Bought a Morihei Hisamoto 240mm kurouchi western handle fine finish. Was happy with the cutting performance but not so much with the handle and balance. So I decided to convert it to wa.
Plus on this particular sample the spine was awful, really wide, almost felt like a T-cross section so that needed rework.
Ripped of the handle and scratched lines for the grinder.
Reduced the height of the neck to allow for a radius at the neck/choil.
Used a light grinder with my son standing by to pour some water over it every 30 seconds to avoid overheating. With gentle grinding heat was not to bad.
Result after initial deburring. Tang length 115mm.
Bevels on the neck and spine, choil rounded, sharp corner of heel removed somewhat.
Cut a tapered piece of walnut from a block
Sanding on kitchen counter to make it perpendicular. Walnut turns out easy to work with, easy to get good flat planes.
Drilled holes with a cordless drill with long 3mm drill bit.
Filing out the tang hole.
Trying it on for size, roughly shaped octagonal bevels with hand plane.
Plus on this particular sample the spine was awful, really wide, almost felt like a T-cross section so that needed rework.
Ripped of the handle and scratched lines for the grinder.
Reduced the height of the neck to allow for a radius at the neck/choil.
Used a light grinder with my son standing by to pour some water over it every 30 seconds to avoid overheating. With gentle grinding heat was not to bad.
Result after initial deburring. Tang length 115mm.
Bevels on the neck and spine, choil rounded, sharp corner of heel removed somewhat.
Cut a tapered piece of walnut from a block
Sanding on kitchen counter to make it perpendicular. Walnut turns out easy to work with, easy to get good flat planes.
Drilled holes with a cordless drill with long 3mm drill bit.
Filing out the tang hole.
Trying it on for size, roughly shaped octagonal bevels with hand plane.
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