97mm W2 Mizu Honyaki Paring Knife

So, some of you guys were part of the discussion on my page regarding the little parer. The whole discussion became academic today, considering I found two cracks in the SPINE of all places. All I can figure is that they must have been flaws in the steel, as one ground out (meaning as the knife got thinner it disappeared). The other however completely compromised the entire soft portion of the spine (pictures below). Heat treating cracks propagate along the hardened edge steel. I have no clue for certain where these came from, but the knife couldn't be used to fill the order anymore. I'll probably go ahead and finish an inexpensive handle for it and send it out to some of you chefs to play with for me. It's completely usable as it is, but I'm certain it WILL eventually break.

Anyhow, here's some pictures .


The two knives I made together. The top one was to fill the order, the second sort of a backup option in case the customer decided he wanted a longer blade (he didn't seem totally sure initially). If all went well the second knife would have been sold as a 115mm utility. Turns out it was lucky I made it lol.


Kind of an ironic picture lol. It was taken to show the customer the overall relation between the two knives.



Clay layout and thickness. This blade took three attempts to heat treat.


The hamon on the 87mm parer.


And the hamon on the 115mm backup. When they show up as prominently as these two did at 40 grit, you know they're going to be nice.



And the crack. The other was further up along the tip, and as I said...it ground out. This one however, did not.





Now, you want to talk about an upset bladesmith...these pictures are a good way to start. This is the second knife...and those cracks are the exact same kind as were on the parer. They came from the same bar of steel, so I'm a bit worried there will be cracks all through it. Not good. Anyway, I was actually able to easily grind these out, so all ended up well.


I spoke with the customer, and he liked the idea of making a slightly longer parer, rather than keeping it a full length utility. Some creative grinding netted me a 97mm parer, with a similarly sized heel and similar edge profile. He far preferred the second knife to the first regardless...so as I said, it worked out.


You can see here, the crack is almost gone.


40 grit flat grind.


Sneak peak at the hamon after a 220 grit pass on the belt grinder. That's straight out of the ferric chloride etchant.


Using the king 1000 stone to buff out all the scratches after the 220 grit belt on the grinder. It's surprisingly efficient for this purpose.


The hamon after the king stone and another pass through the etchant. You can see the difference in the smoothness and brightness of the habuchi (the white outline). In hand, the differences are pretty obvious, and apply to the whole blade.


And the result! This is after 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper, with etch cycles in between.


Unsharpened edge up. You can see where the choil starts (the thicker silver/white line at the top right).


Spine up.

Anyhow, the customer has chosen yellow birch burl, bog oak, and brass for the handle. I'm not a big fan of brass, but I think with the black of the bog oak, and orange/red of the birch, I can make it work out ok.

Thanks for looking, and more to come tomorrow!!

 

If a crack is so thin as to permit you to grind it away, might it be possible for there to be an internal crack -- i.e., one that does not extend to either surface of the blade, and therefore is not visible (except perhaps if you x-rayed it)?

 

It's absolutely possible...but not likely when I've taken the finish ground blade (before it's edged...still, we're talking sub 1mm thick steel here), and flexed it to a rather unintelligent degree in my gloved hands. If there was any kind of internal flaw...even just a difference in the matrix of the steel, that kind of abuse would expose it. Violently.

If somehow the flaw/crack could take two to three repetitions per side of that kind of abuse, I'm certain apples, potatoes, and any other reasonable use will be a non-issue .

I did discuss it with the customer though, and he was ok with it. I instructed him to watch for issues, but that I doubt there would be one (particularly after my torture test lol). If something happens however, he's to send the entire thing back to me for a new blade.

 

Thanks. Your explanation makes complete sense to me. (And, as usual, I'm incredibly impressed by your near-obsession with customer satisfaction.)

 

I just believe that if you settle on a price for something, you should be giving your best something regardless of what you set the price at...unless something less was settled on in the first place. Since I don't sell half arsed work for a discount, people get my best. Plus, he's paying a fair price for this blade...not a bargain price, and deserves my full efforts.

We've finally settled on a handle arrangement. I think it's going to be rather attractive myself .

 

lovely blades !

 

Thank you cassca!!

 

I love these threads.

 

Me too Jim!

 

Cris, you're boring and unread in the school of knife-making. Oh, and your biceps are small. So there....










Your posts/threads are great! keep em coming!

 

Thanks brother!!

I don't know what on earth I'd do if I didn't have generations of master bladesmiths to teach me...!

Oh, wait...I didn't.



I do have an update though...right up your alley...

Handle work!!



Sketched for scale. I actually laid the knife over it to make sure it was aesthetically pleasing size wise. All a handle on a paring knife is is a lever to keep the blade from torqueing in your hand. The tang alone is more than sufficient (I know, I used it lol)...so in this case aesthetics comes first. The wood chosen is some of my personal K&G stabilized claro walnut, and Myron from Dream Burl's African Blackwood.


With the initial cuts made so I can drill it out, and the drilled and surfaced nickel silver spacers.


Mocked up! The ferrule is to the left. Love the contrast here...and the walnut is going to be very red when it's finished. I have a bunch of it that was given to me by a friend in Nevada that passed away. It was initially going to be a rifle stock...but he found a crack in it, and gave it to me instead. It's beautiful stuff.


All glued up . You can see a bit better what the color will be like when its done. I think the blackwood is a perfect complement as well, with its deep brown warm streaks.

More to come tomorrow when the glue has set!

 

So, I got the handle finished out tonight, though I only have in progress pictures. Final pictures will come tomorrow after I mark the blade and epoxy the handle in. I think you guys will be pleased.

For now though, here's these:


Handle blank burned in. There's still a bunch of shaping to go here.


Roughed in handle, fit to the blade. It feels nice in hand, and very light.


Right side.

Spine up.


Left side.

Edge up.

Hopefully I'll knock out the final small stuff tomorrow and get its goodbye pictures taken, lol. More to come then!

 

Wow that's a great looking knife:cool1

 

BAD ASS, brother, OMG!!! Just let me know if you need an "old fart" chef to run it through the paces for you!

 

Thanks guys!

I would, but the customer is getting pretty anxious to get this in hand, lol.