How snugly should the katana fit in the saya?
Apr 25, 2012 15:52:43 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2012 15:52:43 GMT
Groo wrote
yea my saya is too loose! it didn't come with any instructions on how to shim the saya...
Blackthorn wrote
In my experience if they are a good fit you can turn the saya upside-down and the sword holds. Most, if not all of my katana will do that, from the cheap ones (some of which are too tight, but they loosen with use) to the expensive ones. I don't own any of the Raptor range, not sure how they normally are as far as fitting. Be careful if your saya is a loose fit and you wear in on your belt and forget and bend over to pick something up, the sword slides out in a real dangerous fashion. Luckily it's only happened to me with a bokken in a plastic saya. Incidentally, you can shim the mouth of the saya for a better fit, many katana, including the Hanwei ones if I recall correctly, tell you how to do this in the instructions that come with the swords.
In my experience if they are a good fit you can turn the saya upside-down and the sword holds. Most, if not all of my katana will do that, from the cheap ones (some of which are too tight, but they loosen with use) to the expensive ones. I don't own any of the Raptor range, not sure how they normally are as far as fitting. Be careful if your saya is a loose fit and you wear in on your belt and forget and bend over to pick something up, the sword slides out in a real dangerous fashion. Luckily it's only happened to me with a bokken in a plastic saya. Incidentally, you can shim the mouth of the saya for a better fit, many katana, including the Hanwei ones if I recall correctly, tell you how to do this in the instructions that come with the swords.
yea my saya is too loose! it didn't come with any instructions on how to shim the saya...
Even as this is my first, initial post, I belong to a dojo that specializes in restoration of Samurai swords and also the Sensei teaches Tangjitsu and Kenjitsu, as well as finer points of Japanese lore and culture, history and language. He's also a high-Dan-holding recipient of a black belt in Aikido.
Now, as to 'no instructions coming to shim the saya': I own a very inexpensive replica of a tanto (one of the Last Samurai series of swords from the movie), which was the first tanto I've had, and that it only cost me US $13.00, total.
The saya became loose from wear as I sharpened the blade with a whetstone and oil, so all I did was take a triangular piece of photocopy paper that was cut to fit in the bottom of the saya and glue it there with white school glue. Works fine now. Cost is an issue with me, so whatever works cheapest, is what I'll use.