I just the other day got a copy of Kyles book. and i noticed it just refers to it as “Fabric” in the doukake section. Should i be going for a specific type of fabric or would something as simple as cotton suffice?
First time posting on the forum. So thank you in advance for the replies - Pippy
Fine and/or thin Upholstery fabric, or thicker yet flexible (and hopefully somewhat elastic) fabric would be the best options. You want the fabric to not allow the glue to go through, yet you don’t want it thick enough that the Doukake will become bulky. Some flexible/stretchy kinds of thin synthetic leather are also good for Tsugaru doukake.
I have re-upholstered (if that’s the proper term, I don’t know) several Doukake, and upon removing the old fabric and analyzing it, I found that the fabric is very similar to the ones used to make Obi, so you may get an old obi (not the super stiff type) and use it to renew several Doukake.
Doukake can range from an utilitarian piece of protection for the Dou, to a true piece of artwork. After you finish, if you would be willing to share some photos, I would love to see your results.
Yeah i was going to post some pictures once it’s done. i did ask around a few other places as well and got told stuff like kimono fabric would be fine. which i got some of a nice design i found coming within the next couple of days. hopefully some time next week if everything comes i can post what hopefully will be a nice doukake. i’m also thinking of pairing it with a tenjin cover since the one that came with mine was old and scuffed. but im also thinking i could just take some off cuts of fabric and restore this one
Final update of the day for me. took the old scuffed tenjin cover and made a quick throw-together renovation for it. before and after pic below. still gotta trim off some edges but i think it came out pretty nice so far. especially compared to how it used to be
i will make a better one when i have more time and resources but for now it’s a quick throw-together just to look nice.
The tenjin cover looks quite nice. Congrats!
As for the Doukake itself, if you have not yet glued it, I would like to recommend against wood glue, as it has a tendency to seep through the fabric. I have had great results with 3M Super 77 spray glue, but I recommend you spend several sprays on another surface, just to get the hang of it, as the spray pattern is a vertical strip, longer than you would expect. So you need to practice both speed and distance from the surface to get the best coverage without either thin spots or wet patches.
For applying the fabric, you need to apply it stretching (not just placing), first towards the tips (short side), then towards the long sides. Do the top surface first, then the edges at the short sides, then the edges at the long side (one by one), and then the inside edges. Pay attention to the glue drying time, and also be aware that the glue has a short repositioning time, just in case it didn’t land exactly on the spot you want.
One final tip is, when cutting the fabric, to leave enough fabric beyond the Doukake size, so you have something to grab on to pull. Unfortunately that’s wasted fabric, but unless you have a pair of canvas stretcher pliers hanging around, you need extra fabric to grab on to. I have the canvas stretchers, but I still prefer to stretch with my hands, as that offers more precision and flexibility.
For preservation of color, and protection against dirt/etc, you may want to apply a coating of any protective spray, either a clear matte acrylic varnish (such as those for protecting canvas painting), or the well known scotchgard (but this one needs reapplying every year or so, if you use your Shamisen a lot).
Cheers,
Oh, and be careful with the grommets. Even Kyle himself had issues with the inside part of the grommet scratching the Dou on one batch of Tsugaru Doukake (all fixed now). When you apply/press the grommet, you will see the inside part will curl up in many tiny sharp metal strips. That is almost sure to scratch the Dou. To prevent that, you need to cover the metal part (shards?) of the grommet. I recommend using superglue, in several layers.
You first add a small coating of superglue to the gromett on the inner side of the Doukake, then spray some accelerant (or wait at least 10 minutes, as open air superglue takes much longer to dry). Keep applying coats until you are satisfied you have exceeded the height of the grommet metal tips. Then file the excess glue down using either a sandpaper of a nail file until you nearly reach the metal. And if you have covered the hole by mistake, just take a drill bit of the size of the hole, and using your hand (not a drill), twist the drill bit to slowly remove the glue in the hole without cracking the rest of the glue.
By the way, nice Japanese whisky on the background. Cheers!
for the wood glue with the tenjin cover, i spread it very very fine with a popcicle stick. practically until there was no “white” and the glue was semi-translucent. so basically spread incredibly thin. none came through. sunday here most of the DIY shops are closed so i’ll just be extra careful with the glue on the doukake
i did leave a bunch of extra fabric for that exact reason, even bought a fresh pack of wooden clothes pegs like in kyles book. i assume when the book says to glue the top and not the sides it means the whole top of the doukake shell?
for preservation i was going to use a topcoat already. just waiting on that to arrive since i don’t think my tamiya topcoat for model kits will be the right choice.
that thing about the grommets is a huge help. thank you for warning me on that. i’ll be sure to do that once it’s all done (still in the shell drying stage right now. should be done in a couple of hours by the feel of it)
and thanks on the whiskey comment 
i find toki to be the best tasting whiskey in my price range so it’s my go-to
That is really really nice! Congratulations!
Now… Beware of “doukake fever”! 
You will want to create new designs every month.
