amateur repair job

[Bungo]

stock market in the basement, weather is hot and there's only that much gin tonic one can tolerate............so I decided to " fix " one of my favorite tsuba that has been bugging me ( missing something at 7 O'clock .)

 

It's reversible, of course, all i have to do is pop the bamboo out ( held down by the all American Elmer's glue )

p.s. I chose the bamboo section with nodule( horizontal lines /different color to get more " character ). The bamboo is black bamboo I got from some bamboo nursery out in California, a potted plant.

 

milt

[remzy]

How do you know this is what is supposed to go there?

sorry if thats evident...

[Bugyotsuji]

An interesting idea. You will probably get color/colour change and shrinkage. Was there a bamboo motif zogan there originally?

[Bungo]

just guessing........could be a beer stein but hard to place the handle.

I suppose a wood/tree/bamboo stump is an easy " cop out "

 

milt

[Bungo]

probably no shrinkage, I cut the " sliver " from dead dried up stock.

The reverse of the tsuba shows a single water kettle where the artist signed his mei.

 

milt

[Stephen]

looks to me that it should have a gold plaque with kanji..im sure ford could fix it. your insert dont work imho.

[Ford Hallam]

I don't think it looks too bad. Better than a gaping hole :D . Also, I wouldn't expect the bamboo to shrink really, it doesn't behave like wood in that respect. The colour may change ever so slightly though, but it will be very slow...

 

Stephen, I reckon that Milt could do a gold plaque himself, just stuff the hole with dental amalgam , I mean, how hard can it be?

 

Cheers, Ford

[Bungo]

may be a gold inlay with MY name on it ?

I think the bamboo is more wabi for the time being..............

 

 

milt

[Guest reinhard]

Hi Oscar,

 

A hundred years from now scholars and scientists will have great problems to explain bamboo inlay and all American Elmer's glue used on a genuine tsuba. I'm confident though they will find the correlation to US stock-market and gin-tonic abuse in the hot summer of 2008. To make things easier for them, you may write a little note and add it to the tsuba.

 

reinhard

[Bungo]

my dear felix,

now why would the future scholars even think of removing the bamboo panel to examine the underside for elmer's magic formula ?

We do come across various non-metallic materials used on fittings like ivory, mother of pearls etc.

Granted they are almost 99 % original, but there's always that ONE percent ( which can bring a nation to war, ala Mr. C ) , ya ?

Worry not, I will attach to note but if the note subsequently get lost................ummm, I can imagine some collectors will agrue and scratch their heads for a while.

 

milt

[Brian]

I can only shudder when I think what serious tsuba collectors reading this must be thinking right now

Personally, I would just leave it as is, I don't think there is anything to be gained from gluing anything onto it (and if you remember, I have a nice horseman missing his head!) Kinda like taking sandpaper to your favorite Koto because it is a bit blunt

Ah well..at least we will have this thread here for a few years in case anybody does lose "the little note" about the "restoration"

Not NMB recommended practise in any event

 

Brian

[Guido]

... I have a nice horseman missing his head!

I used to live not too far from Sleepy Hollow and have a good idea about what you're going through. :lol:

 

Regarding Milt's Tsuba: I personally would have used chewing gum to mold a Pokemon from it to fill the gap. But that's just me.

[Brian]

Regarding Milt's Tsuba: I personally would have used chewing gum to mold a Pokemon from it to fill the gap. But that's just me.

 

Well clearly that wouldn't work. The colors just don't match.

I did check though..he does have 3 toes/claws, so definitely Japanese

(Ok..I'm guilty of silliness now.)

 

Brian