Free CLP gun oil. The rainbowing has dimmed down from then, and doesn't look bad at all now. (Isopropynol alcohol doesn't have any bad effects on steel or copper, right?) Thank you for you replies, guys Best Regards, Eric

I see. By the way, how would i go about polishing the copper habaki? It's got some rainbowing when looking at it in certain angles under light, and some fingerprints or finterprint-like patters seem to have become etched into it too...

Thank you for your replies, that answered my question. If i may ask another one, not too disconnected from the current subject; How badly does forged copper corrode? The wakizashi i bought is supposedly a few hundred years old (no certification or appraisal though, just going by the era the guy who's name is on the handle of the blade lived), but the habaki on this wakizashi has near no corrosion at all. I know it depends on how it's been stored, but generally speaking, how corroded would a 300 years old habaki normally be?