WIP - Nakiri, Gyuto then Birds Beak

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Thanks, indeed, I completely forgot. What hardness do those Chisels have? This would be the most interesting route for me too (using chisels, that is)
 
No idea. Harder than unhardened d2 I know that much.

Thanks, indeed, I completely forgot. What hardness do those Chisels have? This would be the most interesting route for me too (using chisels, that is)
 
Forge has moved inside for the normalizing and heat treating
 
It didn't crack! File test seemed to prove it hardened. Now it's time for the temper.

 
hardness test after the temper. scratches on the spine and skating on the edge.




removed some scale with 180 sandpaper and I think.....I see a hamon...?
 
Toss me down for a honyaki bird's beak if you ever decide to go pro craftsmen. ***** awesome stuff, get to polishing.
 
Thanks for the props!....but I won't be putting my skin in the game. Just here to learn and be on my way.

Toss me down for a honyaki bird's beak if you ever decide to go pro craftsmen. ***** awesome stuff, get to polishing.
 
why am i just paying attention now? this is great.
there are some trustworthy hardness chisels out there if you're curious.
spankin hot handle too
 
So a night of sharpening polishing and handle fitting. A test fit. I did a test dip if ferric chloride and there is definitely a hamon. But I also realized I need to keep polishing the scratches out before I'll get a good finish. I'll have to pick this up next week.
 
I would love to hear how you finish (sand) the blade. I am in the same process with one kitchen knife.
 
It's a combination of wet stones and belt sander. I use a 220 stone then progress to 800 and in doing so reveal the deep scratches, then go back to the sander and take them out, then go back to 220 and then to 800. Once all the scratches at 800 are gone I move on to 1200 and so on.


The Honesuki had its own challenges, like flattening the back. The angular geometry of the honesuki lended well to polishing on flat stones, but the convex grind on the nakiri is proving to be more work if done by hand on flat stones. The double bevel grind on the nakiri was easy to do by hand on the sander, but the polishing might have to be done on a grinding wheel. I could polish and polish and polish but who wants to do that? I got **** to do.

I would love to hear how you finish (sand) the blade. I am in the same process with one kitchen knife.
 



No time a-wasting. First night of the BB and I've cut the basic shape and annealed the steel in order to make it easier to grind. I haven't done that yet with the honesuki or the nakiri. For the nakiri I used the anvil to get the general profile, now I want to see what annealing then grinding is like.
 
It's potato repellent. Click on the photo to watch the video.
 
Thanks. The video should work if you click on the photo, it will take ypu to photobucket where you can then press play. I wanted to avoid creating a youtube account but I will if photobucket video hosting doesn't work.

Jess, looking marvelous. Video didn't post though
 
Yeah, if I knew what I was doing. Otherwise, it's a very functional milestone and only my second knife. The heat treat is a bit spotty, but that's easily corrected on the next two.

the hamon is too low, in my opinion, and the edge is not quenched all over.
 
Good luck to you. In general.
 
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Initial grinding, normalizing and heat treat are done. Just waiting for the temper to finish and I'll see what results I got this time. There will be a lot of hand finishing on this one, for obvious reasons.

 
I have never seen a honyaki birds beak before. Soooooo cool. :knife: can't wait to see her ground up and polished.
 
That makes two of us. I'm done for the night. Got the handle glued-up. I want to do a different cross section for this handle as well. I kind of like the dull grey look knowing it's going to discolour anyway with use but I will need to hand sand a lot more and put an edge on it.

I have never seen a honyaki birds beak before. Soooooo cool. :knife: can't wait to see her ground up and polished.
 
Might be cool to see a pure k tip on it, right now it looks like it can't decide. Loving this thread by the way.
 
Thanks. What's a K tip, you'll have to explain.

When I drew it up the length looked too long if I connected the two radii, so I clipped the tip and it felt a bit less hook-like while still having the edge radius I wanted....which is modeled after my thumb.

Might be cool to see a pure k tip on it, right now it looks like it can't decide. Loving this thread by the way.
 
Handle is done, and a dry fit. Believe it or not, but the perimeter of the handle is the same as the larger nakiri and honesuki. I needed the profile to be smaller or it would dwarf the blade, but also needed it to be large to fit a normal hand. Rounding the back helps make up the perimeter quota as well as accommodating a knuckle grip.









 
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Lighten up. It's the guy's <em>second</em> knife, using the most basic technology. He did an outstanding job.<br>
Post a picture of the last knife you made so we can compare.
 
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Second knife yup, but first time heat treating. In the end I didn't know what I was looking at until I thought about it. There is another ghostly line further up on the blade, where I had the clay but it doesn't capture well on camera. I switched to the birds beak to help prove to myself what I came to understand about the heat soaking. Now I can start the gyuto and have more confidence in the process. I also learned I need a second burner for the back of the forge. One burner works well with a small knife, but the nakiri was pushing the limits. I can see that now. Thanks for the props!

Lighten up. It's the guy's second knife, using the most basic technology. He did an outstanding job.
Post a picture of the last knife you made so we can compare.
 
Bryan, feel free to post a thread detailing the knives you've made.

Great work on your part Jess. It must be a good feeling to use a knife you made from start to finish. That's accomplishment! I'm sure you'll have those for many years to come.
 
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