An Amateur's journey to knifemaking

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Joining this forum has jump started my interest in blacksmithing, handle making, and other facets of Knife making. I hope to one day get to the point where I can forge beautiful knives myself; can't work in the kitchen forever. I have a pretty expansive machine warehouse at my disposal but need to purchase necessities like a good anvil and a forge. Recommendations welcomed.

I have decided to start out with rehandling projects first and I would like to post my work in progress here. Please feel free to comment and give me suggestions. I am a beginner but really want to learn as much as I can whether it's about steel or other parts of knife fabrication.

My first knife rehandle: Western handle Santoku (185mm), the knife was purchased very rusty and with the scales already removed but the brass pins still in. I am unsure of the maker it was listed as KIYA. I am waiting on a delayed shipment of sanding belts, so I have been unable to finish the knife (hopefully arrives this week).



This has been very fun and rewarding to see the progress and the finished project on the horizon. The mistakes have been costly though, and I've learned it's important to plan out ahead of time and have very accurate measurements.
I am also currently working on a sculpted hidden tang western rehandle made out of black and white ebony. (pictures soon)
I love lots of projects planned for the future but need to get a few more pieces of equipment.

 

[deltaplex]

Joining this forum has jump started my interest in blacksmithing, handle making, and other facets of Knife making. I hope to one day get to the point where I can forge beautiful knives myself; can't work in the kitchen forever. I have a pretty expansive machine warehouse at my disposal but need to purchase necessities like a good anvil and a forge. Recommendations welcomed.

I have decided to start out with rehandling projects first and I would like to post my work in progress here. Please feel free to comment and give me suggestions. I am a beginner but really want to learn as much as I can whether it's about steel or other parts of knife fabrication.

My first knife rehandle: Western handle Santoku (185mm), the knife was purchased very rusty and with the scales already removed but the brass pins still in. I am unsure of the maker it was listed as KIYA. I am waiting on a delayed shipment of sanding belts, so I have been unable to finish the knife (hopefully arrives this week).

View attachment 341352View attachment 341345View attachment 341351View attachment 341350View attachment 341349View attachment 341348View attachment 341347View attachment 341346View attachment 341353

This has been very fun and rewarding to see the progress and the finished project on the horizon. The mistakes have been costly though, and I've learned it's important to plan out ahead of time and have very accurate measurements.
I am also currently working on a sculpted hidden tang western rehandle made out of black and white ebony. (pictures soon)
I love lots of projects planned for the future but need to get a few more pieces of equipment.

Kiya is a retailer, so with a little bit more information about the blade, you might be able to figure out who produced it for them.

 

[Guirotin]

those zebra scales are very fun!
So far so good!

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

After a 5 week delay the sanding belts finally arrived. I finally got the chance to finish my first rehandling project. I am very pleased with the results.



I would appreciate any feedback, and help identifying this KIYA knife. I also worked on a scultped hidden tang handle made out of black and white ebony. Unfortunately, when chiseling out the hole I hit an air pocket in the wood and created a hole in the wall of the handle. I am thinking about filling it in with black epoxy.

 

[deltaplex]

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/restore-an-old-kiya-gyuto.56785/

Almost certainly a Misono swedish carbon mono

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/restore-an-old-kiya-gyuto.56785/

Almost certainly a Misono swedish carbon mono

Thank you, good sir.
I altered the profile a little bit and will work it on the stones today.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Got around to finishing the black and white ebony handle. I filled the gaps in with black epoxy made with charcoal. Initially was aiming to make a sculpted hidden tang western, but my overeagerness on the belt sander threw a wrench into that plan. I think I am happier with the sleek handle for this knife though; more seamless. Looking for recommendations for stain/finish for the handle.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Oof today I was humbled by a few failures. For a few days now, I have been trying to widen the hole for this corby bolt but dang this steel is tough as hell. I am unsure what type of steel it is (thinking some type of pm steel), but I was unable to drill a wider hole with carbide and titanium tipped bits. I resorted to getting sloppy due to my impatience; I decided to try to manually widen the hole by reaming a rod to width. This seems to work with the most minimal of results. As I tried more and more to widen this hole the stress was too much, and the tang broke in half. I'm frustrated because if I had just sat and thought for a minute than I would have realized this would happen.

I invested more into the vintage micarta (hole already drilled and cut to size) than the knife blank, but it doesn't sit right with me if I don't finish the product and make some use of the materials used. I decided to epoxy everything together and with the split tang the corby bolt was able to slightly fit between and stabilize the break. Lesson learned, and I need to find some tougher drill bits.

I plan to finish the knife up within the week. Looking forward to seeing the patina of the vintage micarta.

