I Hate This Knife

P. McKinley

P. McKinley

Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
2,010
Yup, I do. I can't stand what I was asked to do to the blade and sheath. The package is ruined in my eyes, but this is what the customer wanted and he loves it. So, I guess all's right that ends right, eh?

What turns me off is the finish the customer requested. He wanted the etching oxides left on the entire blade, and the camo skate lace wrapping is not my first choice of color or material.

There are a lot of "firsts" for me in this knife.... first Japanese-style blade and sheath, first habaki, first time forging copper, first try at forging damascus(5160 and mild steels), first "chisel point", first try at making ferrules, and first ito-style wrapping.

Anyway....the goal was to create "a Japanese style knife with one of those fancy tips"(customer's words). For me, this was an opportunity to explore new ground and be a bit creative. Mind you - this was not intended to anything close to traditional in design or materials.... just "in the style of". While the finish is not to my liking, the fit came out very nice. The saya holds the blade snugly and securely, and all the ferrules fit nice and tight, and the blade is scary sharp.

Blade: 7 3/4" forged Aldo's 1084fg left semi-forge finished, w/ prominent shinogi and kissaki. The temper line is quite visible. Forged copper habaki and fushi, w/ damascus tsuba.

Handle: 5 1/4" of spalted, quilted Red Maple w/ domed s.s. pin, forged damascus and copper ferrule/kishira, and copper seppa.

Sheath/Saya: Spalted , quilted Red Maple w/ forged copper and damascus koiguchi, camoflage skate lace wrapping/ito. Suede lined habaki seat.

PLEASE.... offer up comments and critiques. It'll help me make the next one much better.

Here's the rather fuzzy pics:

















 
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Not my cup of tea but you said it is just what the customer wanted right? If so, then, it really is perfect if the customer is happy. :)
 
Very nice except the corrosion looking forge scale along the shinogi....and that horrible place at the mitsu kado.

I like the knife overall, but (like you) feel it is only partly done.
 
I think you've already figured out what you don't like about it/how to improve on the next one.

The only thing I'll add is that you could probably bring the finish out of the handle and scabbard a little more. It may just be the picture, but it looks a little "dry" to me.
 
Thanks guys!

K to a G - the finish is Tung oil and buffed Conservator's wax. It actually came out quite well with a nice satin glow. I'm not the finest photographer which you've likely figured out, and the main reason why the finish doesn't come through in the pics.
 
bladsmth said:
Very nice except the corrosion looking forge scale along the shinogi....and that horrible place at the mitsu kado.
Click to expand...

Great "Gawd-a-mighty", can we speak Engrish here? I assume we are talking about a tad of forge scale left in a few places on the blade. I'll bet that if that 1084fg was heat treated right, it won't matter in a hundred years.

I think it turned out very good. Those "leftovers" give it a bit of character.

Gesundheit and Wakarimasen,

Robert, who has a hard time with Engrish:D
 
Robert - I hear ya and I feel your pain! The terminology associated with Japanese pieces is nearly as complex as the construction. I likely mangled the use of several of those words (I could almost hear Stacy laughing and sighing at the same time), but I felt it was necessary to include them as they are distinctive of this style.
 
Bigblue17 said:
Thanks guys!

K to a G - the finish is Tung oil and buffed Conservator's wax. It actually came out quite well with a nice satin glow. I'm not the finest photographer which you've likely figured out, and the main reason why the finish doesn't come through in the pics.
Click to expand...

Hey, those pictures are 100x better then any I've done. That being said, I figured you probably had the wood polished more than they are showing. Again, great work overall. Much better than I'd be able to do right now.
 
The Japanese have a name for every tiny aspect of the traditional blades - it's a pretty precise jargon, even if impenetrable to the uninitiated (I have to look up the terms every time too). But yeah, the bits of remaining forge scale really doesn't go with the full-up Japanese style blade and handle construction. It looks like a screwup rather than a character feature. If the blade was mounted with a simple wooden pinned handle with an overwrap, then the leftovers would be a fine character feature -- though even then you would need more of them to look right - like you meant for it to look that way. By removing all but a few specks and marks, it looks more like you got up in the middle of finishing to feed the dog and forgot to finish the job.

However, other than that, pretty nice job -- especially considering all the firsts you put into it. Impressive.
 
Looks good. I agree about the forge scale, I think it's a bit of a distraction to the clean line of the shinogi. The non-traditional tip is interesting, at first I wasn't sure but I do like now. I would prefer if the blade didn't have the ricasso/dropped edge thing going on. I would like to have seen the blade go straight into the handle. I think it would've given the look more coherence. I imagine this style lends itself to being more of a chopper though.

Don't get me wrong, I really like what you did overall.
 
Stuart - Thank you for your comments. You're work in this style is extraordinary!!

I had a tough time with that tip!! The entire blade is flat ground and that faceted tip was a real challenge to keep clean and distinct. The dropped edge is of my design, and was intended to provide a heavier more substantial blade for chopping. As for the "leftovers", I see your(and others') point and, well....... next time.

I learned a lot with this project and the next one will be more to MY liking.
 
I like it, though I'd like it better if it was more finished out. Love the shape, even though I'm not normally a fan of the dropped edge, it's got a nice flow to it. I'd just like to see the blade without the forge scale and nicely finished, or a little more forge scale along the sides. In any event you did a heck of a job.
 
I think it's pretty cool. I see what the others are saying about it not looking "finished". Will the customer tell those that might ask that he wanted it that way? No idea what it is called, the copper piece, looks really nice on it.
 
habaki and fuchi = blade collar and bolster. The guard ,which is between the two, is called the tsuba.

Bigblue - I really want to accentuate the fact that I think you did an excellent job on the knife. My comments were in critique only, not disapproval.
 
I like it. It's too bad really, there is a lot of work in this knife and a nicer overall finish (and removal of the shoelaces) would give it the "Wow" factor it deserves.
 
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