Tsukamaki

[Khalic]

Greetings,

I was thinking of trying to wrap the handle of my bokken in the traditional Japanese style - and found a web site which detailed the practice.

However,

I'm having one or two problems. Firstly, I don't really want to stick anything to the handle so the wrap is going directly onto varnished wood - which means it has a tendancy to slide.

Secondly, instead of the normal ito I was hoping to get away with using a rough cotton ribbon style material. But after you make a fold with this, it has a tendancy for the folds to come undone. Would this be fixed by using proper ito?

Does anyone have any suggestions which might help?

Regards.

 

[Phillip Jones]

If the wrap is tight it should not slip, however, with the varnish on the handle it will slip. You need something on the handle for the cotton to grab onto. I would suggest using a narrow strip of double sided tape (something that won't ruin the finish on the handle)along the top and bottom of the grip. This will get covered over and will not show. To this you can add a narrow strip of very fine sandpaper(800 grit). This will keep it from slipping.

Hope this helps.

 

[Khalic]

Hey... you're a genious.

I'll give that a try, thanks.

Regards.