A Very Special Shigefusa Project - High-End Clothes - WIP

I have this very special knife from a customer for a saya and handle upgrade. I have seen many Shige yanagi, but this one stands above them all. I think I have seen only one that came close. Tall and massive, would be the words to describe it.

So, I am thinking of making a saya for it that is only seen with 2K+ knives. Typically it's ebony, with a chamfered spine, groves and dots on the front side, angled tip, and finger recesses (no pin). I have done a simple version of it, but not in a tropical hard wood.

So this is a project I started. Wood is cocobolo, for both the saya and the handle.

I resawn the wood for the saya, and let it rest for a over a week. This is done to let the tension of the grain to normalize. My next step is carving. This is pretty lengthy and meticulous process, as the fit on the saya has to be precise.

I will post some pics over the next couple of days

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Will love to see how this turns out

Yup!

This is the type of saya (without silver inlays) that I have in mind - Salty's Mizuno yanagi's. I think it will fit the Shigefusa well. I have always had a soft spot for Shigefusa, and this particular one is definitely worthy of this kind of upgrade.

This type doesn't use a pin, but rather internal "lock" that keeps the knife secure inside.

If it's not some sort of trade secret, could you give a simple explanation of how the "internal lock" works? Something like a dimple on the inside of the saya that catches on the choil?

larrybard said:

If it's not some sort of trade secret, could you give a simple explanation of how the "internal lock" works? Something like a dimple on the inside of the saya that catches on the choil?

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It's not a trade secret, of course. On the inside, one with a chisel makes a series of notches, raising wood in a way that resembles a table saw featherboard, jamming the knife between two walls once the blade is fully inserted into a saya. Wood, in contrast to other methods, doesn't scratch the blade.

M

Soooo, how about a pic of the shig for us shig fans. Pretty please.

I finally carved out some time for this project. Here are some pics.

The wood is an old growth cocobolo. Just need to confirm with the owner about the handle construction (two spacers, a wide in the front,a narrow in the back, contrasting ferrule and end cap). Once I am done with the handle, I will start on the saya. That's where the challenge lies, as I want to make it similar to the one in the picture below





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That's going to look great I am sure, but...looks like a sink hole of time. I just don't see how you can charge enough to make this profitable for you.

The double-spacer handle should look similarly to this one

Bill13 said:

That's going to look great I am sure, but...looks like a sink hole of time. I just don't see how you can charge enough to make this profitable for you.

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If I only had money in my sight, I would not do most things I do)))

This is a fan project that I wanted to do for a long time. It took me a long time to get myself to it. The customer has been very patient. )))

Marko Tsourkan said:

If I only had money in my sight, I would not do most things I do)))

This is a fan project that I wanted to do for a long time. It took me a long time to get myself to it. The customer has been very patient. )))

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Love hearing that and very excited to see how it all turns out =)

Marko Tsourkan said:

The double-spacer handle should look similarly to this one

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If I had my druthers, literally every knife I own would be dressed like this. Fecking Darth Vader ****.

Shigefusa handles. I am making a handle for another Shige as well, also a kitaeji. I already make a koa saya for it. This will be a matching set in unstabilized koa.

Marko Tsourkan said:

This will be a matching set in unstabilized koa.

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That's looks great! But why use the Koa unstabilised?

MAS4T0 said:

That's looks great! But why use the Koa unstabilised?

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I can only answer why I had Marko use unstabilised Koa on my knife. The color/look changes when it's stabilized, both are beautiful but I prefer the look of unstabilised. I also was concerned that the weight of the new handle might change the balance of the knife. Not sure how much weight would be added by the resins, but it was a concern.

bkultra said:

I can only answer why I had Marko use unstabilised Koa on my knife. The color/look changes when it's stabilized, both are beautiful but I prefer the look of unstabilised. I also was concerned that the weight of the new handle might change the balance of the knife. Not sure how much weight would be added by the resins, but it was a concern.

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Thanks for the info. Is Koa naturally quite stable or will it need to be kept well oiled/waxed?

I'm just curious, as I've only ever had oily hardwoods unstabilised on custom handles.

MAS4T0 said:

Thanks for the info. Is Koa naturally quite stable or will it need to be kept well oiled/waxed?

I'm just curious, as I've only ever had oily hardwoods unstabilised on custom handles.

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I have made a few handles in unstabilized koa and all seem to wear pretty nicely up to day. Stabilizing darkens most woods, as Brian pointed out, and to have have a perfect match is difficult, even if both pieces come from the same board. Also, some shades in koa (orange/flame) are lost during stabilizing, and that is a pity, as koa has some of the most amazing shades - you put some oil on a block of wood, and thee color just pops out!

Koa is relatively stable, and I finish it with several coats of TruOil, creating a thin protective (though not waterproof) coat. A proper care is a must for an ustabilzied wood like koa, and it is discussed before I undertake a project like this.

Marko Tsourkan said:

I am making a handle for another Shige as well, also a kitaeji. I already make a koa saya for it. This will be a matching set in unstabilized koa.

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once the wood oxidizes a little bit, the figure will look like this:



Now on to making saya. This is by far the most difficult saya I have ever attempted

Wow! Gorgeous.

Impressive, very nice work.

Finally got to continue with this project. Carving a saya for a single beveled knife is much more challenging than for a double beveled, so I took my time getting it done. You can see the tools I used for the task. A visor and a good spot light are very helpful. I used an exacto knife to trace a mechanical pencil outline of the yanagi on the board, and then cut into the outline with the edge of a saya chisel (it's rounded). Then removed material along the outline, then started carving to the blade's geometry, fitting, carving more, fitting, carving more.. till the blade sank in the cavity and fit well - no movement inside, but no too tight.

Carving cocobolo is very tedious and labor intensive task.

Next step is to glue up the saya (with epoxy), let it dry for 48 hours and then I can start shaping it.

That looks like a great piece of Cocobolo. I can't wait to see it fully finished

The handle and the saya are from the same board

Very nice Marko

Marko,

This will be stunning when done, love how the saya and handle are from the same board.

Are the Shig tangs usually that chunky? Or is it based upon the length of the knife for balance?

Yep, every Shige tangi is chunky, and in most cases, the attention to detail on tangs is pretty evident. They could improve a little bit on shoulder squareness))) and the distance on the shoulder height at the top and at the bottom (can drive you crazy making a handle), but all in all, Shige tangs are some of the best I have seen and pretty consistent from one knife to another (in length thickness, height). All Shige are blade heavy, even the thinnest ones (with exception of the petties)

Finished saya.