Gap Between Habaki And Tsuka, What Can I Do?

[Drago]

Hi guys,

 

I bought a VERY interesting sword recently which I will share for discussion as soon as I manage to take some decent pictures.

 

The sword is mounted in a quasi-shirasaya (shakudo bands at fuchi and sayaguchi, kojiri and kashira are shakudo caps) It seems to be the original shirasaya but the blade has seen some polishes so a new habaki might have been made.

 

Now here's the question: Between the habaki and the tsuka there is a gap of about 2mm. What can I do here?

1. Mount a tsuba without seppa

2. Mount multiple seppa

3. add a piece of horn

4. add a piece of shirasaya wood

5. ???

 

I'm looking forward to your answers.

[Brian]

If it is a shirasaya, I would add a disk of black horn. Looks good too.

 

Brian

[Geraint]

I agree with Brian, black horn is the way to go.  Would like to see this one.

 

All the best.

[Marius]

Photographs?

[Drago]

I'll post pics in the Nihonto section when I get good ones. So far, all have been completely unrecognizable.

[johnb]

Horn's good, easy to work, polishes up really well with Brasso and you can glue it to the shirsaya. A good source of horn is salad spoons.

[Brian]

Ok..so where is a good source of salad spoons? :rotfl:

Easier to just order the horn from Namikawa or any knifemaker supply shop.

 

Brian

[cabowen]

You can also make a wood spacer, shape it to the contour of the tsuka, and glue in.

[manfrommagnum]

Or you can have a custom seppa made

[johnb]

Just down the road Brian...easy...no waiting for the postman.

[Drago]

Haha, sorry. Work has been keeping me busy.

 

I'll post picts of my solution later today, and the blade on Wednesday or Thursday.

[Drago]

Good evening guys,

 

Here, as promised, the photos of my solution.

 

I bought some horn and drilled, filed and sanded it into shape. One photo shows the "seppa", the other one mounted on the sword and the third a photo against the light - beautiful pattern.

 

I never worked with horn before and I was quite surprised about how nice it is to work with. It can be worked precisely and without splintering if you're not stupid about it. Only thing I didn't like was the smell of powdered horn. The same disgusting smell of having your teeth drilled. 

 

photo.jpg

The current finish you see on the "seppa" is the result of 500 grain wet sandpaper. I don't have anything finer at the moment. And I'm not sure if I'll polish it anyway, the fittings aren't shiny either...

 

mounted.jpg

You might notice on the pic that it seems one side of the "seppa" is thicker than the other. That is really the case. The habaki and tsuka don't line up but I didn't want to modify those, so I made the piece slightely slanted.

 

light.jpg

I just couldn't get the camera to focus without shaking it while pressing the trigger. Sorry about that.

 

And one final comment: Goddamn I'm glad that worked out on the first try!

[Death-Ace]

Great work! Definitely took some finesse, for sure.

[Kai-Gunto]

I never seen all that on a shirsaya before.