Category Archives: New Projects

Most of the work I do involves repairing, reshaping and re-wrapping tsuka from all kinds of affordable production swords. Even the ones that don’t seem at first to need additional work done require some kind of extra treatment to come out looking and feeling nice. On many of these tsuka, the surprises start once the fittings and old ito are removed to reveal horrors like cracks, rotting wood, knots, shims, patches, fly paper glue strips, and a host of other nasties that you might think were better left unseen.

Some of the above is repairable and workable while some of the worse issues like deep uneven cracks are not. Since many of the shops that make and assemble the furniture for these swords are making tsuka as one size fits all, they tend to overcompensate for a good fit by making them overly thick. While strength is important in a tsuka, it matters little how much it can withstand if it’s too uncomfortable to grip in the first place. A balance of strength and comfort, and in my opinion aesthetics, are needed for a good overall tsuka.

Another challenge that comes up often is adding new fittings that were made in Japan for iaito or Japanese made swords, onto a typically overbuilt Chinese made tsuka. These fittings tend to be much smaller and require a sizable reduction of material before they can fit properly. For the tsukamaki to look even and sit flush with the new fittings on both the ha and mune sides is important for the flow of the tsuka but the reshaping needs to include the omote and ura sides as well. The more you reduce the profile of the ha and mune(while maintaining a proper taper), the more you need to equally reduce the thickness. In cases where there are panels of samegawa, these need to be removed and the channels carved deeper. Not all tsuka can afford this reduction so you need to make sure before you begin this kind of alteration.

You can see in the graphic below the typical production tsuka core (fuchi end) on the left with inlaid samegawa panels. The second image shows with dotted lines the reduction of material from the ha and mune sides. This leaves the core too thick and the samegawa will sit higher than the wood on the edges making for a bulky looking and feeling wrap. In the third image, the samegawa panels have been removed and the channels were carved deeper to allow a uniform reduction of material on all sides.

Here is a real example of a fuchi that was much smaller than the core it was to be fitted to

You can see that the ito would wind up sitting higher than the rim of the fuchi unless material was removed from the ha and mune sides first

As mentioned above, you would also then need to remove material from the omote and ura sides or your tsuka core will be way too thick

 I recently worked on a tsuka that needed a complete reshaping and reduction in order to accommodate new smaller fittings. I assessed that there was enough extra material to spare and the reduction would not sacrifice structural integrity. You can see the progression below

This represents the bulk of the work necessary to get an average production katana tsuka in shape before tsukamaki begins

I am happy to announce that I will now be offering my own protective oil for use on all carbon steel sword blades and tools. It is a custom blend of premium fine mineral oil with some other added rust preventatives and just a hint of clove oil for that traditional touch. I have been looking nearly a year for something that I would be proud to offer you and after finally making the right contacts and testing it out for months on several of my own sword blades, knives and tools, I am glad to say that I am completely satisfied with it’s performance. 

There are many other sword oils out there to choose from and while some are decent, there are too many that fall short and leave our blades vulnerable as well as some that just cost too much or have questionable or low quality ingredients. I am not claiming to have reinvented the wheel, but I am offering a good product for a fair price, and maybe more importantly, as a consumer, it is something I would definitely buy and use myself. I wouldn’t push anything that I wouldn’t use on my own precious metal. 

The Cottontail Customs Blade & Tool oil is available in 2 ounce (60 ml) bottles equipped with a secure screw top and a small dropper nib for easy and mess-free application. With regular use, these 2 ounce bottles should last a good long time. Results may vary depending on your individual climates and application technique but I have seen little to no reduction of the coatings I applied on my blades over three months ago, and it has been fairly humid in my area. Of course, always check your blades that are not in use periodically and clean and replace the oil as necessary. It might be common knowledge among long-time sword collectors and sword arts practitioners, but for those who don’t know how to clean and re-oil your blades, I will be posting an easy to follow guide that will be available on the oil sale page. 

Each large, 2 ounce bottle will be only $5.50 plus $2.95 S&H (within the conUS) with shipping discounts available for purchases of multiple bottles. For those outside the US, please contact me for shipping options. These will be available on my website via paypal shopping cart very soon but you can contact me by email before then.