Mini Wajaski & Vala Spear

[Neptune's Champion]

Aloha!

Theres no flowers or volcanoes in this post, besides the knives, just thought id start off with an aloha. finally got the pictures to be displayed properly, so hopefully you can see them! I wrote up something last night but it did not save, thus here i am writing from scratch all over again. This thread i made is a sort of praise, you might call it, to the knives that are shipped from HI to all us eager recipients.

my first knife from HI turns out to be a spear head on a knives handle. Its something you'd hope to imagine an ancient hero wielding. I showed it to a family member who has been in metal and knife making business for decades and he was astonished, calling it an 'armor piercer'. I can tell this spear holds its own to the toughest materials. I like how the blades connect down through the handle and out the end. These are the best knives i have seen! meant for the skilled and are excellent for practice to become better, no matter what level. each blade will help develop different styles, which is the primary function of them for me. not to mention they are exceedingly beautiful to look at. they say samurai use to make sure their blades were clean as possible (for a physical display of their honor maybe), which is little concern for HI blades. They are always polished and in their prime. no other blades compare to these. If only i had what i wrote last night, it appears as if i am rambling.

Yangdu herself is an astonishing person to work with. I believe everyone calls her auntie, from what I've picked up. I let her know what i want and she finds the best deals, and i can see she does the same for everyone. Ive requested odd products that may or may not be completed at some time, but the fact remains. i intended on increasing my collection for the martial arts that act as an embodiment of the soul to be at peace. i requested a blade without the handle, and might start getting into making the sheaths and handles until i start making my own blades. The mini wajaski will make a fine gift & the spear may as well be passed on for generations. this being my first thread, i want to say thanks for welcoming me into the HI family!

 

[cul4u01]

Welcome, and glad you enjoy your pieces. Auntie is an extraordinary woman to say the least.

 

[Yangdu]

Great pix and post, thank you for sharing

 

[davidf99]

That Spear Vala is extra special, and a nice weight. I have an older one that is very similar, but with a different wood on the handle.

In case you're not aware of it, neem wood takes an amazing polish. Craftsmen usually don't have the time to polish this kind of wood to the degree that it deserves, but you can do it yourself if it interests you. Just use increasingly high grits of sandpaper, up to 2,000 grit. Then use polishing powder (rottenstone, for example), which goes up to 8,000 grit or so. Finish with lathe polish, and you'll have a handle that looks like polished brass. The neem wood even changes color in the process, going from a dull grey to a brighter color with streaks of brown. I'm not sure how that happens, but it must be due to the way the highly polished neem wood reflects light.

Or you could leave it as-is, which is plenty good looking already.

Congratulations. There haven't been many of these elaborate Spear Valas, and some of them have been a lot heavier for the same length.

This one is mine. It's 18" OAL and 30 oz, made by Sher Kami.



By the way, some people have been calling this model an HI Smatchet because of its resemblance to the legendary smatchet. HI also makes a Spear Vala of a simpler design, without the fullers. Also a very nice knife. Here is one of those, 14" OAL and 28 oz, by Bhakta Kami.

 

[Neptune's Champion]

Thank you Auntie! and thanks David! excellent info. lucky you have sher kami make knife. I don't remember who made my blades, but they are exceeding quality.

 

[SingleGrind]

Your Spear Vala was made by Anil, Keshar Lal's son, and the Wajaski looks like Kumar, but the marking is not as clear. If I'm correct, the left side of the blade should have a Star of David as one of the marks. Regardless, they're both gorgeous!

 

[Bawanna]

Cul's recent Spear Vala was quite light, lighter than we usually see. I liked the lighter weight very much. I should have slipped that bad boy in the van. My bad.
Even Bookie, admittedly not a Spear Vala fan I think was quite impressed.

 

[cul4u01]

Cul's recent Spear Vala was quite light, lighter than we usually see. I liked the lighter weight very much. I should have slipped that bad boy in the van. My bad.
Even Bookie, admittedly not a Spear Vala fan I think was quite impressed.

Yea, I'll post pics and description of the HI Spear Vala in the http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-visit-with-Auntie-and-her-family-and-friends thread in the HI Cantina soon. It's still soaking in its mineral oil bath. It is quite light, and very easy to manipulate, I like it a lot. Dangerous though, dropped it onto my knee from a very short distance (1.5" I think), and it bit me. Nothing serious, but surprised me though, because I didn't even feel the cut.

 

[ndoghouse]

A neem Spear Vala! Wow! What Steely said about polishing this wood is spot on. When you get to the finer grits like 2000 you start to see colors that hide in the grain. One of mine has yellow, green, blue, and red that came out. Did i miss any colors? Oh yeah purple with pink polka dots It was completely different animal after polishing.

 

[Neptune's Champion]

used almost an entire pack of 2k grain paper sanding the neem and did some research. its a useful tree with great medical properties. it shines like copper no doubt, but every piece is different as for the colors. its a bit more pale and Incredibly smooth! nothing to compare it to.

used the mini wajaski on a cheap thick walled plastic water bottle, thicker than a milk bottle, and was surprised to find it sliced the thing in two no problem. a flick of the wrist and the wajaski gets through. now i need a katana for certain

 

[davidf99]

used almost an entire pack of 2k grain paper sanding the neem....

You probably started with too high a grit. The 2K grit takes off such a thin layer of wood that you can indeed use an entire pack on a handle. That's expensive, time-consuming and hard on your sanding hand.

If the wood is fairly smooth to begin with, I usually start with 320 grit (which is laughingly called "fine" in the hardware stores) or 400 grit. Then I go to 600 grit, 1000 grit, 1500 grit, and only then 2000 grit. By the time I get to the 2000 grit the handle is already very slick so it doesn't take more than one sheet of the 2K sandpaper.

Beyond that, it's worth trying some of the polishing powders (such as rottenstone or whatever you can find locally) and lastly (for me) lathe polish. When you can see your face reflected in the wood under proper lighting and at the right angle, you'll know that you have done well. Of course the reflection test works best on a flat piece of wood, and only with certain subspecies. Neem is one of the good varieties. Bubinga is also great; I once made a wooden mirror out of bubinga.

 

[ndoghouse]

again...what David said. You got to take all the high spots off with coarser grades and work through the grits. When you get to the 2000 you can actually use the palm of your hand and rub in some BLO (boiled linseed oil) and rub it briskly until you feel some heat building up on the palm of your hand. That is when you are polymerizing the stuff and bringing out the colors. If all you did is use 2000 then you should start over and try again. Sorry but you have to go through the lower grits to get the colors to show. If it dont matter to you then no biggie but if you really want to appreciate the beautiful colors of neem then you have to work your way through the grits as David described.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

another after... sorry no closeups but dramatic difference up close.

 

[stwm]

wow. neem secrets!!

 

[Neptune's Champion]

That's a considerable difference. Well done Ndog. I'll have to give this a try when I have time. Whoa! A wooden mirror? I'd like to see that. Put some polished brass on there for extra refectivness. Trade it at barter faire. barter faire was originally for trading goods and became a drug fest for dirty hippies. I don't partake but the bartering is always fun. Up here in Washington state there's a lot of them. Tonnaskets the biggest one, always in October. Like how the Amerindians here would trade before winter. Salmon and shells for bison et cetera. That took me off topic.