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Post by Larry Jordan on Jan 11, 2014 1:35:55 GMT
Second Follow-Up Here is the result of zombiefying the handle. It looks unphased! (Musashi Wind beater) No obvious signs of the liquid plastic shower, apart from the small white specks: build up on stray cotton fibers. (cotton ito, unbleached rayskin) (End knot) Is it washable? To a degree, but not immersible. It should be better for dojo practice and sweaty palms.
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Post by frankthebunny on Jan 12, 2014 12:39:02 GMT
If I ever do figure out how to turn cotton ito into leather I will be sure to post a tutorial immediately :lol:
The first time I attempted to strip a saya it was off a Hanwei katana and let me tell you I never wanted to try that again. To their credit, they had about 20 layers of black lacquer over a thick primer followed by half a dozen coats of clear and all I had was sandpaper and a block. I later tried chemical stripper with no real effect and then picked up an electric palm sander to help finish the job. Since then I have removed the lacquer off of lesser quality saya and had little trouble doing it with just the sandpaper. Sometimes there are nasty surprises underneath the paint though such as holes and patches, and filler (this goes for any saya). I would avoid using chemical strippers mainly because they are super smelly and generally unpleasant to work with but they also require a lot of cleaning after to be able to paint over them. If the saya has a good foundation (doesn't chip easily, no thin spots, etc.) then you could just scuff the surface fully and paint right over it. It's a good idea to use a primer before you paint so you have good adhesion and color blending. I have recently used Japanese cashew lacquer to finish a full saya and while it's better than spray paint/lacquer, and not as troublesome and complicated as urushi, it is extremely dangerous to breathe in. I won't be using it again for full saya work if I can help it, at least not unless I have a good ventilation system and a respirator. Avoid cheap paint that will peel or chip and don't use acrylic or enamels. Try to use a good strong spray lacquer and apply many light coats.
Faux buffalo horn meaning wood or maybe plastic? This can be taped off if you don't want to paint over it. You can remove it as well but it could possibly break or get damaged if you do.
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