About Traditional Fittings

[Yaso]

So here's my question, were sword fittings (Tsuba, Fuchi and Kashira) traditionally painted or is this something that is more modern brought in by the production sword era? I was thinking about getting some nicer fittings, but wasn't sure if accenting them with a little bit of silver paint would be a good idea.

[bobO]

I don't think they where painted per say,inlays in precious metals where more the norm,I think. Could be wrong.But unless your spending big bucks,why not?

[Taygrd]

I am with BobO on this one. I think they were inlayed or a patina was applied. The patinas protected the metals.

[Yaso]

Now I'm thinking about just polishing certain parts to get the slilver highlights. The fittings are blackened steel.

[Taygrd]

I found out with the last kashira that I re-did that there is a copper plate under the black that is over an alloy. This is what the patina sticks to since the pot metal will not patina. Scratch away some of the black on the inside of the kashira to see if this is the case. After that you can get a good idea of what your are dealing with and what you want it to look like. Sorry I cannot be of more help.