Yoroi-Doshi Tsuka Stuck!

[Ken-Hawaii]

I just acquired a yoroi-doshi - one of those "he found it in a closet" items - that is in very good condition, but I can't get the tsuka to budge! The tsuka is plain carved wood, & my guess is that it sat in that closet for many years, slowly welding the wood to the nakago with all of our lovely humidity.

 

The fittings are quite nice, with horn fuchi, koiguchi, kojiri, & a band that goes halfway around the saya at the base of the kozuka. The tsuba (or whatever you call it on a yoroi-doshi) is also horn, surrounded by seppa, & I'm afraid I'll break it if I apply too much pressure. Any ideas on how I can convince the tsuka to cooperate?

Ken

[Marius]

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/tools.html

[Ken-Hawaii]

Oh, I actually made one of those years ago, Mariusz! Thanks for the reminder.

 

Yes, it worked perfectly.

 

Ken

 

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Ken,

I wouldn't try the tools recommended above; any pounding on the horn fuchi is likely to break it.  Here is something I've tried with some luck.  You need a wooden jaw vise and a wood hand screw like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jorgensen-2-12-Handscrew-Wood-Clamp-/401123951976?rmvSB=true

Cut notches in the outside of each wood arm of the hand screw (see dashed lines in my 1st drawing below) and in one of the arms you cut a slot that just fits around the blade and in the other arm a slot to fit around the blade and habaki (2nd drawing).  Clamp the business end of the tanto, edge down, in the wooden jaw vise, with enough room between the jaws of the vise and the fuchi to allow you to insert the hand screw with one arm bearing against the jaws of the vise and the other against the fuchi.  You can then use the hand screw as a spreader clamp, increasing pressure gradually until the tsuka breaks free.

Good luck,  Grey

[Ken-Hawaii]

Thanks, Grey. It sounds like I should find a small jaw vise, & modify it the way you did. But Mariusz' suggestion popped off the tsuka with just a couple of taps. Although I couldn't tell by looking, the tsuka was already split, & on just the second tap, I could see the two halves, & they came apart with no damage to anything. Whew!

 

Now it's time to check out what I acquired.

 

Ken

 

[SwordGuyJoe]

Pics?

[Ken-Hawaii]

I was planning to get the blade polished first, Joe, but will take some photos to post before bringing it over to Bob Benson. I was thinking about having shirasaya made for it, but the koshirae has already proved that it has provided excellent protection, so I may just remount the blade in that.

 

What amazes me is the condition of the blade after sitting in some closet with no protection for 50 years or more. All three of the blades were in darn good shape, despite our high humidity & lack of air conditioning.

 

Ken

 

[Ken-Hawaii]

Okay, with a hurricane/tropical storm bearing down on us, I managed to forget to post a photo of the yoroi-doshi, so here it is:

 

 

Nothing really to see in hada or hamon until I get the blade polished, but I would appreciate any comments on jidai - most of them were made during Muromachi, but my other two yoroi-doshi don't have bo-hi or soe-hi, so that may make a difference.

 

Ken