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Post by Lobster Hunter on Apr 29, 2011 6:36:08 GMT
I've read somewhere that one method of tightening up and keeping itomaki from creeping on your tsuka is to soak it in lacquer or glue/water solution. Has anyone tried this? Does it work? If so, what type of lacquer did you use? Half wood glue, half water?
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ghost
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Posts: 1,323
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Post by ghost on Apr 29, 2011 16:01:43 GMT
Frank has a lot of experience in this area. I know he soaks or bushes it on. For myself, I impregnate the ito with spray lacquer - a very heavy coat on the outset, followed my 5-6 coats heavy coats. It shines up the rayskin a bit though. www.homedepot.com/buy/clear-wood ... 65997.html It hardens the ito significantly though - you can feel it. Yes, it does work - works very well in preventing fraying as well. You might want to trim/snip any frays before lacquering - or else it might feel fuzzy. I have done this on the Bamboo Mat I got through a trade w/ frank. tell me if you want some pics
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Post by Lobster Hunter on Apr 29, 2011 17:54:38 GMT
Interesting... does it feel a bit sticky even after it dries? Does it make the ito very shiny as well? Pics would be cool. Thanks!
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ghost
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Posts: 1,323
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Post by ghost on Apr 29, 2011 18:06:06 GMT
not at all sticky w/ the spray lacquer. mine feels slightly more abrasive from the hardening. It doesn't make the ito any shinier - the frays will appear whitish/shiny though until you get em off. I can't speak for the elmers/wood glue and water mixture though -never tried that stuff give me a few mins to take and upload the pics Some fraying here on this side on the ha side. The frayed strands look shiney / almost white from the lacquer - easy to fix by snipping them off (they're hardened) I think this is a silk ito rewrap from what Frank has told me.
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Post by Lobster Hunter on Apr 29, 2011 19:10:44 GMT
Not bad. Frank does nice work. Incidentally, I noticed that it was the ito around the ura side menuki on my Hanwei Ronin that was creeping slightly. I tucked a thin piece of brass in between the menuki and samegawa and it tightened up the ito wrap nicely. I'll try your method if the ito on any of my kats start to loosen before I resort to a full re-wrap. I really should learn to do tsukamaki myself. It's the darn complicated end knots that I find so intimidating. Thanks for posting pics! +1
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Post by etiennehamel on Apr 29, 2011 19:20:13 GMT
i used spray lacquer too for my ronin because i feared that the knot was going to loosen but i ended up lacquering all the tsuka and the ito is rock solid now (doesn't budge the slightest)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2011 19:29:23 GMT
I'd sure be tempted to stay away from an Elmers Glue/water mixture. Unless you go with a high-end exterior waterproof adhesive, it's not going to be water resistant. If you decide to use the sword, the moisture from your hands is going to soften the coating and make it sticky. Now granted, there's evidence in literature that some swordsmen would use substances to increase their grip (such as the Crusaders using orange juice or Frankincense resin) but I'm not sure you'd even be able to put it down again if it was covered in Elmers.
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Post by Lobster Hunter on Apr 29, 2011 19:36:23 GMT
Man, the last thing I want is a sticky tsuka. I hate sticky! You could say I'm an enemy of sticky. And broken glass. I also hate broken glass.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Apr 29, 2011 22:05:34 GMT
this is how i learned to do the end knots, when i get to the end knots i just play the video and follow the steps. its never failed me yet.
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Post by Lobster Hunter on Apr 29, 2011 23:10:58 GMT
Cool. I'll try that. Thanks!
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Post by KingDonut on Apr 30, 2011 9:42:54 GMT
I had success with shellac. AFAIK, it's a little easier to work with than commercial lacquers which sometimes have too much solvent, so either never harden fully or take a looooong time. I've heard this is especially true with spray-on lacquers.
Buy a can, shake it up. I used one of those cheap-ass, chisel-shaped, sponge-like paintbrushes to apply it. A lot more control then using sprays.
I've used it to soak Tsuka-ito on a Cold Steel Chisa-katana rebuild, solidify a suede lacing turk's knot on a cane, and coated a bone grip on a bowie (especially important to seal the porous end).
It's good stuff in my book.
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Post by Lobster Hunter on Apr 30, 2011 19:42:12 GMT
Hmm... good to know. If a store doesn't carry Deft lacquer, I'll see if they have shellac. Thanks!
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