Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

edosan wrote:

This note may elicit horror in the hearts of some, but I have seen no less a worthy than John Neptune use the wet paper method to determine and locate a bore flaw in a (fancy/expensive) ji-ari shakuhachi and then fix it by applying a small blob of five-minute epoxy (!) to the bore with a chopstick Bear in mind that these efforts were to tweak the performanc of an already acceptable flute, not to affect gross tuning problems. In this particular case, the Ri (4th) hole had already been moved (and filled with a small crescent of gold--as stated, it was fancy/expensive) to get the Ri in tune.

At any rate, the tweak was noticeable.

Regards,
eB

Right on! John put a piece of tape inside my primary 1.8 (by Yamaguchi Shiro, no less) to stabilize Ro, and made it noticably better. I think this is a great way to fix problems of this sort because the flute is not being permanently altered.

Andre,

I was under the impression that Mejiro will ship urushi. Perhaps not to Europe? Does anyone know the situation?

In any event, here are some possible ji paste substitutes for major bore work:

- Bamboo dust and glue
-Two-part epoxy (automobile bondo, etc.)
-"Fix All" household plaster
- Newspaper soaked in glue

There are also many synthetic lacquers that can be used as a finish coat. All these substitutes have their advantages and disadvantages. Of course there are arguments for and against their use. (It wouldn't remain a mystery without that!) Many seem to adhere to ji and urushi relatively well. It's probably a good idea to test first though.

Ken

Andre wrote:

....I will firstly rely on your recommendations using Bamboo powder and glue to form a ji paste. I dont know exactly what items of Mejiros catalogue are really necessary for the final red coating.

Andre,

I've had the best luck with bamboo powder (saw dust) and glue, wood putty and bondo for spot filling small areas. The consistency seems best suited for applying in small dabs. For larger areas, plaster mixtures (fix-all, etc.) spread nicely. These materials can all be applied with a long, thin bamboo spatula (stick). A little experimentation and you'll get the idea.

Red urushi, from Mejiro, is made by combining "Shuai Lacquer" (brown) with "Shu-no-Moto" (concentrated red paste). Another possibility is to combine Shuai Lacquer with "Shu-no-Ko" (red powder). Be careful handling wet urushi. It can cause skin rashes and other nasty things.

Ken

While we are horrifying the purists, I might as well admit that I recently tightened up a loose middle joint by adding a couple of thin coats of model airplane dope (fuel-proof butyrate). It has been a little over a week now, and shows no signs of separating.

The urushi on the joint was black, so matching was no problem. The colors available tend to be bright primaries, so you would have to mix them to match a red bore. I'd start with the bright red and then add a few drops of the black until I was satisfied with the match.

Rich

Andre wrote:

Tairaku, edosan,

thanks for your tips. I have access to tape and epoxy as well. This might be useful for the tuning actions. But there still remains the "cosmetic issue" of a Ri hole which is modified and  now having a different color compared to the rest holes of the flute. Can I use any kind of red laquer which fits in the rgb value? Or does it chemically interact with urushi resulting in a formation of blisters or similar unwanted effects?

Andre

Andre,

Regarding the cosmetic issue of filling poorly placed tone holes prior to 'relocating' them: If you have some bamboo around, make a plug with the scrap bamboo to fill the offending hole. This method requires a bit more handiwork, but the result looks better than a gob of hardened and smoothed off material, PLUS the integrity of the fill is much better--very desireable when creating the new hole. You must be sure to match up the surface of the plug with the surface of the flute, then epoxy it in place.

Japanese makers generally use this method on long flutes, very many of which have had at least one hole moved to accomodate the owners' hands. Nakamura Akikazu has had ALL the holes moved in this manner on a 2.8--he's got pretty small hands...

edosan

Rich wrote
'The urushi on the joint was black, so matching was no problem. The colors available tend to be bright primaries, so you would have to mix them to match a red bore.'

People in Japan don't seem to worry about matching the colour of the urushi at the joint when applying urushi to tightening up the joint.
It's very, very common to see a flute with a red bore which has had black urushi used at the joint.  In any case the red urushi colour mellows with age so you aren't likely to get a good match whatever you do.

