Removing debris from a saya

[Jason Moore]

I have a customer that has a problem with an odachi he bought from me. Everytime he draws the sword, there is debris and a waxy substance on the blade. I told him to keep wiping it off and eventually it would disappear. It has been months and he wrote me back saying the stuff is still on the blade with every draw. Is there any way he can clean out the saya safely?

[RedZorak]

I've heard of a saya scrapper thing that might help... but I have no idea where to get one. I'm sure someone else on here can help.

[rick]

you will need:1 wire hanger, 1 paper towel

strieghten haner with wire cutters remove curled end (not hook)
bend in a piece of paper towel the dampen ,clean saya like a gun barrel
the replace wet towel for dry and repete cleaning let stand for 20 to30 minutes so inside of saya can dry repete procese if nessary

[Firehand10k]

The hanger is a good idea for a katana but i think that odachi has a 50 inch blade/ saya. I think I would get the interior of a long speedometer cable from a scrapyard pretty cheap and find a way to attach a course cleaning cloth or a stiff nylon brush to it. They can be rigid enough to feed a pretty long distance but flex enough to reach all sides.

[rick]

with the cable you can twist and realy get the crap out.If not that, I saw a plummer snake 20' for $5.00 and a bore brush .

[Jason Moore]

Thanks for the help guys. I am looking for a more traditional method. (Or something super easy that will work. This is for a customer and I don't want to tell him to get a plumber's snake or a speedometer cable. The wire hanger was my thought as well, but there would need to be a way of attaching something to it without the risk of leaving more debris in the saya.

[Dotanuki]

You know I have seen this problem with low end swords, it almost looks like the inside of the saya was waxed and the wax melted to settle in the bottom of the saya [maybe in transit?]. I'm just guessing here, but I would say this problem is a new one, due to the mass production of swords.

[rick]

gun cleaning kit. it has a barrel rod and since the brush goes right on the end it won't scratch the saya

[Jason Moore]

Good idea, thanks rick.

[bobO]

Dang, why didn't I think of that,I even gots one of them.I also have a saya with junk in it.Thanks rick,you get rep for that one.

[rick]

:):):)

[bobO]

I tried the now official rick's fix for dirty saya's and got to say ,it works like a charm. I could not believe the junk that came out of the saya,looked like some kind of foam something.Jason I would not hesitate to recommend this to customers.

[rick]

it's either cheap wood glue or crappy cutlers resin

you guys like my simple fix how about helping me pick a colour for my sagoe

[Brian Brazier]

Obviously this is a little late, but I have found when I get a new sword before unsheathing it, tapping around the saya or lightly tapping the end of the tsuka on floor, will release allot of that debris and it gets stuck to the thick shipping oil

[rick]

the packing greese is half the problem .yes tapping the sword helps alot but
the waxy oily build up is from the glue used to make the saya mixing with the
packing oil during shiping and needs special care to remove or it can seem to be in endlees supply in your saya

[Yaso]

I used to use a gun cleaning kit to clean and oil my old paintball guns.

[rick]

yeah it's a gun cleaning kit