During our visit yesterday, Masahiro Nitta showed us these Azuma Sawaris. They’re beautiful, and could easily have tempted me to buy rather than make.
Ooh la la…
They’re really cool. Did you get to open one up?
It’s still more awesome that you made your own. 
People are always impressed by that.
Once we get a few Bachido projects done (still have to make the tuning page, confound!), we were talking about having a hardware section, where the stuff could be available. At first, Nitta san didn’t think makers would be willing to sell the hardware, but as Bachido has grown, he’s recently said that it’s possible to do.
For those who haven’t seen inside of a azuma sawari before, that is the subject of an earlier episode.
Gee Kyle…
You were so young back then! 笑！
Really cool look at the sawaris!
If you put asuma sawari at Bachido Store… you have one client with his paypal account ready.
I hear you, Julian. I wrote Masahiro about it this morning. We’re back on it!
Do you think we can make our own azuma sawari?
And does the material that touches the string change the sound,or the buzzing?
This is my first time to see azuma zawari only! thanks!
I managed to make two azuma sawaris, using Kyle’s instructions. It was my first experience brazing brass with a propane torch and silver solder. For the part that touches the string, I used a piece of fossil mammoth ivory; its legal, since mammoths are extinct. Apparently its rather common in Alaska; my neighbor gave me a chunk to play with. Otherwise I would have used a piece of bone, such as is used for guitar nuts and saddles. My biggest difficulty was finding the rectangular brass tubing; do an online search for K&S Engineering 268 3/16 X 3/8 rectangular brass tube.
Shinji: Yes. Shamisen of Japan has instructions to make it yourself.
That’s good stuff. Walrus tusk is also legal, and apparently even harder (which makes it even harder to work with). You can also find salvage ivory from old pistol grips. My mandolin bridge was made from a strip of ivory used in a pistol grip. The tone is just amazing. Rings like a bell.
I had a hard time finding it online as well. Later, I went to my local hardware store to get some paint or something. I casually walked to their metal tubing isle and to my surprise, the exact size of rectangular tubing I needed was sitting there!
In other related news, after a meeting with Masahiro, a new section has emerged! - http://bachido.com/products/hardware-parts
You’re my hero Kyle.
PD: Any “secret” difference between the two Sawari devices?
Mission complete! 
Not really. The en sawari is easier to install because you can just use a drill. I would say the secret difference is the azuma sawari is just cooler. 