seppa sizing "rules" for new mount?

[laowho]

For my mounting project I'd like to keep the seppa the same size, for symmetry, yes, but also b/c I cannot see/find the reason that the habaki seppa should be oversized just to match the koiguchi. As it turns out, the habaki will be very nearly the same size as the Fuchi, maybe 1/8" / 3mm smaller, a symmetry I like and as opposed to the modern production practice of oversized Fuchi/undersized blade to allow for a flush saya-to-fuchi mount. Is there any reason that I can't keep matching seppa and simply inlet the koiguchi/horn to fit over it? Is there precedent for this amongst tsukamaki/sayashi?

 

Thanks,

Doug C

[sabi]

Are you a BladeForums member?

 

I only ask because your name looks familiar and I'm friends with a traditional maker who is also on there. He would probably be able to give you a solid answer on this.

 

If not, Stuart Branson seems like the kind of guy that would know this, but I don't him that well...

[cabowen]

While I have never seen a koiguchi inlet to fit around a seppa, and I have seen many koshirae over the years, no doubt someone, somewhere, sometime, may have done this. It would seem the reason the seppa between the habaki and tsuba fits over the koiguchi is to provide a seal so that unwanted things can not enter the saya. If the koiguchi contacts the tsuba, it would depend on the profile of the tsuba whether or not a good seal is made. In any case, it would not be considered the correct way to do things, if that matters to you.

[sanjuro]

The mouth of the saya is traditionally slightly dished. This would make a flush mouth fitting that the OP suggests rather extraordinary and somewhat counter functionary, as well as delicate and rather easily damaged. There is a reason for the dished mouth to the saya and if you had ever seen a swordsman perform Noto (resheathing), that reason would be obvious.

 

Your dime, your sword. If you want a correctly functioning saya rather than just a nifty variation on the theme, that in your estimation is better, dont mess with a design that has withstood the test of a millenia or more.

[laowho]

It sounds as though the dishing of the koiguchi would perform the same function as the traditional butting to the seppa. I'm not a member of BladeForums, but I found the maker at BladeSmiths, where Howard Clark, Walter Sorrells, Jesus Hernandez, et al. hang out. I'll ask him about this. Many thanks everyone, but yes, "correctness" matters to me, hence the question whether there was precedent amongst nihonto for not butting the koiguchi to a slightly larger seppa.

 

Doug C