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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 7:37:35 GMT
Hi. I recently had to unwrap the tsukamaki on one of my katana to repair a crack in the tsuka. Repairing the crack was no problem, but re-wrapping the tsukamaki has proved to be near impossible. I've been trying to follow the directions at pages.prodigy.net/tlbuck/tsuka/tsuka.htm but I fear I simply don't have the skill to do it. I was wondering if there were any other methods of wrapping a tsuka that don't require the same incredible amounts of skill.
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Post by Dan Davis on Sept 18, 2009 12:22:23 GMT
If you're talking about traditional methods, then the answer is no, no easy routes.
You're not trying to re-use the old tsuka-ito, are you?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 12:51:45 GMT
Yes I am re-using the old one. And yes, unfortunately I realize that that is the only traditional way. It is a cheap Musashi SF6247 so I am not really worried about much, worst cast scenario I chuck it in the trash and get another. However I have come up with an idea that I think will be functional and somewhat aesthetically pleasing. I will post about it in a few minutes after I take some pictures.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 12:57:56 GMT
When I was little I had a cheap wakisashi that was good for little more than a plant stake, but out of curiosity one day I untied the wrapping to see how it was tied... Long story short, I rewrapped the entire handle with paracord
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 13:07:14 GMT
What i've decided to try is to simply wrap it by overlapping the strips of cotton. And then after it is wrapped, using some fabric glue underneath the overlapping pieces to hold each overlap in place, if that makes any sense. Comments? Suggestions? Also I just noticed looking at the picture that the first overlap is wrong, it's in going in a different direction than the rest. Gonna have to start over.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 13:14:47 GMT
I've tried that before too. The problem you're going to run into is that the ito will want to ride up the suka because of the steep angle of the wrap. The glue may help, but I have my doubts. Edit: It occured to me that my statement was a little vague... so I hit photoshop and developed this little series of pictures of traditional wrapping in the hopes of explaining myself ^_^ Note: the wrap that I'm showing here has already been done once on the back side when the pictures begin. Now this next image is what I was talking about. The way you were wrapping it just by crossing over puts a very steep angle on the ito that it naturally tries to pull against because the fabric is turned at an odd angle. Traditional wrapping flips the fabric over so that it's straight at all points except for where it crosses over. I hope these images help and they're not just annoyingly large lol.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 17:12:47 GMT
Thanks for the diagrams as I do plan on practicing in case I ever have to attempt it again. From the angles of the folds in all the diagrams I've seen I think that it would be much easier to do with silk than with this thick cotton. I've gone through with my plan and it worked fairly well. After a test cut (that poor water bottle didn't stand a chance) the wrapping I did didn't move much. The original wrapping wasnt all that good anyway and would move out of place after a few cuts so I'm quite happy. If you ever need to wrap this way the secret is pull TIGHT and liberally apply superglue where needed. Not the prettiest wrap, but functional and thats what matters to me.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 17:18:44 GMT
Just so ya know... At least on the swords i've handled, There isn't much of a thickness difference between cotton and silk.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2009 1:01:01 GMT
Just so ya know... At least on the swords i've handled, There isn't much of a thickness difference between cotton and silk. Then it must have been poor silk. Real silk ito is very robust.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2009 1:35:52 GMT
There is difference between silk and silk too. I currently have two tsuka lenghts of black silk. One is rather stiff and thick. The other is thin and soft. And there is different cotton itos too, the one I used last week was very thick. What decides the thickness just as much as the ito itself is the tsukamaki. A wrap with narrow diamonds produces thick layers.
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