How to wrap a samurai sword handle

If you unwrapped your samurai sword handle and cant figure out how to wrap it, Here is how to do it.


UPDATE PLEASE RATE!!!!!!!!! PLEASE RATE!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Step 1: Things needed

You need:
sword wrap:
a sheath to wrap it around.
If you need sword wrap click here

http://www.swordsofmight.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=457

Comments

[triumphman]

wish you people would put out a decent 'ible! The worthless ones are a real waste of time! This is one of them! I got suckered in too!

[Don,t try this at home]

Im sorry i made this along time ago and if u can make a better one go right ahead

[charger25]

Binarnye chasy iron samurai kupit

[Jubeidude]

You said your Instructable was on "How to Wrap a Samurai Sword Handle", and this is not the case.

You showed everyone how to wrap a cotton/nylon string onto the saya (sheath) of the sword. This is where the sageo should be, not handle wrapping. The sageo is a very important part of a katana, especially if you do Iaido/Iaijutsu. This instruction is pointless, and would do no good for anybody that wants functionality or authenticity emulated in their katana/bokken.

Sure, your instructable was of some help, but, the handle does not have the loop hole that the saya has for the sageo, so how is one to finish the wrap if one does attempt to wrap the handle?

Please show how to finish the wrap on the handle, rather than showing how to tie a knot around a loop on the saya.

[burzurk]

Hey Jubeidude>>Stop being a hater and be a MENTOR. How is the wrap done then? Where are YOUR pictures illustrating the the 'PROPER' technique you speak of?

Your comments would be much more appreciated on the youtube flame boards.

I found this instuctable to be usefull,

THANK YOU!

[St Jimmy]

Wow. Constructive criticism much? Everyone has a right to say what they think could be improved on an Instructable. Even me. Even you

[Jubeidude]

I wasn't hating. I was just trying to be helpful. As I pointed out, these instructions are good, just not for what they are stated they are for.
Japanese military history is my thing, especially arms and armor. I was just trying to help.
So, I'm sorry if it came off as mean.

[greymatter21]

its a katana...

[Don,t try this at home]

yes it is

[Katana20]

http://www.tsukamaki.net <-- have you seen this site?  Aboat as traditional as you are going to get!  As for the paper wedges, when I was in Japan, I met with Yasuo Toyama (http://www007.upp.so-net.ne.jp/m-kenji/tsukamaki.html) and he said, "if it doesn't have wedges, then it's two things: (1) not Japanese, and
(2) wrong."

[Don,t try this at home]

Here in a few days I am gonna put on how to tie a sageo knot on to the sheath.

[sarcosis_machina]

if you want help with tieing the sageo over the scabbard (saya), I can point you towards a few links I have. best of luck to you.

[Don,t try this at home]

Thanks i could not get the hang of it so i dident put it on.

[sarcosis_machina]

the base knot is easy to do, the question is if you want to stylize it or not is the question. for practiceing the base knot, I'd recommend getting a flat cloth shoelace or actual Ito, then practiceing for about five minutes a day until you get the basic loop structure down. once you do that, you can easily figure out how to customize the knot to fit your whims.

[Kaelessin]

When I saw the title of this ible I had mixed feelings . . . I was torn between "Woah! finally someone posted this on instructables . . .why didn't I do that!?" and "Hmmm I hope they bothered to do their research and honor the long tradition of Tsukamaki"

First: kudos for putting this together! I am sure that it will be useful for tons of people wanting to get that look!

I do have several recommendations if you are looking for them:

• first I would include the proper terminology. Don't just leave the romanji in though . . . use the correct term and then define it! This is your chance to share something of another culture with people and be informative! Don't pass it up! For example "How to wrap a samurai sword handle" could be said "Tsukamaki: or how to wrap the handle of a samurai sword" then within the tutorial define Tsuka, Katana, Itom Menuki, etc.
• perfect the technique and make it very precise! The wrapping on the hilt of a good katana is always very precise with uniform diamonds. This is achieved by using paper triangles and lots of practice/time! The Japanese tradition is very much about precision and uniformity.
• last is the standard gripe about pictures . . .most of yours are in perfect focus so good on ya for that but it's important to make sure they're all that way!
  

again, it's exiting to see an ible on something like this keep it up and keep researching!

[Don,t try this at home]

Yes i know but i don't know how to tuck it in on the ends and I learned how to do it the same day i posted it.

[Kaelessin]

understandable . . . everything related to the katana and sword martial arts has a very specific and dedicated purpose though. If you're interested in the true traditional way to do Tsukamaki this website has a very useful tutorial with mention of lots of terminology and of course all the proper technique.

[bowmaster]

I thought people used little rice paper triangles?

[Don,t try this at home]

Some people do like http://pages.prodigy.net/tlbuck/tsuka/tsuka.htm with the paper triangles but were i learned it http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-do-basic-tsuka-maki-wrap-the-tsuka-on-a-katana-270110/ doesn't.

[bowmaster]

Oh.

[Kaelessin]

haha i didn't realize you'd already found that prodigy site on tsukamaki . . . ignore that part of my comment above :) all high quality katana are wrapped with the triangles though. I've tried it both ways and while it is a pain to fold all those triangles they really help keep everything crisp and add a little bit of body to the wrap.

[Don,t try this at home]

I havent tryed to do it with the triangles I think I will try it later.

[Kaelessin]

Awesome! good luck!