The repatination of tsuba ...

[docliss]

I have just received three sentoku tsuba which Ford Hallam has repatinated for me. Before his ministrations these were raw brass in colouration – due, I think, to the use by a previous owner of WD40! I have attached ‘before’ and ‘after’ images of the tsuba, from which you will appreciate the excellent results obtained for a very modest charge. Ford’s work is very highly recommended.

 

John L.

[docliss]

And finally, the sixth image ...

[Brian]

3 Beautiful tsuba there Doc! I can see why you wanted them restored, and it certainly looks to have been well worth it. It is Great to see them as they were intended to look. Lovely color to them, and i expect that is how they came from the original tsubashi all those years ago. Any larger pics to share? I like the look of them a lot.

 

Brian

[Brian]

Just a quick job to show the one. Wow..what a difference. Not just to the background, but the whole tsuba looks revitalised and vibrant. More pics!

 

Brian

[Stephen]

Ford

[John A Stuart]

I was not a fan of shinchu tsuba, gravitating to suaka precisely because of the harshness of brass (subjectively). However I may revise my opinion if they can be made to look like this. I wonder if more than one patination process/formula was used here. Different areas seem to have been coloured (term?) to provide contrast. These aren't different metals are they, reacting to the wash differently? or were different solutions used? John

 

The elephant tsuba, I mean. The bottom one is obviously multi metal. The before pic of the elephant tsuba seems all brass. John

[Brian]

Elephant???

I think that proves that Doc L. needs to upload bigger pics. If i am not mistaken, that is a tiger.

 

Brian

[John A Stuart]

:lol: Ok, I put on my specs and lo and behold a tiger, tora tora, looking over it's shoulder. What can I say. My poor eyes. John

[Brian]

If I have this right (and I sure hope I do ) then I have permission to post this example for now. I am blown away by the difference! I think those meiji vases of mine are on the way very shortly, Ford

 

Brian

[Brian]

:lol: Ok, I put on my specs and lo and behold a tiger, tora tora, looking over it's shoulder. What can I say. My poor eyes. John

 

John,

Can't blame you, no elephants or tigers out there on the open ocean waters

Apparently we here in Africa still have lions and tigers wandering our streets, so no wonder we identify them so easily

 

Brian

[docliss]

Brian

 

The 'before' and 'after' pictures that I posted were Ford's, and try as I might, I could not enlarge them to an acceptable clarity. If you are able to post the other four images, I would be most grateful and, if not, I will take some more photographs myself. Ford will be better able to tell you details of his tecnique, but I believe that the differing colouration is caused by the different metal's reaction to a the single patination process. Correct me, Ford, if I am wrong in this.

 

The link to Ford's photographs is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tsubaman/TsubaJohnLissendon?authkey=tC9xgpEclhw

 

John.

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks for the recommendation, John.

I actually quite enjoy working on soft-metal tsuba so the job was a pleasure.

 

...and thank you for the kind words, Gentlemen

 

John ( Stuart ) these shinchu type tsuba were all originally patinated various shades of ochre like this. The appearance of most tsuba made of this sort of alloy is just due to excessive handling. This particular patina is one of the more delicate ones and in time they have simply been polished up by hand, literally

 

The actual colours you can see, and each tsuba is of a different composition, is due entirely to the make up of the alloy. Unfortunately, due to surface corrosion, much of it invisible to the naked eye, the actual composition on the face of the plate is frequently, slightly different to that in the core of the metal. Thankfully this is not always the case and examples that have not suffered thus provide a good base line in terms of judging the accuracy of the colours.

 

What this means is that unless a fresh surface is created it will be impossible to recover the colour as it was when new but with a little tweaking I'm generally able to find a reasonable balance. My reluctance to re-polish the surface is down to the fact that the piece then ends up looks far too perfect and new. I use a classical approach and the actual solution is roughly the same, very mild copper salt mix as traditionally used. The temperature and the additions of a few other, balancing ingredients, in tiny quantities, are all I play with.

 

Thanks again all,

 

Regards, Ford

[Lorenzo]

As some of you maybe know, I was in Ford's studio in that period and I could see the tsuba in person. What struck me about the real color of the alloy patinated, is the various tones. It is an unbelivable quantity of brown, and in my opinion, it looks like brown leather. Stunning effect, really.

[rkg]

Hey guys,

 

Actually, old brass pieces aren't that bad.

 

Here's one I got on a lark not too long ago from aoi art (and still happen to have the images online):

 

 

The piece is a bit interesting in that it appears that it was covered with gold/lacquer with black lacquer in the low

spots at one point - I didn't get a hi-mag image, but here's a close-up:

 

 

Best,

 

rkg

(Richard George)