Inside a saya

[SAS]

It is frequently mentioned that newly polished swords should be stored in a newly made shirasaya; a related issue is that when a sword is placed into koshirae, any dirt inside the saya will mar the polished blade. This photo shows the inside of a used saya, with dirt, debris, and rust traces. The last one i took apart was far worse; this one actually had the sword rusted fast into the saya when it was received.

[TETSUGENDO]

Words to the wise Steve, and you picture's worth a thousand....a good cautionary tale!

 

-S-

[Gakusee]

For mundane sayas it is OK but I have always found old saya with sayagaki too precious not to store a sword in and just discard. I have on a few occasions actually had a professional sayashi properly scrape and clean the inside of a saya and reuse it. If properly done it is like new

[b.hennick]

Never use sandpaper on the inside of a scabbard box

[SAS]

This saya will be used again, after scraping, reglueing, and lacquering. I use blades to clean the inside, never abrasive paper, which leaves residue.

[Gakusee]

Of course not sandpaper. We are talking about proper sayashi work, which is done with tokusa

[b.hennick]

My warning was for those who do not know better.

[SAS]

Tokusa is good for cleaning pots in the wilderness also