Rayskin Leaf Tanto w/menuki

Knifemaker87 · Jul 3, 2006

Hello everybody,
well here is the new batch of knives. I had said that these would have visible hammons...well...my charcoal brakedrum forge wasnt up to the job. :grumpy: They detracted from the beauty of the knives. How do you etch them and not make the blade all cloudy? anyway...that is the next thing that i will be working on.

Anyway....heres the specs

Big Leaf
Length:10 3/4"
Blade: 6"
Blade thickness: tapering+1/4"-3/16"
Menuki: Japanese Fujisansou bronze Leaves
$150 shipped

Simple Leaf
Length:9 3/4"
Blade: 5 1/2"
Blade thickness: tapering 1/4"-3/16
Menuki: none
$125 shipped

Brown Leaf
Length: 9 1/4"
Blade: 4 3/4"
Blade thickness: tapering 1/4"-3/16"
Menuki: Japanese Fudo Bronze Samuri warrior
$125 shipped

Steel: Forged leaf springs. Brine quenched differntially heat treated, and tempered.
Grind: Flat
Blade finish: High polish
Handle: Rayskin & cotton Ito wrap

Please let me know if you are interested (the prices are slightly negotible)
Please email me at Knifemaker87@gmail.com

well thanks for looking! please let me know if you are interested. I can take more pictures of anything spesifically if you want.
~Chris

JFO · Jul 3, 2006

these are amazing , great work, I would be all over one but I'm all out of knife money right now, post more pictures if you can

Knifemaker87 · Jul 4, 2006

Hey,
thanks for encouragment, i have more just generic pictures...is there anything in particular that needs more pictures? thanks
~Chris

Knifemaker87 · Jul 5, 2006

hey...the prices have come down some
150, 125, and 125
thanks

Hoerchner · Jul 5, 2006

Any sheaths? Thanks, Erich

Hondo.3 · Jul 6, 2006

Your work looks good to me, and I've got to say that I'm interested.

My wife is Japanese. We have a daughter who is almost 0.5 years old. One of the traditions that my wife told me about is that parents used to have a special tanto forged for their daughters. The purpose of the blade would be to protect the girl's virtue. If she were defiled, she would take her own life with the knife.

My spin on that tradition is a little different. I agree that my daughter should indeed protect her virtue. However, if blood is to be spilt in that endeavour, I believe it should not be hers.

I've been thinking about having a tanto forged for her. Seeing as how her name is Sakura, I thought that a cherry blossom menuki might be called for.

I too would like to see what you've got in the way of sheaths.

Knifemaker87 · Jul 6, 2006

Sheathes.... thats a hard one...i dont know what kind of sheaths to make. i cant think of any that would "fit" the knife style. any ideas?

I really like your idea about the knife for your daughter....though i also must admit that the knife wouldnt be used by her or for her....

What do you have in mind?
I can be on the look out for some cherry blossom Menuki... Send me an email...i'd love to talk more about it.
May have to give you a good deal on it casue i like the idea so much.
please let me know
~Chris

Simon Yu · Jul 7, 2006

Knifemaker87 said:
Sheathes.... thats a hard one...i dont know what kind of sheaths to make. i cant think of any that would "fit" the knife style. any ideas?

The traditional sheath for a tanto would be made of hollowed out wood. But I'm pretty sure few of us wear obi (cloth belts) to tuck the things into . . . still, it would be a nice approach when the knife is given as a gift and Japanese style blades are still used for that purpose (a friend's dad received a katana for his high school graduation. All I got was a mini-fridge).

On the other extreme, kydex and its ilk would be the way to go for people who want to carry the things around IMO. Leather just doesn't seem to fit them since feudal Japanese society looked down on leatherworking as it involved handling dead flesh.

Oh, and beautiful work.

Hondo.3 · Jul 7, 2006

I agree that a wood sheath would be the way to go. The lack of belt loop/Tek-Lok would not be an issue for a woman who carried it in her purse.... Perhaps I can dig up some pics.

Let me look around at some other tantos to get some more ideas. I am inexperienced with tanto.

hollowdweller · Jul 7, 2006

Any possiblity of a pic of the smallest one in OAL being held in the hand for scale? I really like these but the no sheath thing is kinda holding me back

canbkr · Jul 8, 2006

I'd definatly agree with using wood for the sheath,Wenge would be nice with the black wrap and cocobolo would be nice for the lighter coloured wraps.You could use a metal or kydex detatchable clip on the backside of the sheath for those who prefer to carry the knife as a belt knife,for individauls who prefer the knife with no clip you could offer that as an option.another idea would be the kydex with rayskin glued and formed to the exterior of the sheath.Just my 2 cents worth though,figured i'd try to help out

Knifemaker87 · Jul 8, 2006

hollowdweller said:
Any possiblity of a pic of the smallest one in OAL being held in the hand for scale? I really like these but the no sheath thing is kinda holding me back

I take the pic up tommorow. as for sheathes...i can make some sheathes for these. I just cant deside what to do. I am gonna play around with some ideas. Tell you what. these will come with a sheath...it might just take a few days and i dont know what i am going to do...only that i am leaning towards a mix of leather and wood. possibly a very light fiberglassed laquered saya sheath.

canbkr said:
I'd definatly agree with using wood for the sheath,Wenge would be nice with the black wrap and cocobolo would be nice for the lighter coloured wraps

Wow...thats quite an idea...may have to get my hands on some of that stuff.

I did make a sheath for a knife a while ago....it turne out very nice. it was a very thin wood. i think that i actually used some balsa from my RC planes. THen i shaped it and fiberglassed it so it was very strong (the pourus balsa) and then i smoothes it and covered it with buckskin. there are two knives. one is before i treated the bals the other is when the knife was finished.
tell me what you think.
~Chris

canbkr · Jul 8, 2006

Knifemaker87 said:
I take the pic up tommorow. as for sheathes...i can make some sheathes for these. I just cant deside what to do. I am gonna play around with some ideas. Tell you what. these will come with a sheath...it might just take a few days and i dont know what i am going to do...only that i am leaning towards a mix of leather and wood. possibly a very light fiberglassed laquered saya sheath.

Wow...thats quite an idea...may have to get my hands on some of that stuff.

I did make a sheath for a knife a while ago....it turne out very nice. it was a very thin wood. i think that i actually used some balsa from my RC planes. THen i shaped it and fiberglassed it so it was very strong (the pourus balsa) and then i smoothes it and covered it with buckskin. there are two knives. one is before i treated the bals the other is when the knife was finished.
tell me what you think.
~Chris

:thumbup: I like the look of both sheathes you posted pictures of,If you check out some of my posts I've got a couple of knives posted that i used wood for the sheaths,might give you a few ideas to play with (i won't post pictures on another members for sale thread,common curtisy and respect.