Dojo Pro Tsuba #6

Error error !! I wrote a review suggesting this Tsuba was a copper alloy !! Fortunately I checked it with a magnet before I got to fare into it !! Yes, it is steel !! But very heavily copper plated to “take” a very black (liver of Sulphur ??) chemical treatment. So … I judiciously buffed off the black finish (don’t try to get the black sanding lines out !! You will get to the steel !!) and re-antiqued the copper plating to a rich mottled brown. Very attractive. Being steel, the Tsuba can’t be fitted to the tang in the normal way, using punches to spread the metal to make it tight, like one might do with a copper-bronze or Quarter-Metal Tsuba, but copper shims should work okay.

It had a bit of roughness on one edge, a few expected beads in the voids from the flame cutting. When I took it to my Jewellers Tripoli Buffing wheel, I was thrilled to discover it was not cut from steel-plate, but from a copper-bronze alloy !! Score !! I am going to strip the black, clean it up, and re-antique with a suitable rich brown finish.