Tsuka for Iaito

[twayman]

I'm looking for a new tsuka for my iaito. I assume that most of the iaito alloy blades are fairly standard regarding mounting. Either way the sword I have is a Tozando standard iaito. I would like an 11" tuska. Any suggestions would help. I have sent Tozando an e-mail and so far no reply.

[Rob Alvelais]

Tain't Cheap.

Fred Lohman (http://www.japanese-swords.com/pages/restore.htm)

Rob

[A. Bakken]

http://www.bogubag.com/Swords/swords_intro.html

Scroll down to "Tsuka Assemblies".

Yes, most iaito tsuka tend to be of approximately similar dimensions, but you should be prepared to do some shimming to get a proper fit.

[Ken-Hawaii]

And changing to a longer tsuka will definitely change the balance & "feel" of your iaito.

[chrismoses]

I have a 12" tsuka for iaito, the nakago would need to be shimmed (but that's par for the course with iaito). I bought it for a project that never came to pass. I can provide pix if you are interested. Tan cotton ito, tightly wrapped and matching sageo. It would be nearly impossible to tell if the peg-holes would line up (it has two nagago ana), so there would be a bit of a gamble. PM me if you're interested, it would be a LOT cheaper if it worked than a custon tsuka.

[twayman]

Dear Todd Wayman


Thank you for your inquiry.
At first, we don't recommend to change the Tsuka by oneself.
It is dangerous if you are not specialist for Iaito .
If you have a skilled craftsman of iaito , we can sell the Tsuka .

Sincerely yours,

Yoshihito NONOGUCHI
TOZANDO

Interesting reply. Dangerous? Anyone know why? Is it a fit or shimming issue? Blade may fly out of tsuka?

[pgsmith]

It is dangerous. The reason is that the tsuka is held on by friction between the nakago and the inside of the tsuka. The mekugi is to maintain this friction, not to actually keep the sword in. If you have a pre-made tsuka, it requires careful shimming and/or filing of the nakago to make it fit correctly, and align properly. If your fit and alignment isn't correct, you take a chance on the blade being loose and shifting around. If this happens, the friction fit is no longer holding the blade which means that the only thing keeping the blade from becoming a missile is the little bamboo mekugi. A second problem is in properly aligning the mekugi ana. Your blade is already drilled for a mekugi. If you fit a new tsuka, you'll have to either drill a new hole, far enough from the previous one to maintain strength, or manage to drill the hole in the tsuka at the exact spot to hit the current hole in the nakago and still properly maintain the pressure fit.

Extreme care must be taken.

[chrismoses]

It is dangerous. [snip]

Extreme care must be taken.

I'll agree with Paul here, it can be dangerous and extreme care must be taken, but that said, it really isn't rocket science. I was definitely of the "never ever remove your iaito's tsuka!!!" camp until mine started feeling weird. Took it to my friend Scott Irey's to take a look and he re-shimmed it in no time. It takes patience, several thicknesses of shimming material and trial and error. If you know someone who has done this before it will be easier, but if not you will probably be able to do it yourself. Use common sense, if you mount everything up and it doesn't feel 'right' it probably isn't, try it again. If everything fits tight, and there's no loose feeling, you're probably ok. Get into the habit of feeling the tension of the peg every time you train, but that's a good habit for even a factory iaito. A couple weeks ago, we had a student who felt something weird in his tsuka, you could actually feel the nakago roating slightly around the peg as you shook it. I took it home and the shim had broken down so that it wasn't tight anymore. This had started wearing down the peg and I had to drill it out to even remove it. Still, the repair took less than an hour and was very tight when all done. Hope this helps.

[twayman]

Thanks guys… I was aware of these issues. I was just wondering if there was something else I was missing here. My tuska also started getting loose and one of the shims started breaking apart I re-shimmed it and it has been tight for over a year. Right not rocket science but, something to be aware of in fitting the tsuka.

By the way thanks Chris for the tsuka. Once it arrives and I mount it I’ll post a picture to see the finished product. I just refinished my saya last week and made a vertical stand both turned out sweet. This new tuska will really make my iaito look good.

[twayman]

I was just thinking. What makes a good shim? I used a thin piece of popular to re shim mine. The original shims look like bamboo or thin wood slats. Any other materials that would work? Just wondering what others have used or know of.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Well, yeah, I guess it could be dangerous if you dropped the blade on your toe or something....

I've changed out many a tsuka & tsuba, seppa, menuki, & the like. Worst experience I had was somehow managing to break a mekugi when the holes didn't quite line up. Of course you do have to be careful when working with any blade, & especially to test it thoroughly after you've reassembled it. Doesn't do anyone much good if their blade goes flying out of the tsuka, does it? :rolleyes:

[twayman]

Finished replacing the tuska, tusba and sageo. Everything went fine tuska nice and tight. Looks like a new Iatio. Thanks all!

Picture here:
http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?p=373580#post373580

Note: If anyone attempts this pay attention to the angle of the mekugi-ana, if a new one needs to be drilled. Also shim it so that it is tight but not to tight or you may split the tuska.