irishamericanlad
Sr Member
late last year i was contacted by a person who had in his possession an original marto masamune sword that was the SAME saya and sword used for the highlander movie, all they did was put a dragon head on teh handle and change the tsuba up and WHAM... instant classic... he had it in his parent home for years, and when he found it he wanted it to go to a lover of the film, so i got it... i am working on makign a near screen accurate saya to go with my mentor swords, so someone can get a full package if they want...
Here is my first masamune saya remake, is not perfect but it’s a great start. first I cast the saya fittings in solid bronze, they came out fantastic, the original saya fittings are patina bronze but there pot metal… so the bronze is a great material to use. I sanded down the pre existing saya and took off the cord. I fit the kojiri and the koiguchi (mouth of the saya) I had to file the koiguchi fitting to fit the blade properly) then I lined out and used files and a chisel to make the slot for the kozuka. After talking with a saya maker she suggested that I take an old saya and shave of a part and fit it to the kozuka hole… I did that, then after making sure the knife fit properly I put a vice on it and used wood glue. After it dried and set I sanded it down with files to meet the contour of the saya. Then I took all the fittings off and started attaching the material. I know many people think the original saya is some form of leather or pleather or what not, but it’s not, it’s actually a very lightweight material with a coating of some kind of plasti dip or rubber material, then added to the saya, which I think was a machine process, its very taunt and there is no seam, its just where the to parts of the material meet, not even very straight lol… I used a high end burgundy upholstery fabric, lightweight, super strong with slight stretch ability. I started saya blade down, then used spray glue, I fitted only parts at a time, pulled the material tight until the glue dried, then kept going all the way around, at the bottom I cut the material excesses off leaving an almost straight seam line. I re attached the fittings and cut the material from and tucked the rest in. I don’t like the way the seam looks, not on mine or the original, I am trying to figure out a way to attach it or hide it, maybe run a groove center on the bottom and tuck it in… anyway it came out better than I thought the first time… but here is whatyour waiting on… the pictures
Here is my first masamune saya remake, is not perfect but it’s a great start. first I cast the saya fittings in solid bronze, they came out fantastic, the original saya fittings are patina bronze but there pot metal… so the bronze is a great material to use. I sanded down the pre existing saya and took off the cord. I fit the kojiri and the koiguchi (mouth of the saya) I had to file the koiguchi fitting to fit the blade properly) then I lined out and used files and a chisel to make the slot for the kozuka. After talking with a saya maker she suggested that I take an old saya and shave of a part and fit it to the kozuka hole… I did that, then after making sure the knife fit properly I put a vice on it and used wood glue. After it dried and set I sanded it down with files to meet the contour of the saya. Then I took all the fittings off and started attaching the material. I know many people think the original saya is some form of leather or pleather or what not, but it’s not, it’s actually a very lightweight material with a coating of some kind of plasti dip or rubber material, then added to the saya, which I think was a machine process, its very taunt and there is no seam, its just where the to parts of the material meet, not even very straight lol… I used a high end burgundy upholstery fabric, lightweight, super strong with slight stretch ability. I started saya blade down, then used spray glue, I fitted only parts at a time, pulled the material tight until the glue dried, then kept going all the way around, at the bottom I cut the material excesses off leaving an almost straight seam line. I re attached the fittings and cut the material from and tucked the rest in. I don’t like the way the seam looks, not on mine or the original, I am trying to figure out a way to attach it or hide it, maybe run a groove center on the bottom and tuck it in… anyway it came out better than I thought the first time… but here is whatyour waiting on… the pictures
Ran in to him a couple of years ago and he had 'no recollection'...I will be watching this with great interest 
