Misono honesuki wa conversion

[Danzo]

hey y’all. Posted this one on BST before this project a while ago, didn’t sell and I’m glad for that.

Originally rehandled, first one I ever did. Did a pretty good job, but it wasn’t perfect.

Wasn’t high on a western honesuki and since it didn’t sell I figured I’ll just dink around with this one and turn it into what I want.

Single piece of bocote, mega taper rectangular octagonal front end, stop sign on the ass end.
Finish isn’t perfect from where the bolster came off but since it’s personal and carbon I figured I’ll let the patina cover the imperfections.

Thanks for looking

 

[Dendrobatez]

The bocote is some pretty nice looking wood, very nice cojversion. What was your process on removing the bolster?

 

[Danzo]

Once the original handle is off you can see that the bolster is pretty crudely brazed in place. From the handle end you can see it’s hollow. I took a chisel and hammer and whacked at it until it came mostly off. Then you just gotta grind it smooth

 

[Dendrobatez]

Thanks! I haven't done any westerns yet and wondered how it was done.

 

[Kippington]

I can't see any problems with the western one, not by the picture anyway.

They both look really good to me!

 

[Danzo]

the western was great, functionally perfect, no gaps in the epoxy or anything. it just didn't vibe with me. and now that i've done this i really like the extra knuckle clearance

 

[OneStaple]

How did you handle (haha, pun not intended) where the tang enters the handle? Can you show a picture?

I've been wanting to do a wa-handle with a single block of wood, but haven't come up with any amazing approaches to doing so (that I'm happy with) that don't take gobs of time. A second block of wood as a bolster gives more flexibility and ability to hide your approach, such as with a slotted dowel.

Love the handles!

Tyler

 

[Danzo]

I used a slotted dowel. You can’t really hide the dowel when you use a single piece of wood. I never do anyways though.