Brando

Yes Sir, it was in rough shape when I found it, thank you for the kind words. I know how I went about it wasn't all traditional, but the outcome was what I was hoping for....heck, just about anything done to it was an upgrade, lol. My neighbor saw me outside working on the saya and we sparked up a conversation...by the end he gave me another "nihonto" its very interesting to say the least....maybe ill post some pics here....

Ok, I'm done. Its not the best job, but it was free and I learned allot. I redid the old saya and gave the wak a brand new tsuka. An old sword found in the trash given new hope... Its all about preserving right? I think I have done that and hopefully the next owner after me will see beauty in it and it will stay away from rubbish bins for a while.

You can make a diluted mixture of 50% wood glue, 50% water......use a thumb tack to keep the split open as you carefully wipe a sponge with the mixture across the split. pull thumb tack out,..put a spring loaded clamp on from the opposite side of the split and clean any excess glue with a damp paper towel before it drys. You can also use a folded up dry paper towel between the clamp and saya while clamping to avoid any clamp damage to the saya finish....it will be dry in less than an hour.

Im giving this project a mice theme, but decided that Im not going to spend vary much if any money on koshirae. Im just preserving this sword so that maybe it will last a while before being thrown away like rubbish again So a few yard sales and ebay auction later,... I have mice pins and tie tacks. Like I said in one of my other posts this recent find has re-sparked my interest in the subject and I'm now currently working on three swords at the same time. I have an array of parts already for the swords I had but never finished and some extra parts as well. So I dug out a F&K for this sword and slapped a mouse on top of the kashira..this will look better once it gets a patina.. Makeing a tsuka from scratch is a bit tricky but if you measure 300 times and cut once, all for the better...planing ahead makes things go together so much better in the end....and coffee..lot of coffee. Little things like not only measuring and notching out for the kashira, but making room for the shitodome to slide in when its time... Drilling the hole for the mekugi or mekugi-ana is very precise work and getting it wrong could have dire consequences. Knowing where to drill is only half the battle. I found that drilling the mekugi-ana is best done by removing one seppa first. Starting with small bits and working up in size for safety. I think looking through the mekugi ana one should see an almost full eklipse in relation to the nakago hole. It comes down to about a 1mm diferance so that when the tapered mekugu is driven in, the tsuka is pulled forward onto the nakago wedging the seppa and tsuba in between the fuchi and hibaki for a nice solid, no rattle marriage. I have two 14k gold mice tie tacks that Im going to use as menuki. I think the gold on the black same will look good....Stay tuned for more franken sword!

Drinking the Weston makes for fubar hishigami LOL Ill keep you-all updated with more pics.

I think I may need about double what I have pictured, its tedious work for sure. Im glad I took your advice to use them. A little zen music helps while making them haha.

Making a new tsuka for this old sword....progress pics hishagami drying...

Well Ive been practicing and honestly I cant imagine NOT using hishigami! Im using cotton ito and it just does not want to conform ito in the proper/desired twist configuration. Ive tried all different shapes now and have found that one works better than the rest. My tsuka tapers so now I have the question, does or should the diamonds get smaller as the tsuka narrows? or should they all stay uniform no matter the shape of the tsuka?

Dave R. and seanyx11, thank you. Been doing lots of reading and I think you guys are right on the money. As for the cardboard cut out version, it just dont stack up, especially if your doing an hour glass shape tsuka or one with any curve or contour to it at all. Seems like it would pull your diamonds all over the place where individual hashigami would allow for manipulation in making.....well everything right...

Thanks Geraint, I figured most of Mr. Buck's book was available piece by piece all over the net...but if there is unpublished stuff still left undiscovered Ill be purchasing it. I will show you my results no matter how embarrassed I am... Thanks again!

Do you think it all boils down to practice with or without? Im thinking about trying the cardboard cut out version that runs up and down both sides of the tsuka.

For years Ive searched the web for the age old question, "To Hishigami or not to Hishigami". Many results have turned up but few definitive answers to this basic question. Ive seen newspaper, card board, rice paper, silk, and even baked clay used for hishigami. Ive seen numerous ways of folding, bending, and twisting these materials to get the best results...However, I tend to see more catastrophic/ ugly examples of tsuka maki done "with" hishigami than without. What are your thoughts about this subject? What have you seen and done that works the best?

