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Question about metal saya, please help


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Hello all, I’m in the process of trying to restore an old wakizashi that I recently acquired and was looking for some guidance. I want to remove the metal koiguchi from the top of the saya so I can possibly replace the old gross black wood inside. There’s no screws and it appears to be glued. Would anyone have any suggestions on how to safety remove the koiguchi without breaking anything?

Thank you so much, Ryan

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Ryan, there's a good chance that the koiguchi is attached with sokui, or rice glue. But the "old gross black wood" was actually made specifically to protect the blade, so why not leave the saya intact, & get a new shirasaya made? It will better protect the blade, & you'll still have an intact saya.

 

Welcome to the forum.

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Thanks a lot for all the words of wisdom everyone. Unfortunately I have no idea of the make or history of this sword, it just really caught my eye so I want to attempt a restoration ie paint the saya and clean all the tarnish and rust off everything. I’ve got more pictures for all you masters to look at. Again, thank you so much for the help.

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Ryan,

it is only a simple Chinese product of phantasy, but you should know that Japanese swords are never cleaned in a DIY manner. Before you start, read a lot about real Japanese swords, about patina versus tarnish, about the art of polishing a blade, about 'paint' on a SAYA. Your feeling about a sword being 'clean' and shiny may be different from the way the Japanese see it.

By the way, Japanese swords are never made of Damascus looking steel.  

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Good words Jean, at least he can get this 'cleaning' fetish out of his system.......... without adding another maimed Nihonto to the scrap heap.  We can only hope he is wise enough to apply your advice in the future, should he ever acquire the real thing.

 

-S-

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Ryan,

 

Sorry 1oo% Chinese sword , hope you did not pay much for it !! if so it's a steep learning curve into the Japanese sword world.

 

If sold as a Japanese authentic sword, I would politely ask for your money back if possible.

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Rey,

Welcome to the world of Japanese sword collecting! This is a world were "new guys" are teased (that would be me, sorry) and then lectured. My serious reaction is 1) WECOME. 2) sword collector love to share their knowledge - even when we don't know all that much. 3)Find a direct contact with another sword collector, and 4) meet that person so that you can see real swords. - Don't try to buy anything and don't be critical. But at this stage in you interest you must see soem real stuff. If there is any way you canattend a sword show you should do that.

Best of luck.

Peter

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Thanks, So I guess at this point it’s pretty much a guarantee that it’s chinese, but personally I’m not that upset. I mainly got the sword because of its brass body and how it looks. I had already thought about buying a nice blade to raplace the old one that it came with but only if the whole restoration went well. If I could get the koiguchi off of this saya, I had the plan to try to gut the saya down to just the brass exterior then sand down a new shirasaya until it fit into the brass one. Not sure if the plan would work but that was my theory. Any thoughts?

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Ryan,

please sign all posts with your first name plus an initial as is requested here.

I suggest that you don't invest any time or money into this one. The metal SAYA is not Japanese - not from the looks nor from the material. Original SAYA are made from HOO wood (magnolia) and lacquer (URUSHI). 

Better blades are available, but are made individually with differing length, width, thickness and curvature. Prices for late handmade ones ("naked") may start at about $ 1.500.--, if you are very lucky.  The chances to find a fitting blade to an existing SAYA are generally slim.

If you care to have a look at the many pictures of genuine Japanese swords available here on NMB, you may get an idea about the looks of a Japanese sword.

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