Depth of inlays on :YCS

I'm not 100% certain on this last run....but the one I saw a while back was around 1/8". Not much to work with, I know.

I'm debating taking the handle slabs off (very carefully) and sanding down the insides, then putting them back on. Won't have to mess with the inlays.

But, probably like everybody else, I'm too chicken right now...:D
 
Just looking at it most of the places you would really need to thin down don't have inlays. If you started at the edge of the diamonds and tapered it down to the ring there's no inlays there. Then from the ring to the edge of the Yin Yang- but that would be hard cause the distance is so short it would be hard to make it gradual. So do the slabs go up inside the bolster on a Chiruwa? Do you take off the buttcap and then what do you do to get them the rest of the way off?
 
Yes, buttplate off first. Then heat the laha around the pins and remove them. Then heat the steel and pull the slabs out of the bolster.

See the recent take down of the chiruwa AK to get an idea of what the slab looks like.
 
Hollow, my experience sanding in tight small places without a good angle of approach is not good. You could use a rotary drill bit, but if the bit slips and scours across your handle you will feel terrible. I wonder if the handle could be clamped in a drill press?

I guess you could try and see how much wood you can safely remove. You can always go further and take the inlays out if you have to.

How big are these handles?


munk
 
munk said:
Hollow, my experience sanding in tight small places without a good angle of approach is not good. You could use a rotary drill bit, but if the bit slips and scours across your handle you will feel terrible. I wonder if the handle could be clamped in a drill press?

I guess you could try and see how much wood you can safely remove. You can always go further and take the inlays out if you have to.

How big are these handles?


munk
Click to expand...

They are pretty big, and I think mine is one of the smaller ones.
 
IMO the handles on the originals were a little too large. And when the kamis enlarge a knife they also enlarge the handles, ie the Super Salyan!:eek:
I'm hoping when the special Foxy Folly run comes through that the handles are a bit smaller than the originals as to me they are a tad too big as well.
 
Dan Koster attempted to objectify hand size with a measurement group. ONe man's small handle is another's really really small. I'd rather have the handles big.


You can take the handle down, but it's harder to build up.



munk
 
munk said:
Dan Koster attempted to objectify hand size with a measurement group. ONe man's small handle is another's really really small. I'd rather have the handles big.


You can take the handle down, but it's harder to build up.



munk
Click to expand...

True. But the inlays make cutting it down harder in this case.

I think it also depends on one's cutting style and how much cutting you actually do. A handle for me that seems fine when I am making a few chops on something can really get uncomfortable chopping something real thick. At least for me a big thick handle makes the back of my palm hurt on extended cutting.

The last one I trimmed down I feared I got it too thin, but it was fine.

My cutting style is to grip the back part of the handle more tightly, and when the handle is pretty much the same diameter the whole way to the flare on the back it is too wide for me to get my fingers all the way around it.
 
they really are a bit too big.....think "Nasty-sized"....


Maybe someone would be willing to try to remove their inlays (with the plan to put them back in with a good epoxy) and let us know how big they are.
 
Daniel Koster said:
they really are a bit too big.....think "Nasty-sized"....


Maybe someone would be willing to try to remove their inlays (with the plan to put them back in with a good epoxy) and let us know how big they are.
Click to expand...


How hard would that be to do? I can see where on mine the inlays don't quite fill the holes and they filled in so you could almost get under them from there.

If they could be easily removed would seem a good plan to just remove them, sand the handle down and then replace them???
 
Heat the laha, take 'em out, sand the handle down, dig out the hole with a chisel or dremel, put 'em back.

Sounds like a snap.
 
Daniel Koster said:
Heat the laha, take 'em out, sand the handle down, dig out the hole with a chisel or dremel, put 'em back.

Sounds like a snap.
Click to expand...

So They are just put in there with laha? Wonder how hard it would be to heat it up? Maybe wrap the handle in aluminum foil and then stick it down in a pot of boiling water for a minute or so?

I guess if you sanded it gradually you could still keep the outlines of the holes and avoid having to re position the inlays and then you'd just have to make them deeper again?
 
Just grow bigger hands...that's what I did.
 
I'm not ready to put a wood handle in boiling water just yet....I'm thinking of trying it with a heat gun, or a blow-dryer.
 
Daniel Koster said:
I'm not ready to put a wood handle in boiling water just yet....I'm thinking of trying it with a heat gun, or a blow-dryer.
Click to expand...


NO I'm saying wrap the handle in aluminum foil or something to prevent the water from getting it wet.
 
hollowdweller said:
NO I'm saying wrap the handle in aluminum foil or something to prevent the water from getting it wet.
Click to expand...
Tsimi I would try a heat gun and remove one at a time, or at least mark them some way so they can go back in the same hole.
Since they are hand cut and hand inletted getting them all mixed up may be a humongous mistake!:eek:
I think the best way would be to remove the slabs and sand them from beneath and then reinstall.
If the inlays need reset I would do one at a time after I had the handle thinned down.

I took the handle on the very first YCS down quite a lot and rounded the ring instead of leaving it traditional, but they were stick tangs and the inlay was pretty thick, at least on mine.
 
the only problem I can foresee is that the new slabs will be smaller width-wise, which would expose the tang. Might make it uncomfortable. Not a problem for me on my grinder, but for average joe - PITA.
 
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