OceanoNox

If it's for regular practice, the patina will wear out anyway.

A very good point, too often forgotten!

Brass was also considered a luxury metal, besides being harder than copper, so more likely to be on the visible zones of the tsuba.

Noshi also makes little sense when considering the segmentation. The only other thing that comes close to that design is the tied willow (musubi yanagi 結び柳) used in tea ceremony for the first session of the year (hatsugama 初釜):

Here is the website for Namikawa (https://www.namikawa...roduct-list/6?page=2), but the brushes are currently sold out. Comokin also sells the horse hair brush (https://www.comokin....8/X/page4/recommend/). I have found other websites selling them (https://kaibundo.shop-pro.jp/?pid=175394337, https://www.shujiya.com/product/2478) for calligraphy. ※ No idea if any of them sell abroad. ※ The ones made with thick straw seems better suited for harsh removal of red rust (maybe more suited for the process of patination of new objects than restoration of older ones). There are cheap ones sold on Monotaro.

Paul Martin has shown how he did the patina on a tsuba made with the help of Izumi sensei (Ford Hallam's teacher) (see video below. As said before, everyday, brush and wipe. I use hard-ish natural hair brushes (pig or plant based) and flannel.

Hello there! I have been struggling to read old Edo period texts. While I was lucky enough to attend a seminar on kuzushi-ji (basically old cursive Japanese script), and I have a book on the various kana, it is not easy, especially when two kana are "fused". At any rate, there is an app that uses AI to read such difficult texts. It is called みを (miwo). A friend and I have checked on texts that we know the reading of, and it seems about 90% or more accurate. Once installed on a smartphone, one just needs to take a photo of the text and the application does the deciphering, overlaying the kanji and kana on top of the photo.

I am not familiar with XRF, I only use XRD at work (and am limited to about 20μm depth of analysis on a polished surface). Does anybody know the penetration depth with various XRF devices? Kawami did try the method on iron tsuba, and his analysis basically yielded the composition of the patina only (indicated by the clear presence of copper, which appears to correspond to the patina recipes).

It depends on the style (Kaga, Higo, and Owari styles have the kashira a bit smaller than the fuchi). They are made in pairs The tsuka itself has different styles (Hakata, etc.) where the tsuka is either straight, slightly curved, or a bit thinner in the middle. Since shape and size vary also with era, the overall balance must be taken into account. Menuki orientation depends on what they represent: omote should have males and ura should have females, with the male/omote side facing towards the blade. I have cited before an academic paper that described how the tosogu were chosen: either the same theme for all but with variations in shape and numbers, or a theme that will be inferred from all the depictions on each tosogu, or a "story" that can be read by looking around the koshirae (刀装具のかざりの構造 by 宮崎友見子). If you get all antique fittings, you could play with the seppa style and thickness to ensure a nice transition between tsuba and fuchi.

The Hatoba family does. They use geometry to make kamon. They have published a book of their version of many kamon, and have some video. Maybe they also do made-to-order designs. https://www.kyogen-kamon.com/ https://www.amazon.co.jp/紋の辞典-波戸場-承龍/dp/4844137719 https://www.youtube.com/@shoryuhatoba4290

I have no literature evidence on bokken tsuba, but some schools make them out of straw (Jigen Ryu) and there is also leather.

Speaking of which, I have been using paulownia to make both the boxes and the plates inside, as I understood it's good against moisture. Is balsa just as good?

It traveled from Japan to France in my checked-in luggage, no issue. The cushion I made was big enough that the tsuba did not wiggle about inside its box.

I made a box for a tsuba that was a gift. To make the airplane transport more secure, and to keep the traditional feel, I added sanada himo (they need some fixations at the bottom to avoid slipping). The knot makes it also very nice, even when closed.

How thick are those? They feel "powerful".

I have been making my own boxes. Since I have my own poor attempts at tsuba, why not boxes as well. My main issue is warping, but apart from that, it's not too bothersome. I either do the nakago ana peg or the tsuba contour. So far, none have broken, and it seems the wood is relatively ok with keeping moisture at bay. I use wood glue for the box, and rice based glue to glue fabric to paper/wood.

Ford Hallam and others know better, I think the detail of craftsmanship increases with time and also with the introduction of magnifying glasses. I am not sure if such glasses were solely imported by Portugal or the Netherlands, but their use is attested at least for the Edo period (https://www.metmuseu...lection/search/55407).

Oh, but it is. Might even be the cheap one from the local hardware store.

This is why there are several old documents state specifically that large sukashi are to be avoided, or that sukashi tsuba should be thick.

It is in French, but the document is available for free (download included). It is written by Mr. Tadamasa HAYASHI. https://bibliotheque...re&o=bookmark&n=0&q=

I remember that the interest in suguha is that there would be few stress concentrators, but I do not think the discussion went as far as differentiating nie and nioi, or discussing hataraki. Not being an expert, I am likely mistaken, but was it the shinto that had wide and wild hamon that ended up being brittle swords? So perhaps a not overly wide hamon is better in terms of properties. At any rate, I feel like I am going back to the thread about ideal swords (in terms of mechanical properties, beauty, or use for fighting?).

TEM: Transmission Electron Microscope, requires thin slices (below one micrometer) of samples usually ~3 mm in diameter. Relevant for dislocation, dislocation structure, etc. analysis, but difficult to scale and usually large scatter when trying to do quantitative analysis. The resolution can go to the nanometer. SEM: Scanning Electron Microscope, can analyze anything that transmits electrons (and even if not, covering the sample in metallic ion works). Newer ones have very high resolution at high magnification (x20,000). Also benefits from good depth of field. Even though SEM have bigger chambers now (enough to put both hands), unless the sample is small, cutting will be necessary. Prof. Morito has done some work with SEM with an EBSD camera (to obtain the grain orientation) calculating the history of the microstructure of Japanese swords, to evaluate the change in grain size and microstructure at the time of the quench (basically how fine the austenite was prior to quenching and tempering, simply from analyzing the martensite in the edge). Back to forge quality, I was just reading 武芸風俗姿 (I forgot the year). I cannot judge at all because I do not cut and I have not handle many swords, but the author maintains that small "kizu" is not an issue for blades, as long as these are not structural flaws, and rather show high hardness. From a purely metallurgical point of view, no segregation, microstructure uniformity, low amount of weakening inclusions, etc. would be indicative of a good process and good mechanical performance of the blade. Ultimately, in terms of hamon, and this has been stated by others who do tameshigiri, it would mean a suguha.

Thank you so much Markus!

Do we need to send an email to the mail you wrote? Or is it included in the newsletter that can be subscribed to online (https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/arms-and-armor)?

Most interesting, thank you for posting. Non-destructive analysis is a must for understanding such artifacts. The group led by Dr. Zoppi has also published work using neutron diffraction for tsuba analysis.