Experimental Archaeology - Close!

[Peter Bleed]

This will probably be the last post in this series. The recreation is not “done”, but the effort is winding down. I've enjoyed it and I appreciate that NMB has allowed me to process it!

Patination

I was hoping that some nice “old” finish might survive on the saw blade I used for this project. In fact, however, once I started working with the blade, it turned out to be quite smooth and clear. Handling and modifying the surface also created dings and openings that needed repair. I’m sure that there are people who know how to create a pocked and pitted surface on new iron, but I wanted simply to darken the surface. Toward that end I soaked the guard in a bath of salty kitchen vinegar. After three days the guard had a fairly dark color, but there was not a hint of pitting. For the record, I did NOT subsequently put the patination bath on the dinner salad.

Installing a Sekigane.

As I continued working on the nakago-ana the hole itself got fairly big and the crimping marks I had added disappeared. To keep the tsuba usable, this would have been a situation where a sekigane would have to have been added. Sekigane are, of course, common. We see them all the time. Installing sekigane must have been a part of the kinko’s art. It seems to carry a fee and when I asked an acquaintance who did such work how it was done he said “Himitsu desu!” (“It’s a secret!”).  Clearly this was an opportunity for experimentation!

To see how sekigane were actually installed I significantly enlarged the blade end of the nakago-ana with a square box expansion. Then I cut a piece of heavy copper wire that basically filled that space. It was big enough to have to be tapped into the expanded end of the ana. Once it was in place, I simply pounded the copper flat and bingo! It may have been beginner’s luck, but the task took less than a minute. I also think that this sekigane would function just fine. It is very solidly implanted in the tsuba but big enough to need some removal to accommodate the blade in the next mounting.

Thanks for listening

Peter

 

[Vermithrax16]

Great project Peter! Looks like it was a lot of fun and led to plenty of learning.

[Stephen]

You might find this some help Peter

 

[Peter Bleed]

Stephen,

Thanks for this tip. I just watched the Sorrell's piece and LOVED it.

In general, I have kind of avoided Sorrell's stuff because it seems outside the "great tradition" of Nippon-to (Pass the Harbor Freight, please). In general, and more seriously, i think Sorrells and most American knife guys just don't get the basis of Japanese sword beauty. They've got the terminology and wonderful tools, but their stuff always seems flashy and new.

In fact, however, I bet that if the language could be overcome, Sorrells would get along very well with working sword guys in Japan.Since the Kamakura era, they have basically been using the available technology to make worthy weaponry.(Once while visiting a noted fittings maker in Sendai, I saw a couple of bottles of Birchwood Casey Cold Gun Blue!).

I thought Sorrells treatment of patination was wonderful. But his tsuba was a clunker!

As long as "establishment" Japanese sword collecting sources present traditional aspects of sword aesthetics, I think we shouldn't ignore activities of non-Japanese workers.

This piece on tsuba making is very useful. Thanks again.

Peter

[Stephen]

From my few attempts to repatina rust stripped clunker tsuba the last quench i used hot oil with interesting results.