Thank you Stephen! It cleaned up really nicely. I do believe Ill be making a new ska for it and displaying it in my home. Ill play babysitter to it for the next 30-40 years until the next person finds my pile of dirt Ive accumulated here. Maybe if I keep it nice and oiled it wont end up thrown away next time. Who knows, maybe it will last another couple hundred years... Thinking about giving it a mouse or mice theme.....should I separate the tsuba from the sword or keep them together? Please let me know your opinions. Thank you all for your guidance and help. Ill post some pictures of the new tsuka I make for it. Cheers!

Is the identity of the sword still the same now that slightly better pictures are provided? Is there anything else to add?

Koshi Hiraita Midare?

Lots of rust damage but I think its looking pretty good...

Are there any oils that I should refrain from using?

Fantastic links and info Stephan and Jesper! I cant thank you enough for replying to this thread and helping out an outsider. It takes time out of your day to do so and I am truly grateful! I have oiled the nakago figuring it would temporally freeze any cancer until I received instruction. The "chunks" of rust on the nakago seem to be really on there but the more I handle it by wiping the blade every few hours....the more "chunks" come off in my hand leaving it cleaner and chocolate brown. I could never see myself buying nihonto even though they fascinate me. I grew up in a "metallurgical" home where words like ...grain structure, martensite, heat treating, normalizing, temper, ect were common words. My father taught metallurgy as a substitute, and we had a heat treating kiln and a old Dinosaur Rockwell testing machine in our basement. I made my first damascus billet at age 12 and constructed a sealed welding enclosure for welding Titanium at 16 (that did not work )... (I had dreams of making bicycle frames) My appreciation for nihonto was born around this time in my life when my father was rambling on about impurities and how the Japanese conquered impurities in there steel and even added carbon by adding straw and leaves to the billet during forging. (I still dont know how adding straw or leaves would add carbon)? Anyway, Im rambling now,...I appreciate every facet of this sword and strive to know more about it. Thanks again guys.

Thank you Geraint, all Ive done so far is just add oil. The more I put on, the more rust comes off. It seems to be never ending...Oil....let sit.....wipe more rust off...repeat. I thought about carefully taking a pencil eraser to the deeper rust spots.... but then I figured that if any rust did come off, Id end up dragging the rust particles over the rest of the blade possibly scratching it. The oil is doing very well for now, so Ill just give it time.....the saya was full of sand so Im sure that didnt help much. The activity in the blade is getting easier to see....very promising. Looks like a beautiful horizon with the occasional puffy cloud peeking up over...

Thank you Mr. Reid, I will keep pushing forward. I would never really throw it away. ....and yes, what a score indeed! You said it best that at one time...someone cared about this sword!...now I do. Now that I know its not a lost treasure ...I think Ill feel more comfortable cleaning it and getting rid of some of the rust. And the rust isnt that bad at all...the pictures make it seem so much worse off than it really is. I look forward to hanging out here with you guys if you'll let me. I have so much to learn. Im searching for the meaning of about half the terminology I hear...My introduction was a little harsh and for that I apologize. Im a really easy goin guy if you get to know me a bit. I will keep you informed of the progress of this trash bin beauty...

Thanks for the info Ken, I think Ill go ahead and throw it in the waist bin along with the few books Ive acquired about them thus far. And thanks for reminding me about the arrogant and supercilious (you can look that up), attitude that seems to chase away any newcomer seeking information and education of nihonto. Cheers!

Thank you Ken-Hawaii! I realize that one individual identified it as Shinto but I was just fishing for other opinions. I will read more about it, Ive been doing so off and on for about 11 years now. I know enough not to pay for this, but I would find it hard not to pay something for it just to rescue it. Thankfully I dont have any money invested because I literally pulled it out of a waste bin. What do people do with swords like these anyway? Thanks again!

Is it such a piece of junk nobody wants to comment?.... or is it an enigma? I was hoping someone could confirm the era of the sword and tsuba. Even if its just a guess...I know nothing at all about it.

Thank you for responding SwordGuyJoe! If any further pics will help let me know.