I made me a Nakiri

[cotedupy]

Now bear in mind I'm not a knifemaker, I make handles and I make knives sharp, so be gentle! But 'sharpening', especially when something requires heavy repair, effectively becomes the second stage of knifemaking; reprofiling, regrinding, and polishing. And I know my way round those things, just not forging.

I didn't have anything to do for the last half hour at work yesterday, so I thought I'd make a nakiri cos I don't actually have one atm, and a colleague of mine had given me a kinda rectangle shaped bit of steel that he'd forged and hardened. Dunno exactly what it is, but it's monosteel, pretty good quality by the feel of it, and reasonably hard - I'd guess around 62. So basically all I had to do was profile it, grind it, and make a handle, all of which I’m pretty decent at.

It's a fairly hefty nakiri; 160 x 58mm, and 250g all in. Spine is about 6.5mm out of the handle, with some very nice forged distal taper, which obviously I can't claim credit for. Though I am quite pleased with my grinding effort which is really nice and thin bte.

I also etched it in nitric, and so made a one-piece bog oak handle today to match that. It looks pretty cool I think, and the balance point is basically my ideal.

 

[Uncle Danny]

Congrats on the first knife. Pretty special feeling, right

 

[cotedupy]

And yes, it can (obviously) do this...

 

[cotedupy]

Congrats on the first knife. Pretty special feeling, right

Oh, it isn't the first knife I've made tbf, I just don't do it very often.

(It is the first nakiri though!)

 

[Uncle Danny]

Then… Nice nakiri

 

[azn_knives_4l]

Yep. That's a rectangle!

 

[cotedupy]

Then… Nice nakiri

Ta.

And rather surprisingly - my mono drill job this time was almost as good as yours! Though in my case it was entirely fluke…

 

[azn_knives_4l]

Hey! Since I have your attention... Any thoughts on the 'time' it takes to produce your typical drops through paper towel edge relative to other edges? I can't drop like that but I feel it's pretty negligible for s-cutting paper towel absent repair, thinning, and polishing. Toilet paper slicing takes me longer but that's because I'm bad and don't sharpen enough to stay in practice

 

[cotedupy]

Hey! Since I have your attention... Any thoughts on the 'time' it takes to produce your typical drops through paper towel edge relative to other edges? I can't drop like that but I feel it's pretty negligible for s-cutting paper towel absent repair, thinning, and polishing. Toilet paper slicing takes me longer but that's because I'm bad and don't sharpen enough to stay in practice

In terms of actual edge sharpening; probably the same amount of time as anything else, maybe 2-4 mins.

The most important factor is the geometry. If you gave me a blunt Wusthof or Sabatier I probably wouldn’t be able to get it to drop paper towel at all just by edge sharpening. I’d need to thin it out a fair bit bte. So looked at another way - you could also say it’d take me considerably more time.

I think pretty much every show-off paper towel video I’ve ever posted here is using one of my own knives. And I’ve made the geometry very good before sharpening the edge.

 

[azn_knives_4l]

In terms of actual edge sharpening; probably the same amount of time as anything else, maybe 2-4 mins.

The most important factor is the geometry. If you gave me a blunt Wusthof or Sabatier I probably wouldn’t be able to get it to drop paper towel at all just by edge sharpening. I’d need to thin it out considerably bte. So looked at another way - you could say it’d take me considerably more time.

I think pretty much every paper towel video I’ve ever posted here is using one of my own knives. And I’ve made the geometry very good before sharpening the edge.

Figures Just have to say I think your paper towel cutting is seriously on another level, lol. I've never seen anything else like it and I've been wandering for a while now.

 

[Rideon66]

Nice Nakiri Oli.

 

[Uncle Danny]

Ta.

And rather surprisingly - my mono drill job this time was almost as good as yours! Though in my case it was entirely fluke…

View attachment 322295

That’s tight like a tiger! Lovely job.

Is the bog oak stabilised? Sorry if you’ve mentioned it above.

 

[cotedupy]

Figures Just have to say I think your paper towel cutting is seriously on another level, lol. I've never seen anything else like it and I've been wandering for a while now.

Ta! Yeah I'm not too shabby.

It is a fairly niche* skill to have on one's CV. However if there is anyone out there who has gone through life constantly vexed by the traditional size and shape of a piece of paper towel, always wishing that it was 50% smaller, but who didn't own a pair of scissors... I would certainly be the person to call.



* Also I just learnt recently that Americans pronounce niche as 'nitch'. Is that true? Cos that's definitely not how it's pronounced - it's pronounced 'neesh'.

---

That’s tight like a tiger! Lovely job.

Is the bog oak stabilised? Sorry if you’ve mentioned it above.

Not stabilized, no. Bog oak is pretty dense, so it probably wouldn't do much. You know about how they get and prepare bog oak, right...?


When they pull an 8,000 year old oak tree out of a Fens bog, about 2/3rds of its weight is water. It's an incredibly delicate operation to do without breaking the tree, because it's so soft. It then has to be dried very carefully and very slowly, to get rid of that. During which time it shrinks accordingly, so that at the end - the tree is less than half the size it was at the beginning. And because of that the wood is far denser than regular oak timber, even though it's effectively the same tree (species).

