Tsukamaki Question

[Gadge]

I'm a newbie who is seeking advice on preparing the tsuka for wrapping the ito.

I'm doing as much research as possible before starting but there seems to be a lot of variation in methods. I've seen that some advise laying strips of paper along the top and bottom of the same, I think to stop the ito from being caught on the rough same when wrapping. I've also read that the rough surface of the same is used to hold the ito in place, which would seem to imply that the strip are not a good idea.

My dilemma is whether to use these strips or not. Any help appreciated.

 

Regards,

Garry

 

[Ford Hallam]

Buy a copy of this. 

[Greg F]

Hello Garry, Welcome to Nmb. I am not an epert on tsuka wrap but there is an expert in Aus, Kam at Jigoku studios in Brisbane. He does some great work if you have trouble and need advice or if you de ide to have a pro do it. All the best.

 

Greg

[nagamaki - Franco]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Tsukamaki+

[Gadge]

Ford - Thanks for the link. I'll take a look at it.

 

Greg - Thanks for the contact. I'll ask Kam if I get stuck.

 

Nagamaki - Thanks for the links. I've viewed many of them but that's what lead to my confusion and hence my question about the paper strips.

 

Garry

[Caleb Mok]

Oddly enough, very few (if any) sources will mention how important it is to hammer the $h#* out of each cross.  Though they're fundamentally quite different imho, it turns our either hineri or tsumami relies on this principle: the tighter you pull the braid, the less "fat" your triangles will look HAD NOT for the fact that each triangle is formed by TWO braids being pushed against each other.  Let me explain.  The purpose of the two vertical strips, that run along the mune and ha length of the tsuka, is to constrict how wide the rayskin"diamonds" will be.  These strips also acts as a rail for the paper triangles: you can imagine as though the rails are the gum and the triangles are the teeth, and it's as though the tsuka looks like it has two sets of jaws with two rows of teeth, one set on the mune, and another on the ha.  Imagine that if these jaws were to chew on something, and imagine also that the something would have pushed the teeth into the gums HAD NOT for the fact that the rails/gums act as a floor with which the pyramid-shaped teeth rests upon.  Like how you cannot push a pyramid ~into~ the ground, these paper triangles cannot be pushed further away past the rails......

 

I mention this because the natural tendency for tightening things in general is that "fat" things will be pulled into "skinny" things.  If paper triangles did not exist at all, and you are merely overlapping the braids as you wrap the handle, what you'll find is that the tighter you pull it, the more the diamonds' lengthwise tips will encroach towards the mune and ha...so much so that each diamond's tips will start at the mune and ha terminus (very ugly).  So these paper teeth and gums are supposed to stop the braid from encroaching any further, right? Well, yes sort of.  But the natural tendency is STILL for the braids to try to slip through into the "gaps" between each tooth; the natural tendency is not fixed.  BUT IF YOU HAMMER THE HECK out of the "base of the pyramid", you're doing the opposite of the braid's encroaching; you are compressing the braid to push the diamond back towards the center.  This has the wonderful effect of either enforcing the "fold" in hineri, or accenting that "bulge" in tsumami.  Ever noticed that you can fold thin paper, and reinforce that fold with your fingernail to get a really nice, sharp, precise fold? ... But not on thick cardboard? Well, with tsukaito braids, i find that those nice, sharp folds are still possible....but it requires hammering the $h#* out of the base of the pyramid AND pulling the crap out of the cord.  Every time you pull the braid, the fold becomes dull and imprecise...but every time you hammer it, the fold becomes precise again.  After doing this a number of times, imho i've gotten ~better~ results than if i had not.

 

One last thing i want to leave you with is: please look at different tsumami work.  The imho better ones will have FAT, rounded, highly convex triangles and diamonds that look very stout, but its lengthwise points will look very petit and sharp (again, because the triangle defining this is convex rather than straight).  How is this done?  Well, as you know, a triangle is defined by TWO braids.  Had they existed in their own vacuums, the more you pull the braid, the more "straight" the "halves" of the pyramid will be.  But because you are pushing the braids into EACH OTHER, what that means is the bottom edge of the top braid is pushed against the top edge of the bottom braid (obvious, right? Hope i haven't lost you).  If you pull both these braids, the natural tendency is for the braids to stretch and push their edges INTO sliding underneath each other.  But that will never happen: their edges push against and lock each other; they will never slide underneath.  BUT this pushing will drive the edges of the braids-touching-each-other upwards away from the surface of the tsuka, forming a bulge.  If you HAMMER this bulge down and you're doing tsumami, you will basically:

1) eliminate that bulge

2) enforce a sharper crease

3) reinforce that the edges CANNOT slide past each other even more

4) stretch the edges of the two braids AWAY from their intersection more than the edge at the intersection aka "bending": if the braid is not folded a la tsumami, this bending will form rounded, convex edges that imho looks better

 

TO SUM UP ALL ABOVE:

I think it boils down to a lot of hammering...IN ADDITION to the "as-tight-as-possible" advice seemingly everywhere which i support 100%

-Caleb

[Greg F]

Hi Caleb, Thats very interesting. Have you ever hammered too hard and cracked the tsuka?

