This is quite an obvious thing to do tbh, I do it a lot and I'm sure many others do too, I'm not trying to claim any great innovation. But maybe someone hadn't thought of it, so here's the process of what is most certainly the easiest way to make a nice Japanese knife handle. Most of the below is gonna be quite simple stuff, I'm just breaking it down step by step.
So your average, fancy-ish Japanese knife will come with a handle that involves a nice bit of horn for the ferrule attached to a bit of Ho wood for the main part. In terms of tactile feel Ho wood is rather good as a handle material, though it does have some notable drawbacks in other areas; it's quite light so larger knives tend be very forward weighted, it absorbs quite a lot of moisture unless you coat it with something, and it's unremittingly drab and awful to look at.
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I received this NOS Takohiki from @refcast recently, and was quite pleased to see just how pretty the red marbled horn ferrule was. And that ferrule is gonna play into my hands when making a new handle for it, because the only particularly difficult or annoying part of making a wa handle is drilling it neatly. But by sawing the ferrule off and re-using it we're gonna allow an expert in Japan to do that bothersome work for us.
First knock yer handle off. There are tons of videos out there explaining this fully, but basically; 90 deg c oven for 10 or 15 mins, wrap the blade in a bit of newsaper or tea towel, hold it against a piece of wood with the ferrule over the end, and hit the other end of the wood with a hammer or mallet. This handle below had actually been burnt in so I probably didn't need to bother with oven-ing before, but it's kinda difficult to tell if a handle's been glued or not until you remove it.
Putting horn in an oven will dry it out slightly, making it go dull and milky-looking. All you need to do is give it a little fine sanding and a smear of mineral oil and you're back in the game.
Then just saw the ferrule off. You'll notice I've left a wee bit of the Ho wood on too, in case I want it as a spacer. Most buffalo horn ferrules are black, and they can work nicely with a light coloured Ho wood spacer and then some dark wood for the main part (contrast innit!).
I then cleaned the tang up by sitting it in a glass of vinegar for about ten mins, before a little coarse sanding.
[TBC]
So your average, fancy-ish Japanese knife will come with a handle that involves a nice bit of horn for the ferrule attached to a bit of Ho wood for the main part. In terms of tactile feel Ho wood is rather good as a handle material, though it does have some notable drawbacks in other areas; it's quite light so larger knives tend be very forward weighted, it absorbs quite a lot of moisture unless you coat it with something, and it's unremittingly drab and awful to look at.
---
I received this NOS Takohiki from @refcast recently, and was quite pleased to see just how pretty the red marbled horn ferrule was. And that ferrule is gonna play into my hands when making a new handle for it, because the only particularly difficult or annoying part of making a wa handle is drilling it neatly. But by sawing the ferrule off and re-using it we're gonna allow an expert in Japan to do that bothersome work for us.
First knock yer handle off. There are tons of videos out there explaining this fully, but basically; 90 deg c oven for 10 or 15 mins, wrap the blade in a bit of newsaper or tea towel, hold it against a piece of wood with the ferrule over the end, and hit the other end of the wood with a hammer or mallet. This handle below had actually been burnt in so I probably didn't need to bother with oven-ing before, but it's kinda difficult to tell if a handle's been glued or not until you remove it.
Putting horn in an oven will dry it out slightly, making it go dull and milky-looking. All you need to do is give it a little fine sanding and a smear of mineral oil and you're back in the game.
Then just saw the ferrule off. You'll notice I've left a wee bit of the Ho wood on too, in case I want it as a spacer. Most buffalo horn ferrules are black, and they can work nicely with a light coloured Ho wood spacer and then some dark wood for the main part (contrast innit!).
I then cleaned the tang up by sitting it in a glass of vinegar for about ten mins, before a little coarse sanding.
[TBC]
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