Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Forged Iron Acupuncture Needle Guide Tube


Recently, I was asked to make an iron guide tube for a more sedating effect.  This seemingly simple project had two challenges.  The first is that when forging the hammered texture of the tube one side is being struck by the domed face of the hammer while the other rests on the flat face of the anvil.  This simultaneously textures one side while removing the texture from the other side.  I overcame this problem simply by forging it on a soft piece of copper which conformed to the texture of the tube without damaging it, yet giving enough resistance so that a decent texture could be achieved in the first place.  The second challenge was that I had never tried to drill the barrel of an iron tube before so I was very unsure if it could be done.   The drilling went extremely well, but took a great deal of time.  Unfortunately the amount of extra labor involved in making these tubes bypasses the inexpensiveness of the iron used, so their "value" will be determined by the therapeutic benefit gained through the experiences patients and practitioners.  I very much like the way these tools look.  The contrast of polished ends with rough forging is amazing.  They do feel very different than silver.  They have a hard smoothness, while the silver tools tend to feel much softer in the hand.  I do think a forged texture on a silver tube would be unique!

3 comments:

keiki said...

HI Anton, the shinkan is amazing. I love it, the way it feels when i needle patients is amazing. The guide tube is an extension of my hand, and when i'm doing some needling I feel that it warms up quite a bit and my patients seem to feel that. Nothing like the plastic guide tubes, or even the mass produced ones I used to use. I can honestly say, since using your guide tubes, i feel as if I have come up a level in proficiency and skill. Thanks for helping me improve myself and my skills with your awesome tools and guide tubes. I'll be asking for gold ones next year! Keep up the outstanding work!

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