Just missed out on a Yagyu tsuba.

[Robert S]

33 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said:

 

Perhaps it is only a form of mental illness?   

If so, it is a form of mental illness worth cultivating! :-)

[Hector]

WHOA!

 

I just signed back in and this thread has gone in a completely different direction to what I originally envisioned.

 

As it's obviously created some unintentional conflict then I'm happy for the admins to lock it any time.

 

Best,

Hector

Edited February 1 by Hector

[zanilu]

11 hours ago, Robert S said:

To a significant degree, I agree - it begins with excess humidity.  The kiribako can provide some protection (that's the goal of the kiri wood), but once the humidity is inside, the fabric can be a moisture trap.  Ideally those boxes should be designed to have a small lip on the central post which would suspend the tsuba 5 mm or so above the bottom of the box, to provide air flow.  It brings out the design nerd in me :-)

 

To avoid problems with humidity I keep inside the box a small bag of silica gel that is changed periodically. Also in some cases I add the lip you mention but mainly to avoid loose inlay to snag into the fabric. But put in the perspective of providing ventilation it make sense, I have always thought them to be there to avoid friction between the tsuba and the fabric... I will add them routinely now. It is relatively easy to make them and since I am already removing the central support that goes in the nakago-ana to replace the usually present nails with wood pegs it will not be a great inconvenience.

 

Regards

Luca

[PNSSHOGUN]

The statement of using gun bore cleaner and mineral spirits to clean Tsuba seems completely at odds with the below advice:

 

https://japaneseswordindex.com/tsuba/tsubacln.htm

 

Quote

Whatever the tool, you're looking for something harder than the red rust and softer than the patina. Never use steel, iron, glass, sandpaper, or anything else harder than the patina. DO NOT try chemical rust removers - they will remove the patina and damage the iron. In fact don't try chemical treatments of any type - including boiling in tea or anything of the sort. Also, don't put your tsuba in a fire despite what Robinson's "Arts of the Japanese Sword" says! Some people will use chogi oil at the start of the process to loosen the red rust. I haven’t found this method to be much help. It certainly won’t harm the iron, but it is fairly tricky to keep the oil from soaking into the rust inside any sukashi openings and darkening it to an unnatural color.

 

[Kurikata]

To lighten the mood a bit, I'll tell you a story. In 1990, Dr. Sempé passed away, and his widow, fearing theft, hid his Andean archaeology collection, along with 70 tsuba and kozuka, behind a platform in their country house. Thirty-five years later, their daughter-in-law undertook renovations and rediscovered these completely forgotten collections. Naturally, all the tsuba and kozuka were corroded with numerous spots of red rust. Last Friday, I bought three of these tsuba at an auction. Here are photos of one of them before and after the cleaning I performed (washing with soapy water, scraping off the rust with bone, then lightly oiling).

No corrosive products were used, of course

 

 

[eternal_newbie]

Bruno, for some reason that anecdote ended up being rendered as very large text in a very small scrollable area, so here's a transcript that's hopefully easier for people to read:

 

To lighten the mood a bit, I'll tell you a story. In 1990, Dr. Sempé passed away, and his widow, fearing theft, hid his Andean archaeology collection, along with 70 tsuba and kozuka, behind a platform in their country house. Thirty-five years later, their daughter-in-law undertook renovations and rediscovered these completely forgotten collections. Naturally, all the tsuba and kozuka were corroded with numerous spots of red rust. Last Friday, I bought three of these tsuba at an auction. Here are photos of one of them before and after the cleaning I performed (washing with soapy water, scraping off the rust with bone, then lightly oiling).

 

No corrosive products were used, of course.