Kiwi Nakiri rehandle/ matching saya from a piece of cedar plank WIP

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quantumcloud509

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So I got a kid at work whos turning 18 Wednesday. I wanted to do something nice for him, so Im sharpening and fixing the tip of his knife to the best of my abilities and when I return it from my days off on wednesday, I want to present him with his first nakiri as well.

Found Kiwi nakiri at local Thai food store for $2.99. Found cedar plank under my car port. And off I went into the sunset not having the slightest clue of what Im doing:

View attachment 20316 ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384845071.407615.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384845086.734915.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384845099.944099.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384845112.781391.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384845136.123009.jpg
 
Awesome little project... Can't wait to see the end result!
 
ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384845179.741626.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384845193.440868.jpg so i know cedar isnt a good wood for this but time is short and i dont have anything else. I barely have any tools, and I dont know what Im doing and im on a very short time frame. I do have some ebony stain and some clear coat...i know ill stain, not sure if ill clear yet...i also have a low rpm buffer/ polisher and buffing and polishing compound so maybe after stain ill just use that to finish the wood. Just gotta make sure the stain doesnt stain his hands when hes using it. I got lucky and a friend brought over a jigsaw for me to use on a short whim. Wife says i cant use electrical tools anore tonight cuz ill wake up the baby, so im going to go try to use a drill and drill a hole for the tang in the handle and cut the saya in half by hand with my hacksaw. More pictures to follow! Laugh away... :D
 
Ps the handle will be a wa octagonal handle, and I am on the lookouts for a piece of steel, copper, or brass dowel to put into the heel of the handle to a little added weight to the super light kiwi.
 
ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384846693.617429.jpg

Ok. Got the hole drilled. Ideally i will find some epoxy tomorrow within walking distance of my house and grind down the already weak-sauce Kiwi half tang into something that will fit inside the hole. Fill the hole with epoxy, put the knife in and somehow ghetto stabilize it so it stays centered and in place while it dries.
 
Nope, not working too well...hacksaw blade slips a lot and beginning to steer. Gonna have to find someone with a tablesaw tomorrow. ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384847930.938295.jpg
 
Freehand semi-WA handle on the low rpm grinder... ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384849618.483784.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384849643.178555.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384849675.931316.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384849704.711936.jpg it was quiet enough and the cutting was quiet because of the soft wood that i didnt wake up the baby.
 
Ok now I am torn wether to go old school and burn the saya/ handle like a burnt chestnut handle on my Kato and then clear coat or stay with the ebony stain, or both...hmmm decisions decisions...
 
Also wondering if I should add some sort of pin into the end of the tang through the handle for more beauty/ weight in addition to the pin I want to add to the butt of the handle...if I do this, the pin ideally will look centered in the handle...ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384850265.828719.jpg
 
I think a centered pin would look ace, My vote goes for a light stain and coat on the handle and saya... That burn't look never caught on with me.
 
I knew this was gonna turn into another Lucretias lucrative feet post. Anyways... Bought some epoxy, not sure if its the right stuff but its whats gonna get used. At my friends fence shop split the saya in half and one of the eye burls popped out, oh well, im thinking of popping the other one out as well...itll look cool. He just happened to have a planer sitting out and i planed the saya pieces down. Hes a marlboro man type of guy and I had a couple really old zippo lighters on me which needed flint, but I gifted them to him for helping me out, in return he gave me a cool little vice, so now I dont have to pull a Lucretia again! :)ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384891114.773917.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384891145.375409.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384891158.933312.jpg
 
Had a thick gauge piece of copper wire for the pin but forgot it in my buddies car so now gonna have to figure something new out. Marked the layout on the tang of what Im going to cut. Doesnt look very safe...but gotta finish this project... :/
 
CRAP!! Crap crap!! I was messing around and doing something totally unnecessary and...ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384893702.077598.jpgImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384893728.745389.jpgreally dont have time for this...no pin nailer available but i do have some gorilla wood glue and a c clamp. Hope this works!! Def setting me back now as my next project was to hollow out the saya and glue it together. Maybe ill go look for a pin for the handle and focus on that some...
 
ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384896132.997828.jpg cant find pin material, outlined the inside of the saya now to clean it out and glue this sucker together...
 
ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384899801.179267.jpghollowed out saya. Now to glue it and round it off afterwards. Still need to find material for handle pin and saya pin.
 
Mind you Im babysitting a 4 month old and have to clean the house and cook dinner in the next 2.5 hours :D
 
ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384900530.062144.jpggluing process. Really hope too much glue doesnt go into the saya and restrict movement of knife.

I know its silly but im going to try and etch the kiwi. Heating up vinegar right now. I dont even know if this is how you do it...never etched anything in my life. Is this process even called etching or forcing a patina? Ive been here long enough...i really should know...did way too many drugs back in the day...
 
No i doesnt have. Give me example please? I did get a super super badass color pattern! Its blowing my mind dude! ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1384905115.938260.jpgcant really tell in the pic but it has super pearlescent colors within a gray border reminiscent of a traditional japanese watercolor mt fuji painting.
 
Should have specified sorry, mustard will probably do the same thing the vinegar did but with a slightly wilder pattern i would assume.
etchant being the chemical added to 'etch' - remove metal, should be able to buy it over the counter at radioshack... pretty sure you can get it on ebay too. But looks like you don't need it!

That reaction is BADASS! :nunchucks:

Awesome work man, you're tempted to keep it now i bet.
 
Ye that thought crossed my mind but I think it would be way cooler to give it to this kid man. Hes from the hood and you only turn 18 once and I think him and his 19 year old dishwasher buddy will run a very successful restaurant someday...trying to invest in their future...
 
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