I could see people getting upset if the black urushi got into the red bore but otherwise you can't see it when the instrument is assembled anyway.

On the subject of ji, I was taught to use tonoko powder (a kind of soft powdered stone) and raw laquer cmbined with a little water added to help the cure.  Goes off pretty fast but takes a while to harden properly.
Sometimes dental plaster was added to the tonoko to give a harder faster setting ji.  Raw laquer is very useful stuff.  Raw laquer with just a little tonoko in makes a good primer for finish laquer too.

Cheers all
Bill.

Andre wrote:

edosan,

As you said, John Kaizan Neptun did it using gold, I prefer bamboo, since there is no gold in my tool box.


Andre

Andre,

Actually, Neptune didn't move the hole, some fairly fancy Japanese shakuhachi player did, since it was such an expensive flute.
John just did the bore tweak, while we (including the owner) all sat around and watched, slack-jawed

eB

Last edited by edosan (2005-10-21 20:43:40)

Hi, Andre,

Thank you for the kind words.

So far, I have just been finding good homes for them, as gifts.  Perhaps, one day, I will have learned enough to be able to make a handfull per year that I would feel good about taking money for, but I am really just enjoying the process... the very, very slow process, of learning to make them. Holding and playing a quality instrument that you have dedicated countless hours (days, weeks, months, years) of your life to, is a pride beyond description, and I am so grateful to have it in my life, and those that teach; I am sure everyone in this forum feels the same way, or it would not exist.

Being a little sensitive to urushi, I spent quite a while experimenting with my own non-allergenic ji mixtures, mandrils, etc., with some great success.  Ironically, after all of that time (and $!), I have gone back to the standard, hand applied tonoko/urushi ji. It is a very uninvasive process that I really enjoy. I just wear rubber gloves now and be very careful.  It is the final lacquer coats that are the most risky, since, it is just seems to be everywhere my skin is, including right up against the lips.  I do really like the cashew lacquer, as well.  It takes a bit of time for it to off-gas, but it does, ultimately, and is fine lacquer.



Derek

Thank you, Brian!

I had not heard that about cashew... I eagerly await, and will search for, more info.  I believe Ken has worked with it quite a bit, so maybe he can provide some thoughts.

I wonder if there are two versions of it, modern synthetic, and organic.  I ran cross this statement on a website:  "Poison-ivy and poison-oak are neither ivy nor oak species. These plants, as well as poison-sumac, belong to the cashew family".

News to me!  I did not know there was a "cashew family".  Urushiol, I think, is present in both of those plants.

Maybe "Cashew Lacquer" is a general term, and the organics are just as allergenic as urushi?  Oh, so much to learn.

Derek

Hi All,

I tried cashew when I was in Japan and bought this huge can of it thinking I would use it back in the States. But then I found the smell not to my liking. To me, it's smells like burnt car oil and seems lasts a long time.  I like the smell of urushi. It's sort of sweet (cured urushi, that is!). I have a flute I made in Kyushu while visiting my sister-in-law when she was teaching in the Jet Program. I cashewed the bore and it stills smells like cashew today.

Have you played a new wooden shakuhachi? Most of them are made with cashew bores and that is the smell I am refering to. I am curious to why wooden shakuhachi have joints lined with cork. Is it because the cashew will not hold up?

I can't say that I've experimented with everything but so far, nothing I've used comes close to the hardness of urushi at such a thin layer. I've refurbished a lot of joints in the past year and the ones with only urushi are usually just worn down smoothly. With those flutes, I just have to apply a new coat or two of urushi to tighten the joint. The ones that have previous refurbishing done with who knows what have chips and cracks and requires sanding. You can see some of the repairs here - http://www.yungflutes.com/log

Here is a link to a site called the Urushi Project. The artist, Wendy Maruyama recieved the same grant I did for Japan years ealier. http://art.sdsu.edu/geninfo/homepages/f … /index.htm
There's some great stuff here in tems of urushi origins.

Namaste, Perry

Last edited by Yungflutes (2005-10-23 13:14:18)

Now if only Mejiro would ship Bamboo.

-E