Mortnate
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- Jan 18, 2015
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Spent some time in the wood shop and thought I'd share the results. Bought a used shimatani yanagiba and wanted to replace the handle. For materials I used a very old piece of redwood and buffalo horn.
Wish I would have thought to take more pictures earlier in the process. I got into working on it and wasn't really thinking about taking pictures.
Started by squaring up the wood blank and drilled a starter tang hole. Turned two round tenons on both ends on the lathe. Cut the horn to length and drilled holes to match the tenons. Was a tight fit but still used glue, tight-bond type 3. The tenons also had a slight taper, so if the wood compressed it would stay tight. The blank returned to the lathe for cleanup, reduction in diameter, and squared off the ends.
Now off the lathe, time for burn in. Heated the tang 3 times to get to final depth. Kept bucket of water nearby incase temperature got to hot. Also used a rubber mallet. Was the most stressful step. A good amount of work was invested and would hate to have cracked the handle. Also would hate to destroy the tempering of the blade. All went well though, redwood being a softwood accepted the tang very smoothly.
From this point I used a disc sander to go from round to octagon. Wish I had a belt sander. Disc was a bit aggressive With less control. Took it slow and moved to sanding boards after shape was close. Sanded to 320 then switched to wet/dry and sanded with mineral oil up to 1500. Was planning on buffing but was really digging the matte finish on the horn. Might still buff it out later, if I don't like it as much I'll sand it again with the wet/dry progression again.
Hope my process might help others thinking of attempting the same. If someone has any questions, ask away. Also if others with experience want, can give me constructive criticism. I will be attempting more and trying out different woods too.
Wish I would have thought to take more pictures earlier in the process. I got into working on it and wasn't really thinking about taking pictures.
Started by squaring up the wood blank and drilled a starter tang hole. Turned two round tenons on both ends on the lathe. Cut the horn to length and drilled holes to match the tenons. Was a tight fit but still used glue, tight-bond type 3. The tenons also had a slight taper, so if the wood compressed it would stay tight. The blank returned to the lathe for cleanup, reduction in diameter, and squared off the ends.
Now off the lathe, time for burn in. Heated the tang 3 times to get to final depth. Kept bucket of water nearby incase temperature got to hot. Also used a rubber mallet. Was the most stressful step. A good amount of work was invested and would hate to have cracked the handle. Also would hate to destroy the tempering of the blade. All went well though, redwood being a softwood accepted the tang very smoothly.
From this point I used a disc sander to go from round to octagon. Wish I had a belt sander. Disc was a bit aggressive With less control. Took it slow and moved to sanding boards after shape was close. Sanded to 320 then switched to wet/dry and sanded with mineral oil up to 1500. Was planning on buffing but was really digging the matte finish on the horn. Might still buff it out later, if I don't like it as much I'll sand it again with the wet/dry progression again.
Hope my process might help others thinking of attempting the same. If someone has any questions, ask away. Also if others with experience want, can give me constructive criticism. I will be attempting more and trying out different woods too.