| My Work Areas: |
(my wrapping stand
work area) |
(my woodwork area)
|
(my lacquering
workshop) |
(my den / study area) |
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Examples of My Work:
|
(These are two tsuka that I
wrapped as a Daisho in
variations of the Katatemaki
and the Shonin-zuka styles,
using 4mm ivory colored silk ito) |
(This is a new tsuka that
I cut, carved and wrapped in
the traditional shin-gunto style) |
(This is a new tsuka that I cut,
carved, wrapped & lacquered in
the style of a "Type
3 Gunto") |
(I wrapped this in the Kawahoso?
style - Leather & Red Lacquer) |
(Katana tsuka that I did in the
Mempumaki style - Gold Cotton) |
(Katana tsuka that I did in the
Shonin Zuka style - Steel Blue Silk) |
(Child's sword tsuka that I did in the
Shonin Zuka style - Teal Blue Silk) |
(Tanto tsuka that I did in the
Makikake no Kashira /
Jidai Kawa style - Teal Green Cotton) |
(Katana tsuka that I did in the
Shonin Zuka style - Black Silk
on Black Same') |
(Tanto tsuka I wrapped in the tsumami maki style - Black Silk
ito) |
(Katana saya that I did with a
urishi/ camphor mix combining same'
with black in a high gloss finish)
|
(Wakizashi saya that I did with a
urishi/ camphor mix in
a speckle pattern)
|
(I did this saya in much the same
way as the one to the left, except
with a heaver urishi/camphor coat which was then brushed to
give it a deeper texture) |
(To obtain this texture, with
the cloud pattern, I have tried many different techniques
with mixed results. On this saya, after laying the base coats,
I traced the design in wax before applying the top coats.
I then retraced the lines witha metal pick and wet/dry sanded
the surfaceto give it a more even texture)
|
(I did this saya in much the same way as
the one to the left, except with heaver
urishi/camphor coats, and an application of hot wax on the design
between each coat. I finished in the same way, by wet/dry sanding
the surface to give it a more even texture) |
(Katana saya that I did with a
urishi/ camphor mix with
a high gloss finish) |
(On this saya I used a togidashi
maki technique, combining urishi with
ground mother of pearl and, to enhance the greenish cast, aokin) |
(This is a saya that I did in much the
same manner as the one to the left,
with the addition of overlaid
urishi/camphor rings)
|
(Again, on this saya I used a togidashi
maki technique, except that I used
chopped straw, a.k.a. dried lawn mower
clippings, in place of mother of pearl) |
| Other Projects: |
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(This was a unique set of fittings that I
created for an avid martial artist from
the Twin
Cities Budokan who was very specific about the details of
this work. Photos supplied by client)
|
(Before, during, and after pics of
a tsuka I wrapped in Tsumami Maki) |
(Above are two examples of Paul
Chen Shinto blades, originally in shirasaya,
and purchased from Swords
of Might. I remounted them using parts and
materials from various sources. For example, the menuki fuchi
and kashira on the
sword to the left are from Cheness, whereas the fuchi and kashira
on the right
come from Fred
Lohman. The tsuba on both are original Japanese pieces.
Also, I cut both tsuka, and the saya on the left, from honoki,
the saya on the
right is made of teak wood. These Shinto blades exhibit great
fumbari.)
|
(These are tsuka from inexpensive
Japanese alloy iai-to that were
purchased from the Asian
World of Martial Arts by a 13 year old practitioner, and
a 15 year
old practitioner.)
 
(Following thier
instructions, I rewrapped one
in a variation of the Shonin Zuka
style using green silk ito, and the
other in the katatemaki style, using
gold silk ito. Note on both originals
the wrap
was loose , they lacked hishigami,
or paper wedges, and the menuki were placed upside
down and backwards.)
(This was an older 27.5" blade in
Gunto mounts that I made a new saya & tsuka
for incorporating an old set of nanako fuchi/ka, old bird menuki,
and a larger open work tsuba; I finished the saya in a
urishi/camphor mix in a speckle
pattern)
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PHOTO
GALLERY OF 
