Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2008 1:44:02 GMT
I got a new katana today, and the tsuba, habaki, seppas, the fuchi...all loose, what should I do? Add shims? If so, where and and how? I never had to do this befoe and I cannot find any tutorials. Please help. Oh, the katana is a Musashi demon katana from Swords of Might. The blade is great but the fittings are crap except the ito and same. Thanks in advance.
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Marc Ridgeway
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"The best cost less when you buy it the first time." - Papabear
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Oct 21, 2008 1:48:33 GMT
I got a new katana today, and the tsuba, habaki, seppas, the fuchi...all loose, what should I do? Add shims? If so, where and and how? I never had to do this befoe and I cannot find any tutorials. Please help. Oh, the katana is a Musashi demon katana from Swords of Might. The blade is great but the fittings are crap except the ito and same. Thanks in advance. Contact Swords of Might at once and tell them of the problem and ask them for a replacement katana... and to QC it first.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2008 1:58:03 GMT
I contacted Jason over there, he said to get some balsa wood and try and "shim" it. I did take it apart and the tsuka was in good shape, it just don't seem to push up enough to keep everything else tight, I'll have to pay shipping cost if I was to send it back, I'm broke.
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Marc Ridgeway
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"The best cost less when you buy it the first time." - Papabear
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Oct 21, 2008 2:37:02 GMT
I contacted Jason over there, he said to get some balsa wood and try and "shim" it. I did take it apart and the tsuka was in good shape, it just don't seem to push up enough to keep everything else tight, I'll have to pay shipping cost if I was to send it back, I'm broke. Jason told you to shim it with balsa? Tssk tssk. Ok, then, here's something to try. Do you know what the seppa are? The little brass "spacers " between the tsuka and the tsuba and the tsuba and the habaki? It sounds like you need an additional one or two of those. Since you are broke try improvising. Ideally seppa should be of noncompressable material, as compressable materials allows shock to reach the tsuka that shouldn't. In your case I think you can get by with a make shift one. Do you have a old bicycle tire intertube around?You can cut a seppa out of that, and place it in between the tsuka and tsuba , with the other seppa. If you don't have that , cardboard , like off a notepad back can work. In the absence of both , there is always the old samurai trick of winding dental floss between the seppa and tsuba. None of these are ideal, but they'll do.
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slav
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Katsujin No Ken
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Post by slav on Oct 21, 2008 5:19:17 GMT
Other good seppa materials: Cork mat, Leather, Plastic from a yogurt container, Tin cans.
If the tsuba is loose and sliding around, try taking it off and wrapping teflon-tape around the nagako to create a 'bulge' just thick enough for the tsuba to press fit onto.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2008 6:34:59 GMT
Thanks for the info guys, I found some sticks around the house made from balsa wood and broke up a few small pieces and put some between the seppa, tsuka, and 1 between the seppa and tsuba by the habaki...so far everything seems tight. I think I'm going to get some meatier seppas and try that out. Do you know where I can get some decent ones? Also I am in the search for mukugi, since I think I wore the one out that came with the sword. Talk about a pain...and a learning experience! I spent all day messing with it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2008 11:16:39 GMT
...... Also I am in the search for mukugi, since I think I wore the one out that came with the sword. Talk about a pain...and a learning experience! I spent all day messing with it. Have a look at the following post in the Classifieds section. /index.cgi?board=selling&action=display&thread=6747 I have some of his mekugi, you will not be disappointed. Vernon
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2008 13:45:24 GMT
I'm really surprised that Jason at SoM would have told you just to shim it. I've never dealt with him myself but I'd consider that a defect - quality control is the issue there. I know that the dealer I go through to get my swords would have taken it back and gotten me a new one - without the shipping charge since the defect wasn't my fault.
Anyway good luck with the fix.
-Sam
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2008 22:34:29 GMT
Supposedly, Jason from SoM is sending me some seppas and mekugi so I can try and tighten everything up. If that don't work, I'll ship it back. Hopefully a new or extra seppa and possibly a new habaki will "fix" the problem. Besides I hate the Musashi logo on the original habaki, this has become a project sword.... I'm thinking about a new tsuka as well with black same and silver menuki.
UPDATE: 10/23/08 Jason from SoM sent me some seppas and mukugi today at no charge, I installed an extra seppa and new mekugi and everything tightened up well. This was my first time disassembling a katana, not too bad.
p.s. Thanks for the advice Marc!
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