 

Greg

[Caleb Mok]

Hi Greg.  No.  I should have clarified...it was a somewhat-specialty small-hammer that was obviously smaller than one you'd get at a hardware store. With a polished head filed to have precise but chamfered edges, my strategy was to use something like a slanted blow...sort of like when a nail goes down crooked and by ~slanting~ your blow you can get the nail straight again.  The idea for me was to encroach my hammering from the mune/ha towards the center and as such the blows ~slants~ towards the center and the middle of the tsuka, where it is weakest, does not take a direct hit.  And by hammering the $h*& out i mean short stroke lengths of 3"-5" max, but repeated many, many times.  Sorry, should have been more precise

[Greg F]

Thanks Caleb that makes sense. Im not about to try it but its great to know what work goes into constructing swords and their fittings etc. Cheers.

 

Greg

[Gadge]

Caleb. Thanks for that very detailed explanation. I'll read it again very carefully and apply. This tsukamaki seems like a pretty messy business with all that $h#* and crap being hammered out!

 

Regarding the paper strips along mune and ha, I have seen where some use card strips with integral hishigami but didn't realize the paper strips do the same job by providing a stop for the individual hishigami. Thanks for the explanation.

 

Garry

[SAS]

I wonder how long the paper hishigami have been in use....I just took apart a cracked tsuka from a koto blade to salvage the menuki and kashira; there were no hishigami present. Tsuka was probably Taisho era and the fittings were poor quality, though the samegawa was fully wrapped.

[Andi B.]

Caleb,thanks for this useful information!

Maybe that's too detailed but what about Kusune - the sticky resin/oil “glue“ to fix the ito...?

Mr. Buck tells nothing about it his book.

Can someone give me more background info on this topic?

[Caleb Mok]

Wasn't it pine sap or something like that?  Namikawa Heibei used to (and still does?) sell pine resin or something like that for gluing things...for some reason i am either confusing it with something else or maybe they really did use pine resin.  A very sticky and cheap (compared to urushi) glue quite suitable for gluing tsukamaki.

 

I'm personally okay with supergluing it because, if it's for me, i don't value my own work very much anyway, and if it's for my clients (which i haven't had for many years now), i get the okay from them first.  They usually get the hint that "i'm only useful to you cheap; it's only cheap if i use superglue" and if not i'd have to tell them politely

 

EDIT: nevermind, it's true: http://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/130

 

"300g. Used to glue or fix something. It will melt by adding heat.

Tsukamaki-shi used to make Kusune (traditional glue) from Matsuyani and Natane oil. It prevents the Tsukaito from slipping."

 

Above quote leaves little room for interpretation...unless of course, one argues Namikawa Heibei cannot be given any weight as far as authoritativeness on Nihonto knowledge is concerned...which, i guess is ~doable~ but why would you...... -Caleb

Edited December 1, 2015 by Caleb the Bipolub

[John A Stuart]

Here; http://www.johnstuart.biz/new_page_22.htmJohn

[Andi B.]

Thanks Guys, I have already a self prepared Kusune lollipop in the fridge but miss a detailed instruction how to use it for tsukamaki...but I think it's not a tricky thing....

[SAS]

The videos on youtube show the Japanese artisans using the sticky lollipop of resin for tsukamaki.

[Gadge]

Regarding the Kusune lollipop. I'm still working on the tsuka and now have the samegawa on and am ready for ito. I don't have access to the materials for the lollipop and want to have the project finished by Christmas. Am wondering if anyone has a good alternative to the Kusune lollipop. I've seen people of Youtube using super glue and PVA. Any help appreciated.

 

Garry

[Gadge]

You guys can stop falling over yourselves trying to help with my Kusune alternative question.

I don't have access to pine rosin or even pine resin so had the idea of buying some cello rosin from a music shop. I tried adding small amounts of oil between tests to get the right consistency but didn't find the sweet spot by the time it was too soft. After that I made some charcoal and added it to the next batch. After quite a bit of experimentation I found a combination which worked and was amazed that it went on just as I'd seen on videos of tsukamaki-shi. The ito feels tight and solid and the tsuka is finished.

 

Garry

[SAS]

 You saw the videos, what more help could you get? Anything to help keep it from getting loose would work, once you leave the pure path you are da@#ed anyway. Japanese craftsmen used what they had to make things work; we have more options nowadays unless you want to be a purist. Nothing wrong with either path as long as no one is misrepresenting their path.

[ROKUJURO]

I am always stunned with the way some people (in the West) deal with traditional, approved, and reliable techniques. 'The Japanese do it this way, I know, but there must be a shortcut to save time and efforts!' For me the first step is to learn and to understand, then I can try and practice. Most of the time all this goes together, so it's not always the brain that learns but the hands as well.