 

[cotedupy]

I've also found out what the steel is...

As well as being a knifemaker, my colleague who gave me the 'blank' is something of an expert in katana, and sharpening and polishing them. A very nice, very interesting guy. And this nakiri is clay tempered 80CRV2 apparently. So it's actually a honyaki nakiri, and under the wabi-sabi kuruochi there will be a hamon.

He reckoned 60 HRC, I thought it felt a bit harder, but I might've been mistaking wear resistance for hardness.

 

[azn_knives_4l]

Ta! Yeah I'm not too shabby.

It is a fairly niche* skill to have on one's CV. However if there is anyone out there who has gone through life constantly vexed by the traditional size and shape of a piece of paper towel, always wishing that it was 50% smaller, but who didn't own a pair of scissors... I would certainly be the person to call.



* Also I just learnt recently that Americans pronounce niche as 'nitch'. Is that true? Cos that's definitely not how it's pronounced - it's pronounced 'neesh'.

---



Not stabilized, no. Bog oak is pretty dense, so it probably wouldn't do much. You know about how they get and prepare bog oak, right...?


When they pull an 8,000 year old oak tree out of a Fens bog, about 2/3rds of its weight is water. It's an incredibly delicate operation to do without breaking the tree, because it's so soft. It then has to be dried very carefully and very slowly, to get rid of that. During which time it shrinks accordingly, so that at the end - the tree is less than half the size it was at the beginning. And because of that the wood is far denser than regular oak timber, even though it's effectively the same tree (species).

Okay but say water for me or maybe penguin.

Edit: Just going to leave this here...

 

[Uncle Danny]

Ta! Yeah I'm not too shabby.

It is a fairly niche* skill to have on one's CV. However if there is anyone out there who has gone through life constantly vexed by the traditional size and shape of a piece of paper towel, always wishing that it was 50% smaller, but who didn't own a pair of scissors... I would certainly be the person to call.



* Also I just learnt recently that Americans pronounce niche as 'nitch'. Is that true? Cos that's definitely not how it's pronounced - it's pronounced 'neesh'.

---



Not stabilized, no. Bog oak is pretty dense, so it probably wouldn't do much. You know about how they get and prepare bog oak, right...?


When they pull an 8,000 year old oak tree out of a Fens bog, about 2/3rds of its weight is water. It's an incredibly delicate operation to do without breaking the tree, because it's so soft. It then has to be dried very carefully and very slowly, to get rid of that. During which time it shrinks accordingly, so that at the end - the tree is less than half the size it was at the beginning. And because of that the wood is far denser than regular oak timber, even though it's effectively the same tree (species).

The bog oak I get isn’t as dense as yours looks. Interesting.
But a lovely piece of wood to work with

 

[cotedupy]

Okay but say water for me or maybe penguin.

Edit: Just going to leave this here...

I don’t think you folk pronounce penguin incorrectly, ‘pen-gwin’ is absolutely correct!




(Water probably does have a difference though, you’re right. Many or most British regional accents use a glottal stop instead of the ‘ter’ second syllable).

 

[azn_knives_4l]

I don’t think you folk pronounce penguin incorrectly, ‘pen-gwin’ is absolutely correct!




(Water probably does have a difference though, you’re right. Many or most British regional accents use a glottal stop instead of the ‘ter’ second syllable).

Ahhhhhhhh. That's just Cumberbatch then Am a huge fan of 'innit', tbh, and also your incredible specificity about fried potatoes Idk about that Chinese curry sauce for chips tho... I want to make fun but we have gloppy brown sauce and sugar chicken so

 

[cotedupy]

The bog oak I get isn’t as dense as yours looks. Interesting.
But a lovely piece of wood to work with

Yep, there is certainly some variation in density. I think some of the very dark-coloured, edge grain cut pieces from the outside of the trunk can be a bit lighter weight, ime anyway. And I guess it also depends on the particular tree too…(?)

The piece I used on the handle here is probably around ‘average’ I’d say. I’ve had heavier pieces, but also some a fair bit lighter.

 

[Uncle Danny]

And I actually was fiddling with some heavier bog oak the other day at my local wood pusher - so very much agree. There really is quite some variation and that is after all only “natural” get it… da joke
(I’ll see my self out)

 

[cotedupy]

And I actually was fiddling with some heavier bog oak the other day at my local wood pusher - so very much agree. There really is quite some variation and that is after all only “natural” get it… da joke
(I’ll see my self out)

If you can get it from your man - one of the most beautiful woods I’ve ever worked with is end grain cut bog oak. So there’s a colour gradient in a single piece, getting lighter toward the centre of the tree.

I would love to have a decent stash of this:

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...s-finished-handle-projects.49832/post-1020669

 

[Uncle Danny]

That is beautiful. I’ve only seen some very beautiful grey colour ways at the shop. But now I’m on the hunt