You have seen Urushi fountain pens, Raden art but have you seen a knife made with Urushi lacquer? Watch here to learn more!
Dave J. Friesen is a swordsmith based in central Vancouver Island, Canada. He hand forges reclaimed carbon steel into blades, using techniques of the Japanese classical tradition to turn rusty scrap and natural materials into collectable heirlooms.
Taken from his website, this is an excerpt on his work: ""Highlighting the potential for creative transformation in discarded objects, most of his raw material is sourced from worn out tools, farm machinery, and sawmill equipment. Even the softwood charcoal that fuels the forge is hand made in small batches from scrap wood.""
Even though Urushi lacquerware nowadays are used mainly for tableware and to a lesser extant, fountain pens, the root of Urushi art is from making amours and weapons. Because Urushi has great protection against corrosive agent such as water or acid, it provide great protection from the wear and tear. Following this tradition and augmenting with his own style, Dave complete the handle and scabbard using Urushi lacquered and reclaimed materials.
This video is a condensed version of the process so you can watch more easily. Below is the description taken from Dave's website for you to follow along the process.
- The first layer of natural Urushi lacquer is wiped off leaving a thin sealing layer in the pores of the wood.
- When the Urushi lacquer has fully cured, the handle is wrapped tightly in natural cotton cord to provide strength and grip texture.
- The scabbard is also strengthened at key points with tightly wrapped cord.
- The cord is saturated with natural Urushi lacquer and allowed to cure for several days. Several additional coats of Urushi are used to create the final surface, each requiring several days to cure.
- Reclaimed tea powder is used to give the scabbard a sabi-nuri (rust texture) style ishimeji stone texture. Multiple layers of Urushi laccquer are used to seal, saturate, and create the final surface appearance.
- The handle is polished with dried tokusa (horsetail) and then sealed with a final layer of Fuki-urushi.
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of this video.
All copyrights go to the original owner, Crossed Heart Forge - islandblacksmith
30 май 2018
