First attempt at a "boxed" style handle

H

HallHandmade

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Jun 5, 2012
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I've been wanting to do one of these for a while, but I saw someone mention that they were harder than they look, so I was holding off. I had this 4" santoku-looking blade that I'd done, so I figured it was a good candidate.

The handle is stabilized buckeye, 416 guard, 1084 blade
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This piece of buckeye has some really neat black swirls, and a fade from medium brown to grey from one end to the other.
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I debated pinning the tang on this one, but the tang on this blade was a bit on the long side, so I went without. I actually had to break out an aircraft length drill to finish out the bottom of the pocket. Luckily I had one in the right size. I think the wood stands by itself pretty nicely without the pin.
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The guard area on this was deceptively challenging. The whole handle was actually. As I was approaching my first finish grits after roughing, I realized how lucky I was that I didn't screw up and take a nick out of a corner with the heavy grit. One false move and your entire corner is shot. :( (I think that is dust on the butt of the handle, it is pretty well polished out)
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I'm still debating on filling the void you can see in this pic. I really managed to catch the shimmer (can't remember the proper term) in this photo, I can't wait to take this out in the sun tomorrow.
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oh yeah that looks outstanding! I would fill the void b/c otherwise it would drive me crazy, but that's personal preference/OCD
 
Just put in CA and let dry, repeat until filled, sand and buff. The spot will disappear.
 
That is really nice work.
 
I dropped some CA in there, I'll post a quick photo once I have it filled. I was hoping to get a couple sunlit shots, but a storm blew in last night.
 
I wasn't sure what a boxed handle was, I'd never heard that before... You did a really nice job on it! :)
 
Nice knife. Love buckeye in that color range.

One thought: I might be seeing it wrong, but suspect you could take your pre-secondary edge way down in thickness and make a dramatic improvement in cutting ability. And still have a durable edge. Looks fatter than 0.045" at the shoulder in a few photos. Maybe try <0.015" on your next one before sharpening/testing.
 
Great looking knife. I assume it's not intended for kitchen use even the shape would be great. Great coloring in that would.
 
Thanks everyone :) I really enjoyed finishing this one.

NickWheeler said:
I wasn't sure what a boxed handle was, I'd never heard that before... You did a really nice job on it! :)
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Honestly I don't even know if that's the right thing to call it :D


Andy Lewis said:
Nice knife. Love buckeye in that color range.

One thought: I might be seeing it wrong, but suspect you could take your pre-secondary edge way down in thickness and make a dramatic improvement in cutting ability. And still have a durable edge. Looks fatter than 0.045" at the shoulder in a few photos. Maybe try <0.015" on your next one before sharpening/testing.
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I think it might look a little chunky because the plunge feathers out into the back of the edge a tiny bit. The edge is slightly thicker towards the rear, ranging from .036" to .033" at the tip. You are correct though, I think I could have dropped a few thou and still been plenty Ok.


PT Doc said:
Great looking knife. I assume it's not intended for kitchen use even the shape would be great. Great coloring in that would.
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When I started this one my idea was camp santoku/utility, I didn't really think of it for kitchen use, although I'm sure it would work. I made the edge a bit on the heavy duty side to hopefully help it sustain in less than ideal conditions.

I do a good bit of camping, but only go hunting once every other year or so. I started thinking about what I used the most when I was camping, and it was a cheap little imported mini santoku that I got who knows where. I was always afraid to use it for anything other than food prep, but sometimes it was what I had on hand, so I was careful. I wanted something that handled like a santoku for camp cooking, but had enough tip angle to be at least passable for other tasks, and enough edge thickness to go a little outside its comfort zone in use.

I really like how this one turned out, it was a bit of design exercise; I wanted to make a similar knife for myself out of S35VN.
 
Wow! That thing could definitely get me cooking more just to handle it. I'd hate to stain/patina it though. One done in s35vn, with the same wood? Sign me up.

Seriously, are you going to sell that one?
 
Strigamort said:
Wow! That thing could definitely get me cooking more just to handle it. I'd hate to stain/patina it though. One done in s35vn, with the same wood? Sign me up.

Seriously, are you going to sell that one?
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I'm not sure how close I'll get on the handle, I've raided my supplier's buckeye bin pretty thoroughly :)

If I can find another piece similar, though, I'll definitely jump on it. They (tru-grit) have been getting some pretty neat pieces of buckeye in.

I am a newer maker, I just started selling a couple knives ago, once I had gotten my quality level to where I was fully comfortable with selling my work. Since this was the first of this design, I didn't have specific plans to sell it, but I think now that I will due to how it came out. This will probably be the first pattern I repeat, it's been one of the best received amongst people I've shown (bladsmth called it a few weeks ago when this knife was still unfinished).

I think I like this as a "santoku hunter", but I wouldn't mind doing a kitchen knife version either. Unfortunately my S35VN is .152", I really desperately need some thinner stock.

I do plan on buying a knifemaker's membership here as soon as I am able, I am waiting on payment for a couple of local sales, so hopefully I'll have upgraded membership by this weekend or so.

If you're interested, I think you could contact me via email (don't have PM until I buy membership this weekend), but I'm not sure if I should wait to make a sale until I have purchased the knifemaker's membership.
 
I understand, and thank you for the response. If you just started you are showing promising signs of talent.

Santoku Hunter. I like that. :)
 
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