Cleaning Shinshu Tsuba

[Martin]

Hi,

 

I have a brass Tsuba that I believe was once treated with some sort of polish cream. There are some areas on the Tsuba were the remains can bee seen within the deepenings of the waves.

I do not want to spoil the patina and therefore don´t know if applying alcohol with a soft brush will cause any damage.

Any ideas or advice how to remove these remains safely?

 

kind regards,

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Martin,

 

Alcohol won't damage the patina on your piece, unless you've been drinking lots of it yourself! :D . You can use an ear-bud dipped in denatured alcohol and gently wipe the areas you want to clean. Sometimes gentle work with a toothpick helps too. It may be that the white residue you can see is actually oxidised wax, possibly Ibota wax. Once you've cleaned off this old residue and dirt you may want to re-wax with something like Renaissance wax. You can find it on-line by Googling . Warm the piece with a hair-drier until just too hot to touch with bare hands. I usually wear cotton gloves for this part. Apply the wax sparingly with the tip of an ear-bud ( Q-tip). Gently wipe off any excess while it is still warm. Once the piece has cooled enough to handle again you can carefully rub it up to a soft gloss. Take it gently at this stage and use clean kitchen paper towel.

 

hope this helps, Ford

[Martin]

Hi Ford,

 

thanks a lot for your helpful advice

I guess you are right and what remained on the Tsuba was some kind of wax. It had a whitish color and also felt like wax when I touched it (in the walls of the Hitsu-Ana).

I think I will leave it without wax or do you think it would make the Tsuba look more beautiful? I actually have no experience with wax on tsubas...

 

cheers,

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Martin,

 

Soft metal fittings are generally waxed when they are finished so I see no reason not to reapply a light touch when it needs it. The wax should'nt be visible at all. It will enhance the depth of colour and provide a little protection to the patina from handling.

 

regards, Ford

[Martin]

Hi,

 

is this wax ("Restorative Iron Tsuba Wax") also an option?

 

http://www.shadowofleaves.com/maintenance_supplies.htm

 

Do some of you use (this) wax on iron Tsuba too?

All I ever heard was NOT to apply any kind of wax or Choji oil when a Tsuba is free from red rust... :?

 

cheers,

Martin

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Martin,

 

I don't think there is any question of ever applying any kind of oil to any soft metal fittings and unless your trying to loosen serious rust on an iron tsuba not on iron either.

 

As I said previously, very light wax is customary on soft metal fittings, although gold and silver don't really benefit much, certainly not gold.

 

I can't comment on the special tsuba wax , you've found. I'd want to know how it is that this company is the only supplier of this product and what makes their wax special, or indeed suitable. I notice that their other sword care products are the same as offered by Namikawa Heibei, except for the "special tsuba wax". Perhaps it makes tsuba go faster.

 

:D

 

Rennaisance wax was developed in conjunction with the conservators at the British Museum and is very highly regarded in professional circles. The traditional wax is Ibota-ro, if you can get hold of the solid refined version that is. The usual residue offered isn't much use in this case, but good for putting a gloss on wood, like on shira-saya.

 

Ultimately, the decision to wax iron or not is probably down to you, and I would suggest, the quality and condition of the iron. Really good stuff, and therefore expensive , probably won't need any wax at all, while some of the more " tired" examples can do with all the help they can get. Case by case, I suppose.

 

regards, Ford

[Martin]

Many thanks for your helpful advice Ford !

 

cheers,

[Martin]

Got my can of Renaissance Wax yesterday and will give it a try.

Smells like shoe cream actually... :?