Anyone In The U.s. Making Custom Made Fittings Boxes?

[nagamaki - Franco]

Greetings,

 

Is anyone in the U.S. making custom fitted fittings boxes? If so, how is the quality of the work, material, and handling of the item, also costs?

 

Thank you in advance. 

[Curran]

None that I know about.

Been waiting a decade for someone to pick up that role, and considered bringing one of the Japanese to the states for a while.

 

It is so difficult now to move tsuba above the 200,000 yen in and out of Japan *legally*.

Sending a dozen just for fitted boxes can be a royal pain in the neck.

 

The general opinion is carry them yourself next time you go and drop them off with one of the gents there.

I've never actually managed to do that.

[Brian]

Photocopy the tsuba, and then have someone laser cut them out of perspex. Easy enough.
Then send those to Japan to use a forms for the fitting?

[rkg]

Brian,

 

The trouble with doing it that way is that you don't get the fine features of the nakago ana/shape tsuba's mimi, etc.  When I've messed with making liners, it seems like most of the effort goes into getting these to match up....

 

I wonder how much it would cost to get a piece scanned in 3-D - then you could then just have somebody over there print up a facsimile of the piece to ship over to the box maker or something...

 

Best,

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello,

 

1) Hmm, sounds like one of these new 3D printers/scanners would come in handy for sending a "blank" to Japan or elsewhere. It sure would be nice not to have to ship the item itself. 

2) Have heard there is one person in the U.S making custom fit boxes, but am still trying to track that down. 

 

Thanks for replies.

[Henry Wilson]

Does anyone know of custom tsuba box makers in Japan?

[Jean]

Ask Paul Martin or Robert Hughes, Henry

[Pete Klein]

Henry -- you live in Japan. Look in the Yellow Pages... LOL!

[Henry Wilson]

Cheers dudes. Two out of the three above I have tried. I will give the other a bash and see what it reaps.

[Barrie B]

Gentlemen,

 

My two cents here..

 

Having a perfect 3D blank would be good I suppose, but the blank would have to be perfect.. This would certainly give collectors better piece of mind.

 

Most craftsmen would want the item though, to not only fit the profile of the Nakago ana properly, but to also match the height of the nakago with the blank and and the profile/shape of the seppa-dai; especially on sukashi Tsuba. The height of the nakago blank is important because it should not impede or hide any of the Tagane Ato. Too low and it might look silly; too high and shadows will form possibly hiding important kantei points. It must look aesthetically pleasing, otherwise why bother? All of this gives the look of a floating tsuba with only the nakago and seppa dai touching anything. Of course none of this matters if the owner does not request a fitted seppa dai and/ or nakago blank and the tsuba is simply inserted/ fitted into a box like kozuka are. A good accurate tsuba blank that matches the mimi profile and thickness may be all that is needed in this instance.

 

Anyway, I have attached some photos of what I am talking about..

 

 

Barrie B.

Perth, Australia.

 

 

 

 

[Guido]

Making your own custom tsuba box is not that difficult - I used the method described by Martin Hellmann (see attachment) already a couple of times with good success. Ford Hallam posted a pictorial of another method some years ago, but I can't find it right now.

Custom Fitted Tsuba Box.pdf

[rkg]

Guido,

 

True that. 

 

BTW, does anybody have a line on a vendor in Japan who sells those really high grade boxes the custom guys use?

 

Thx,

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[Barrie B]

Rich,

 

I have bought mine from Namikawa's.. http://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product-list/20

 

There are others I am sure, but that is all I know. He sells low to high range to suit budget and need..

 

Barrie.

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello, any tutorials on how to make a custom form fit holder (inside the box) for a fuchi kashira? What do they use to make the form fit platform beneath the cloth material? 

 

Thank you.

[rkg]

Barrie,

 

Thanks for the link - I'll ping the guy when I have time to build up some more box/liners.

 

Best,

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[Alan Morton]

Hello All,

Barrie is being shy about what he is able to do. 

He makes high quality tsuba boxes and also custom fits the tsuba as well 

as he showed in his pictures if you ask him.

cheers Alan.

[Ford Hallam]

Here you go, Guido.

 

 

http://www.followingtheironbrush.org/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=736&hilit=fitted+tsuba+box

[nagamaki - Franco]

Thank you for sharing, Ford.

[Guido]

Thanks, Ford - I tried to google it, but got lost in cyberspace ...

[Guido]

P.S.: Afraid to lose the link again, I converted Ford's tutorial into a pdf file - I hope you don't mind, Ford!

Making a fitted tsuba box.pdf