 

[M1k3]

Oof today I was humbled by a few failures. For a few days now, I have been trying to widen the hole for this corby bolt but dang this steel is tough as hell. I am unsure what type of steel it is (thinking some type of pm steel), but I was unable to drill a wider hole with carbide and titanium tipped bits. I resorted to getting sloppy due to my impatience; I decided to try to manually widen the hole by reaming a rod to width. This seems to work with the most minimal of results. As I tried more and more to widen this hole the stress was too much, and the tang broke in half. I'm frustrated because if I had just sat and thought for a minute than I would have realized this would happen.
View attachment 345867
I invested more into the vintage micarta (hole already drilled and cut to size) than the knife blank, but it doesn't sit right with me if I don't finish the product and make some use of the materials used. I decided to epoxy everything together and with the split tang the corby bolt was able to slightly fit between and stabilize the break. Lesson learned, and I need to find some tougher drill bits.

I plan to finish the knife up within the week. Looking forward to seeing the patina of the vintage micarta.
View attachment 345866

For next time, you can use a blowtorch on the tang to soften the steel. Your drill bits and sanity will thank you.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

For next time, you can use a blowtorch on the tang to soften the steel. Your drill bits and sanity will thank you.

I will make sure to try that next time thank you for the suggestion. I guess I just need to be careful of the heat treat on the blade edge then.

 

[deltaplex]

I will make sure to try that next time thank you for the suggestion. I guess I just need to be careful of the heat treat on the blade edge then.

Can clamp some aluminum around it at the tang to blade transition and keep the blade part in a bucket of water (or a bunch of other ways to keep it cool enough to anneal only what you want annealed

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Can clamp some aluminum around it at the tang to blade transition and keep the blade part in a bucket of water (or a bunch of other ways to keep it cool enough to anneal only what you want annealed

Thank you I will have to remember this and try this next time I run into this issue.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

This project is coming to a close. Ran out of time in the shop today but need to do a few more passes of some higher grit sandpaper and then wax and buff. New buffing machine coming this week so finished pictures of this handle and the black and white ebony soon.

The micarta has been interesting to work with, I don't like it as much as I had hoped to.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Got some equipment up and running. Unfortunately, I got screwed over by an ebay seller: I thought I had found a good anvil for a great price, but the guy scammed me and luckily, I was able to get a refund from paypal. So, I've been using a 4.5 in diameter round piece of 5140 steel (heat treated but not been great), but I've heard that if you always wait to have all the right equipment before forging, then you never will forge.

I've had a good time and will continue to work on it, but its serious work. No need to go to the gym this week. My biceps and shoulders are sore, I think a better hammer and anvil setup will make it easier.

I should have started out with a monosteel blade, but I like to push the envelope and started off with attempting san mai with 52100 and wrought iron. It was almost a complete failure, but the billet left was so small and thin that it won't make a knife. I know that I need to be at forge welding temps, but I need to dial in my eyes, so I know when it truly is at that temperature.

Since then, I have worked on monosteel forging more. I forged out some tamahagane from an old tanto and forged a skinning knife out of 52100.

Now I am struggling with next steps. I cleaned some of the scale off but tried not to thin the edges too much before heat treatment.

Hoping to attempt the wrought clad 52100 san mai again after some more experience.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Finally got some blanks ready for heat treating. I am sending the two large blades (made out of ATS-34) out for professional heat treatment.

The smaller blanks are forged from 52100 and I will be attempting heat treatment myself once I have the disposable funds for quenchant and other misc. equipment.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

While I am waiting for the blanks to be heat treated and sent back to me, I decided to modify a vintage knife. I bought a yo-deba on jauce, and it was incredibly heavy, and the handle was oversized.

I chose to make this knife closer to a narrower workhorse gyuto. I altered the profile and the height, and I am now working on thinning the blade.

Little teaser of some mangacarta (TM) I made, that's going to be used on this knife

I made sure to be careful not to overheat the blade while grinding; maybe 2-3 seconds on then immediately cooled. Took forever just to get to this point, hopefully the temper was unaffected. Thinking about finishing the thinning on stones but there's a lot of material left to remove.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Finished shaping and started sanding (400grit) to finish this mangacarta handle. If I make this material again, I will definitely need to improve my stabilization procedure.
Still need to sand to 1200grit and then planning on finishing with super glue to lock in the fibers. During the process of working with this material I struggled with it fraying and splitting. I needed to be careful and ultimately needed to reseal a few gaps. The handle shape is a bit unconventional but get shiggy with it, I guess.

 

[bonitoflakes111]

those zebra scales are very fun!
So far so good!

stripey stripey

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Got some blanks back from heat treating.

 

[WhilemyKnifeGentlyWeeps]

Oof almost had to scrap this handle I have spent all this time on.
At first, I thought I could drill out the tang slot by eye, started fine but quickly went bad. I forgot to take a picture, but I had managed to create an uneven and unsymmetrical tang slot.

Luckily, I think I was able to save it last minute by just drilling a larger hole and going the dowel route.

I think I prefer installing scales.