Cord Sarute question

[Kolekt-To]

Hey guys,

 

I read the 2018 NMB thread about Cord sarutes and I wanted to know the thickness measurement of the typical rope used - 1.5mm? 2.0? 3.0? And, Bruce, for reference, I have included a photo of the tsuka of your Mantetsu - a close-up of the cord sarute replacement you attached (as mentioned in your post from 2018, all that was left of the original cord sarute was a "nub"). And, where did you acquire the cord?

 

Thanks,

 

Geoff

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Geoff, measuring 3 I still have they all came out at roughly 4mm - however they were all flattened somewhat with age.

[Bruce Pennington]

I literally bought a tsuka on ebay that had the cloth sarute in it ($200).  Took to the sarute off and put it on mine.  Still have the extra tsuka.

[PNSSHOGUN]

They sometimes show up on yahoo.jpn/buyee/jauce. The issue with getting one on a Tsuka is some were stitched together in the middle when attached.

[Kolekt-To]

Thanks guys! Bruce, what is the width of your sarute? I used digital calipers to measure the width of the one gunto I have that has, what appears to be an original, cord sarute attached. It's attached to a Kai Gunto and the width of the cord is approximately 3.0mm with a dark brown color that nearly matches the color of the Ito.

[Bruce Pennington]

Geoff, mine is 4.15-4.5mm depending on how tight you squeeze. 

[Kolekt-To]

Thanks Bruce!

I'm wanting to add a dark brown cord sarute to one of my Kai Guntos and I'd like to find cord that appears as authentic as possible. Anyone have ideas about where to find the cord? Months ago, I found cord at my local Hobby Lobby, and attached that to one of my swords, but the color is a bit too light - not the darker brown I'd prefer. I've been searching online since, however I haven't yet found what I'm looking for.

[Kolekt-To]

Here's a close-up of the Tsuka from my Tenshozan Forge Type 97. It has the cord sarute attached. It is the only gunto I own that came with a cord sarute attached and I think it's probably original.

[Bruce Pennington]

Geoff, is that ito painted gold???

[Kolekt-To]

Interesting that you noticed that Bruce. I just thought it was patina unique to the sword and, in this case, the Kabutogane. I'll examine it further and perhaps post some photos of its other fittings.

[IJASWORDS]

A cord sarute color normally matches the color of the handle wrap Ito, both on Navy and Army. A mismatched color normally means the sarute has been added later.  

[Kolekt-To]

Sorry, Bruce, I was confused. You referred to the Ito and I somehow mistakenly inferred kabutogane and fittings from that. Lol

 

Anyway, here's another photo. This time the lighting is different. The Ito has not been painted gold and I'm grateful for that! And, though it does appear in the photo that the color of the sarute cord is lighter than the ito, when you see it in person, the color of the sarute cord appears darker and much closer to the color of the ito.

[Bruce Pennington]

I'm sorry, I did say ito, but I really meant "same'" - what color is that rayskin?

 

Great observation Neil, never noted that before!

[Kolekt-To]

Bruce, the skin is black, although, with the lighting in that photo, it looks a little off. I just took another good look at the tsuka of this kai gunto and it's definitely black - both sides. It feels like sharkskin, though, as opposed to that nice bumpy ray skin we see on some kai guntos, as with many of the high-end examples.

[ChrisAWilson]

How are the sarutes attached? tied in a knot or stitched together??

Chris Wilson

[Kolekt-To]

1 hour ago, ChrisAWilson said:

How are the sarutes attached? tied in a knot or stitched together??

Chris Wilson

There is no knot visible and the sarute has a tight fit. I pulled on it, but it does not move. I didn't want to pull or tug with more force due to risk of damaging it. I'm inclined to believe that it's stitched rather than knotted. If there is a knot, it would have to be a small one that would fit inside the narrow barrel.

[Bruce Pennington]

Mine had a tiny knot on one end and the other is held by a conical wedge which is inserted into the end of the cord.

 

 

For some reason, only common to kaigunto, they are tied in a knot externally to the tsuka.

[Bruce Pennington]

You'll see some examples of the knotted navy sarute here:

 

[IJASWORDS]

As I indicated in a post on this subject, I believe the sarute cord color closely matches the handle wrap ITO. For me a missing piece of the puzzle, was how was a Navy cord sarute tied? Remembering that an important part of sea faring was rope skills, and tying knots, you would imagine that a simple granny knot would not go down well with a Navy officer. 

I have come across some tied like the attached photos. I have no idea how to reproduce the knot, and I will not un-tie this one to find out! But it certainly looks Nautical to me.  

[Kolekt-To]

Neil, would you describe the same on your example as being Sharkskin, or canvas? I'm thinking Sharkskin. I've got a couple Kai Guntos with same same (play on words - lol). And, that knot is definitely unique and interesting.

[IJASWORDS]

Geoff, yes black dyed shark skin same. 

[Lareon]

A few close ups of the Sarute.

 

the colour is much darker than the wrap. no idea if it's original