my saya is way too tight

by Jason Pengelly
(Tasmania, Australia)

QUESTION: I bought my first iaito and The saya seems to have tightened up in transport. It appears to be fine at the handle end but seems to be rubbing at the point of the blade. It really is tight and I'm not exactly a frail little person. Is there anything I can do short of pulling at apart or sending it back? Please If anyone can help i'd greatly appreciate it

Jason

ANSWER: Hi Jason,

A tight saya to start with is extremely (extremely) common across the board with production swords and iaito. There are basically two ways to fix it - the first is to just spend some time slowly sheathing and drawing it until it naturally becomes looser. The other way is to use something like a nail file and remove a little bit of the wood around the throat of the saya, always checking of course not to remove too much.

Anyway, it is very common and nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps.

- Paul