Inspired by the varied and numerous tsubas (Japanese sword guard) in collections world-wide, I spent some time learning the basic techniques used to make them.
Starting with a hunk of mild steel and yellow brass, I sketched out a skull onto the brass and got to sawing....by hand. Considering the brass was 1/4" thick, this part went better than expected. I managed to get the entire shape cut without breaking a blade.
I filed out the profile of the skull until it was a little smaller than what I wanted the final to be, and transferred this shape to the steel. I first began to remove material with my foredom (rotary tool), but honestly hand chisels worked much better and quicker. Being mild steel I was able to carve out the spot for the brass skull as if I were carving a fruit wood.
Next came the process of fine-fitting the brass into the steel. I undercut the steel a bit and refined the brass more until with slight force, both mated perfectly. This was an incredible feeling. To set the brass, I hammered evenly around the edges in a circular pattern, forcing the brass down into the undercut in the steel. Once it was in tightly with no hope of ever coming out, I polished the top of the brass and re-drew my pattern for the skull.
Now it was just a matter of carving out the brass until I had a skull. Carving metal is loads easier than any wood. There's no grain and if you mess up a little you can sometimes hammer and file it so the mistake is unnoticeable. I ended up making a lot of tools for this project: fine gravers, burnishers, and blunt punch chisel things (essentially leatherwork shaders, but for steel). I added a small cherry blossom above the skull to balance the piece and continued to refine the details.
A sprinkling of OCD, some swearing, and careful hand polishing...then I was done.
Thank you for reading!
~Copperrein
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