How To Polishing Samegawa nodes

[Drteeth123]

Hi, I've been researching the steps necessary to build a new tsuka for an old Japanese sword, and I have found good information regarding most steps of the process. However, I have seen a few references for polishing the emperor nodes on the samegawa, but no specifics on the process. Has anyone here ever done it? What kind of tools/materials did you use for the process? Thanks!

 

[Rich S]

Yes, I've rebuilt several tsuka. I just use sandpaper to grind down the sharp points on the same'. Remember the emperor nodes are supposed to be bigger and stand up a bit higher than the rest.

Rich

 

[Drteeth123]

Thanks you very much, Rich. I'll get some really fine sandpaper. I'm going to leave the emperor node as big as I can, but the hook part is a bit yellow. I'd like to smooth it out a little to see if I can get rid of that.