ww2collectors Posted July 22, 2013 Report Posted July 22, 2013 Should the Tsuba and seppa fit tight on a ww2 era shin gunto or is it ok for them to be a little loose? Quote
Kai-Gunto Posted July 22, 2013 Report Posted July 22, 2013 They are made to fit , but over time they can get little lose. 1 Quote
drdata Posted July 24, 2013 Report Posted July 24, 2013 Please sign all post as per forum rules (trying to help mods). The wooden tsuka core can shrink, or parts may be exchanged, both can lead to some wobble. For display not an issue. Simply adding another seppa (washer like spacer) rarely works. If it really bothers a small piece of leather, cardboard, or even blue painters tape make take up the slack and and can be reversed/removed with no harm. Also, be aware that the play can be front/back, which is where the seppa come in, or top/bottom, which if the issue typically involve placing soft metal inserts at the top/bottom of the tsuba to remove that slack. HTHs Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted February 17, 2019 Report Posted February 17, 2019 I didn't see the need to start a new thread, so I found one on the same topic: I've got 2 kaigunto with really loose seppa, so I ordered some from Crimson Mist. The '43 Sukekuni, seki-stamped blade, would only take 1 seppa. I know it's non-standard but it snugged them up nicely. I like it much better than the really loose feel it had. The other is a koto era blade retrofitted for a kaigunto. The fitters must have been in a rush becuase the wood liner of the tsuka isn't wide enough to let the tsuka slide all the way down to the seppa, leaving a gap. They actually put the mekugi in at a steep angle rather than take the time to fit the liner properly! I tried filing the inside of the liner, but I cant' get it opened up enough to improve the fit, and I'm not going to try unwrapping the tsuka to do the job. SO, I fit a seppa in and snugged it up. Again, non-standard, but the look and feel came out nice. On a sidenote, the inexact fitting of this Tsuka, makes me think it was grabbed by a fitter from a pile of pre-made tsukas rather than custom built for this blade, which could indicate this was one of many blades collected from the public campaign to gather family blades, rather than a guy that showed up with his owm blade to get it refitted. I think a custom job would have fit better. 3 Quote
Dave R Posted February 18, 2019 Report Posted February 18, 2019 Sorry Bruce, but I suspect a retro fit (aka shotgun job). If you are going to cut with a blade the tsuka HAS to be a good fit, no ifs, no buts. Someones life depended on it. Taking a factory made tsuka blank, cutting the inside to fit and then doing the tsuka-maki would make a lot more sense. Scouring the 'net for parts as I do, I think I have found "blanks" on two occasions. Clean honoki wood, exterior finished but interior a bit rough and too small a cut out for most nakago. I have also seen Gunto tsuba punched to close the nakago-ana onto the blade in the traditional manner. Why number or assembly mark the pieces if the fit was not important? 2 Quote
Dave R Posted February 18, 2019 Report Posted February 18, 2019 I buy trashed tsuka to use as patterns and get a better understanding of how they went together. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.