Well this is the start of my DIY thread. I dont intend to go into any detail about
how I do the repairs, later I might try to youtube some simple vids. So far I havn`t dyed the kote
yet as I dont have the gear on hand ATM. I did finish my kote, and the one in the pics has three
areas that I have repaired. I dont know what happened to the photo order when I uploaded them
but they went a bit jumbled.
pics #1,2 are of some of the tools I use. the blade on the wooden handle and the thread
cutter (blue thingy) are use to remove the old palm and trim. two sizes of needles. two
thicknesses of thread(polyester) strong shit. The black ring thingy is made from a men
chikagawa with strips of coke can in the middle made to fit my fat fingers. This is used
to push the needles, couldn`t do it without it. The rubber finger condom thing is used to give some
grip to pull the needles out. very useful if your fingers are a little sweaty, again without
that it`d be very hard to do. I get them from the bandaid section at the drug store.
I have others tools siccors and plyers to remove broken
needles etc. the small needles are hard and quite strong, dont bend but they do break
sometimes.
Repair #1. pics# 3-9
This part I call the bottom of the kote (probably has a real name) it`s the part opposite your
thumb and is on the bottom when you are in kamae. as it`s on the bottom it`s where the
sweat runs to and gathers and often becomes bad and in need of repairs. this is the only repair
I do and undo the kote himo. it makes an old kote look good too.
repair #2 the thumb. pics 10-17
you can see I had a patch on the thumb already. I took that off and repaired the whole area.
I think those kind of patches last longer and look better if they can be done before a palm job.
That way the trim is sowed over the patch adding extra strength to it and it looks good. Thats why
I just did a quick shitty job on the first thumb hole, I knew a palm job would be needed soon.
repair #3 the palm
pics 18 & 19 show the inside of the kote, which often needs repairs. holes need to be patched
to stop the deer fur spilling out (this one was ok). and the kote and palm side by side. The rest of
the pics show the repair at various stages.
It`s not a perfect repair but I am getting better. I was lucky enough to have a couple of
lessons from a bogu guy a few years back. but there is no-one around where I now live
to ask questions, so I just try to brain out what to do as I go. I`m fairly happy with the results
And I enjoy doing it. I sometimes do peoples from the local dojo charge enough for the materials
+ alittle for my time, we`re all happy, and it enables me to get better.
but alas I sometimes think my repairs are better than my bloody kendo. I`d love to have a chance
to learn about bogu repairs more but...............................
http://photobucket.com/koterepairs
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Dezza
Bookmarks