- Joined
- May 21, 2011
- Messages
- 3,132
Hi folks,
Today I took the train to the city of Antwerp. You see, recently I fabricated a home-made strop and I was in need of some stropping compound. I could purchase some from the internet, but I found a brick-and-mortar store that sold stropping paste and compound as well so I thought I'd take a look at that shop.
I arrived and I saw a variety of shaving material. Straight razors, strops,... But also kitchen knives, a small assortment of Opinel and Victorinox knives and... some large and small Douk-Douk knives. I've seen 'em on the forums, but I was never that much intrigued by them until recently. I was already planning on fixing myself a small collection of workman's knives so it was on the to-buy list. It crossed my path sooner than I had expected. I asked the man behind the counter if I could see a large and small Douk-Douk for comparison, and I was leaning more towards the small one since it reminded me of my well loved Opinel n° 7s. I also came to the realisation that -unlike my thoughts- it was actually a slipjoint. There's a spring underneath the back of the handle (where the piece of metal is folded over). I had expected it to be pressed tight around the pivot, making it a friction folder, but it wasn't. Good!
I asked to see more of the small ones and found out that all of them were pretty roughly ground, not much attention for detail, so I picked the one that looked best.
So home I went with some stropping compound... and an extra knife
This is how I got it.
Not too much wrong with it, a bit tight. But look at the tip of the blade in the previous picture. Rounded isn't it? I felt the same way, and it didn't really hurt my finger when I poked myself with it. Furthermore, halfway down the spine towards the tip, the blade was black. The spine was filled with deep grind marks as well. The glare in the picture does cover up most of what I'm talkin' about... But it is/was there.
What I also noticed, even though the Douk-Douk will never be known for its splendid ergonomics, the shape of the blade spine is quite ergonomical for rather detailed work. It lends itself very good for grabbing it with your thumb pretty close to the tip. Also, again notice the rounded tip.
I had some spare time and since it's a working blade and nothing to really showcase, I thought I'd clean it up quickly (the pivot was somewhat greasy and gritty) and clean up the spine a bit.
First things first: WD40
I gave it a good soak and cleaned it with a brush and some cloth. Next up was the sanding. I didn't take pics of the process but you'll see the results in the next couple of pics. I started out with a very low grit and worked my way up. 30-100-360-600-800-1000. It didn't go all too well because the initial grindlines were pretty deep. Without losing a lot of time, I wasn't going to be able to get it all the way it should be. So I settled with the result you'll see below. I did get the tip to be more pointy, which I like a lot more now. Here's the spine after the quick clean-up (the blackness is all gone atleast):
Here's a group shot with some similar sized blades, an Opinel n°7 and a Buck 302. What I noticed while handling and comparing these blades is the thinness of the Douk-Douk. Véry thin and unobtrisuve package when it's closed. But that doesn't mean light. Of course it's not heavy, but my Opi n°7 weighs less, or atleast it feels that way in my hand. The Opi is more comfortable to grip, because of the palmswell. All three knives are great cutters, especially after a good stropping. I like the looks of the clip in the 302. The Douk-Douk has a nice clip as well, ànd it presents some belly like the Opi does.
Here's a close-up of the blades. Notice the more pointy tip in comparison to the first pictures in this thread:
I hope you guys enjoyed this. I know I'm happy with my new acquisition and it'll get its fair share of use!:thumbup:
Today I took the train to the city of Antwerp. You see, recently I fabricated a home-made strop and I was in need of some stropping compound. I could purchase some from the internet, but I found a brick-and-mortar store that sold stropping paste and compound as well so I thought I'd take a look at that shop.
I arrived and I saw a variety of shaving material. Straight razors, strops,... But also kitchen knives, a small assortment of Opinel and Victorinox knives and... some large and small Douk-Douk knives. I've seen 'em on the forums, but I was never that much intrigued by them until recently. I was already planning on fixing myself a small collection of workman's knives so it was on the to-buy list. It crossed my path sooner than I had expected. I asked the man behind the counter if I could see a large and small Douk-Douk for comparison, and I was leaning more towards the small one since it reminded me of my well loved Opinel n° 7s. I also came to the realisation that -unlike my thoughts- it was actually a slipjoint. There's a spring underneath the back of the handle (where the piece of metal is folded over). I had expected it to be pressed tight around the pivot, making it a friction folder, but it wasn't. Good!
I asked to see more of the small ones and found out that all of them were pretty roughly ground, not much attention for detail, so I picked the one that looked best.
So home I went with some stropping compound... and an extra knife
This is how I got it.
Not too much wrong with it, a bit tight. But look at the tip of the blade in the previous picture. Rounded isn't it? I felt the same way, and it didn't really hurt my finger when I poked myself with it. Furthermore, halfway down the spine towards the tip, the blade was black. The spine was filled with deep grind marks as well. The glare in the picture does cover up most of what I'm talkin' about... But it is/was there.
What I also noticed, even though the Douk-Douk will never be known for its splendid ergonomics, the shape of the blade spine is quite ergonomical for rather detailed work. It lends itself very good for grabbing it with your thumb pretty close to the tip. Also, again notice the rounded tip.
I had some spare time and since it's a working blade and nothing to really showcase, I thought I'd clean it up quickly (the pivot was somewhat greasy and gritty) and clean up the spine a bit.
First things first: WD40
I gave it a good soak and cleaned it with a brush and some cloth. Next up was the sanding. I didn't take pics of the process but you'll see the results in the next couple of pics. I started out with a very low grit and worked my way up. 30-100-360-600-800-1000. It didn't go all too well because the initial grindlines were pretty deep. Without losing a lot of time, I wasn't going to be able to get it all the way it should be. So I settled with the result you'll see below. I did get the tip to be more pointy, which I like a lot more now. Here's the spine after the quick clean-up (the blackness is all gone atleast):
Here's a group shot with some similar sized blades, an Opinel n°7 and a Buck 302. What I noticed while handling and comparing these blades is the thinness of the Douk-Douk. Véry thin and unobtrisuve package when it's closed. But that doesn't mean light. Of course it's not heavy, but my Opi n°7 weighs less, or atleast it feels that way in my hand. The Opi is more comfortable to grip, because of the palmswell. All three knives are great cutters, especially after a good stropping. I like the looks of the clip in the 302. The Douk-Douk has a nice clip as well, ànd it presents some belly like the Opi does.
Here's a close-up of the blades. Notice the more pointy tip in comparison to the first pictures in this thread:
I hope you guys enjoyed this. I know I'm happy with my new acquisition and it'll get its fair share of use!:thumbup:
Last edited:
:thumbup: