danielomalley
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2013
- Messages
- 79
- Reaction score
- 1
I recently had someone contact me to rehandle a Shigefusa gyuto. It was made without handle scales. Shigefusa's western handled gyuto have an incredible grace to them that always inspires me when I'm working a handle. This one was suminagashi. I brought in a bunch of different woods to choose from and the curly koa really seemed to go well with the pattern. Mark brought in a central pin that he liked. I'm a big fan of using a central mosaic pin with side hidden bolt rivets. I've had a number of folks ask to see a some of my process creating handles and thought this would be a fun one to show. For the most part, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
It's always a little nerve racking to slice a new piece of wood. Having the blade glide to the side can be pretty frustrating!
I like to align the holes straight with the spine and have about the same distance from the very back of the beak as from the back edge of the bolster. If I'm working with a material that has more tendency to move over time, I move the front and rear rivets outward.
I hollow out the tang of the knife a bit. This both gives a better fit, but it also lightens up the handle and brings the weight forward into the blade.
We've got all the shaping and profiling done here. We're at about 600 grit.
A little elbow grease moves from 0, 00, 000 and finally to 0000 steel wool. I really like the control that the steel wool gives me without rounding anything I don't want rounded or changing the shape.
-Daniel
It's always a little nerve racking to slice a new piece of wood. Having the blade glide to the side can be pretty frustrating!
I like to align the holes straight with the spine and have about the same distance from the very back of the beak as from the back edge of the bolster. If I'm working with a material that has more tendency to move over time, I move the front and rear rivets outward.
I hollow out the tang of the knife a bit. This both gives a better fit, but it also lightens up the handle and brings the weight forward into the blade.
We've got all the shaping and profiling done here. We're at about 600 grit.
A little elbow grease moves from 0, 00, 000 and finally to 0000 steel wool. I really like the control that the steel wool gives me without rounding anything I don't want rounded or changing the shape.
-Daniel