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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 22, 2024 15:35:13 GMT
I don't have much yet to share here, but as of last night I have officially paid for a customized Z-SEY Tuoyuan katana in full, with the clear expectation that if the results are up to standard then I would express further interest in a more expensive, fully custom katana with Z-SEY.
The Tuoyuan sells for 899USD, and shipping to where I live in the States was a flat 50USD.
Sone changes that I have outlined and paid for are as follows, along with the prices for each change:
• Ito and Sageo to be changed to an ivory white (free)
• Full same wrapped tsuka with black lacquer (150USD)
• Upgrade the menuki to silver copper and place in gyaku position (30USD)
• Add a ‘catscratch’ pattern to the silver copper habaki (58 USD)
Responses have thus far been clear and swift, and communication is much more clear then with sellers like Huawei.
I have been quoted a 3 month estimate for this project to be completed, and will be updating this review in real time with any progress pictures, news, or other developments that occur.
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Post by larason2 on Jul 23, 2024 4:46:34 GMT
Interesting, look forward to see it. By silver copper, do you mean shibuichi? It's hard to tell on the website what things are made out of. Ford Hallam says proper shibuichi should be 20% silver. However, it's hard to find commercially where it's not either 25% or 15%. All of them can be patinated nicely, but in my opinion the 20% has the biggest depth and range. You find all kinds of things on reproductions though, actually shibuichi is quite rare.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 23, 2024 11:58:51 GMT
Interesting, look forward to see it. By silver copper, do you mean shibuichi? It's hard to tell on the website what things are made out of. Ford Hallam says proper shibuichi should be 20% silver. However, it's hard to find commercially where it's not either 25% or 15%. All of them can be patinated nicely, but in my opinion the 20% has the biggest depth and range. You find all kinds of things on reproductions though, actually shibuichi is quite rare. Sorry, but by silver copper I mean Z-SEY's 'white copper' habaki. I might further discuss some details with them however, as I know that Z-SEY can make custom copper habaki with better shaping, and I would not mind if they could make a custom white copper habaki (I don't know if it is a different material, or simply finished in a way that gives it a whitish silver colour).
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Post by larason2 on Jul 23, 2024 22:01:21 GMT
Probably a white finish on the copper. Copper can be patinated a variety of ways, and there's a huge range of finishes you can achieve. For Shibuichi and most of the Japanese colour alloys though, you won't get the right colour if it's not perfectly polished. Plain copper is more reactive though, so it readily patinates a lot of different ways even if it's not perfectly polished.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 24, 2024 2:27:43 GMT
So Z-SEY has confirmed that they only make custom habaki in red copper and not cupronickel, which is a slight letdown.
I did decide to upgrade to a fully custom habaki for an extra 92USD though, as even if the habaki colour will not match the rest of the theme I do have the capability of silver plating it myself. I've already plated a few brass menuki as test pieces, including an common Edo period set of dragon menuki.
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Post by larason2 on Jul 25, 2024 20:16:26 GMT
I japan plain copper is very popular, I have more than one authentic piece of furniture that uses it. Using Niage/Rokusho, you can get a very wide range of colours from pink/brown/terra Cotta to fire engine Red. So it's not a bad choice. As you said, plain copper also plates readily. It would be a good idea to put a coat of nickel on it before the silver though.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 26, 2024 2:29:44 GMT
I japan plain copper is very popular, I have more than one authentic piece of furniture that uses it. Using Niage/Rokusho, you can get a very wide range of colours from pink/brown/terra Cotta to fire engine Red. So it's not a bad choice. As you said, plain copper also plates readily. It would be a good idea to put a coat of nickel on it before the silver though. Oh I agree, copper fittings can be extremely attractive. I am just someone who generally prefers to keep all the koshirae on a sword to a limited, matching colour scheme, and also have a personal fondness for silver accents. Since the fuchi kashira, menuki and seppa will all be silver coloured, having a copper habaki simply doesn't match well enough for the sword to look matching in my mind, hence why I will likely be plating it myself. It's work I'll have to do, but I'd much rather put in a little effort than simply going with the lesser quality, more plain habaki that matches colour-wise and risk it not being properly fitted.
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