Japanese craftsmen are certainly no magicians, but they have a lot of experience and continuity in their respective crafts, and often I am kind of awestruck when I see what can be done by well trained hands and with a certain feeling and respect for the materials used. 

I feel it would be a loss not to value these traditional techniques for what they are. The least is that they produce a very high quality that has been tested over centuries under realistic conditions.  

[Ford Hallam]

Jean,

 

this is exactly how the real core values of crafts are lost. My mantra when teaching is, "no questions!" "If you could understand the answer you wouldn't need to ask", "Just do the work as instructed and maybe in 10 years you'll have something insightful to say....maybe."

 

Every small alteration to try and make things easier or cheaper,  of what has been passed down over countless generations,  by people who have very little real understanding or investment in the tradition simply contributes to the eventual eradiction of real craft knowledge and skill.

[Gadge]

I'm the guy who asked the questions about an alternative to kusune but agree with Jean and Ford completely. I took on the task of restoring, as much as possible, a completely ruined katana to help a friend and said I would have it finished for Christmas. I've researched every step and done everything as authentically as possible using all the correct material. Unfortunately time had run out and I didn't think I could get the materials for kusune in time, so asked the unforgivable question (is there a modern alternative?).

As it happened I managed to get a little rosin and with a lot of experimentation, produced kusune with the right consistency to use on the tsukamaki. When I have some time in the New Year I'll harvest some pine resin when I can get out into the country and continue experimenting with kusune.

 

Ford, Yesterday I watched the 6 parts of your interview with Allen Rozon and get what you are saying.

 

Garry

[ROKUJURO]

Garry,

you should not feel accused personally (and there is nothing to forgive), but I wanted to express my regrets that there is a tendency to see things related to Japanese arts and crafts much too easy.

When I read that you restored 'a completely ruined KATANA' for Christmas, I asked myself what you might know (or not know) about it and the techniques involved. And I remembered the lack of patience in many Westerners when these difficult tasks are to be executed. Quite often there is no understanding that no short term restoration will be accepted by the specialists - the work is only finished when it's finished! And of course none of the crafts and skills can be learned in the internet or from books!

If everyone interested would take the time to look closely at swords, handle and compare some carefully and patiently, go to sword club sessions and exhibitions, read a lot in good books, not very many Chinese (or other Asian) copies would be bought inadvertantly!   
 

[Ford Hallam]

Garry

 

I can only echo Jean's comments and say that nothing I wrote was was intended to be a personal critisism. I am, however, humbled by your willingness to accept the points being made.

 

After more than 30 years as a professional craftsman I still second guess myself and question the integrity of what I'm doing every day. Perhaps I'm a bit extreme but if by that example I can help you grasp a little of the "real deal" then I reckon we'll both be just a little happier for it

 

Cheers, and good luck.

 

p.s. Just in case you, or anyone else thinks I'm going soft let me ask this;

 

As it happened I managed to get a little rosin and with a lot of experimentation, produced kusune with the right consistency to use on the tsukamaki.

 

 

How do you know it was the right consistancy? have you used it before? do you know exactly what it must do, now, and for the next 10 years?  This is part of what I mean by real craft knowledge and understanding.

[Gadge]

You've have beaten me to submission and I apologize for diving into doing something without already having expert knowledge.

 

I was asked to make a tsuba for a friend who owned a katana which had the tip broken off, the edge had been ground with an angle grinder and the tsuba had been brazed on. It was completely ruined. I could have told him to throw it away or do as he wished. I've been making knives for 30 years and been grinding blades with natural water stones for 15 of those so I'm not a complete novice in this kind of work.I researched every step as completely as possible and took about 9 months to get together the materials and knowledge to try. As Ford said, don't ask questions, just do the work and then you may have enough knowledge to know what questions to ask.

 

I had no timeline when I started but was getting close to completion in early December so said I would have it finished for Christmas. That's when I got myself in trouble running out of time with the kusune.

 

Regarding the consistency of the kusune: I don't know if it was exactly the right consistency but from reading and watching videos of tsukamaki-shi, I can see there is a very small process window in getting the consistency right. It went on in the same way as in the videos so I can only assume it was close. I really don't know.

 

 

Regards,

Garry

[Brian]

Garry,

Don't take it personally (and doesn't look like you have, which is encouraging)

Our job is to discourage people from working on antique swords, and therefore the advice will always err on the side of caution and advise against. To prevent someone from damaging a good sword, this cannot be a "case by case basis" so all novice work is usually discouraged. Better to be safe than sorry. Ford's advice which you took well is designed to show everyone out there that some of the techniques and knowledge take many years to perfect for a reason, and often it is not just about immediate results, but what is seen years or centuries down the line.

Anyways, wanted to make the point that caution is advised in every case of someone asking for advice on how to do something, and is never personal criticism. If that makes sense..