Pictures of your new acquisitions

Anton, it feels convexed evenly both sides . Roughly measured, it's s about 1.9 mm, 1.4 mm, and .8 measured from the spine at the heel, midway and and inch before the tip. 1.35 , .8 and .65 half way down. Tip is very thin. It is very nimble. By comparison , my 180 from Marko is 2mm, 1.3, and .95 measured from the spine, and 1.2 , .7 and .6 half way down from the spine. The Wilburn is a little taller just a tad lighter, although it feels more so, I assume because of the handle construction. Food release is very similar. Both great knives with different approaches.

 

This beauty arrived pretty quick from Randy! Just a couple of quick pics with it on the HHH T-shirt!



Looks even better in person!




This thing feels so comfortable in my mediumish sized paws, I don't think it could have been any better if it was a custom job and I was getting to try it out as it was shaped!

 

Randy's handle work just never fails to impress me. I mean, the blade is gorgeous, and the damascus is...well, Randy lol. But I know what it takes to to the handles, and he definitely has the touch .

 

I guess handles like this are harder to perfect as they are held more hammer grip style and all your fingers need to be somewhere comfortable? Don't take that as me saying Wa handles are easy to make though

 

That's part of it absolutely, though your hand will 'comfortably' conform to a surprising number of shapes if the truth is told. What it is more than that is the matching contours. That handle was shaped freehand. To perfection. Wood is a product of nature....with variances in density being a very real factor, even when stabilized. Those variances can play real hell in shaping. Add to that that making a smooth, perfect transition from soft wood to those large diameter hard metal pins takes its own level of finesse.

Yep...that's master craftsman work there for sure.

But we knew that already .

 

That makes sense, Cris! I do wonder how you guys get various materials like wood, horn etc to end up perfectly even without over sanding the softer material, seems like it would be very easy to take the softer material down too far while trying to sand/polish the harder material!

 

This was able to make it's way safely through both Australian Post and USPS (just a teaser for now, will do a full post after I can spend some quality time with it):

 

My solution was simply to stop using soft woods There are more than enough super nice hardwoods.

 

Anton, What is your definition of "hardwood" And which of these woods do not have natural variations in hardness? How limiting this solution must be..
In looking at some of your resent handles. I notice you use many woods. Including the same species of Russian birch I used for this handle. Which is a VERY soft wood by comparison to many other species of woods. Yet also a very suitable wood for a handle. Both stabilized or natural oil finished.... I also noticed you use metal spacers and other combinations where you would have to deal with the same variables mentioned in the posts.. So I am confused by your comment.. Please do share.. Either here or in PM.

Deltaplex. The picture link didnt show up for me?

 

Well, Randy, I have a pretty simple test that tells whether the wood is too soft for handle: just press hard the surface of wood with your finger nail. If there are marks left on the wood — then there's a good chance than it could cause troubles. Karelian Birch is on the softer side, but not that soft. After all it has been successfully used on knives handles for ages by Scandinavian makers. But personally I prefer stabilized Birch: K&G makes it indestructible and very hard. That's just my limited experience

… Once Maxim (from JNS) gifted me a large block of AMAZING Japanese Cedar. I made 3 handles from it and all 3 were a pain to shape and polish. Just too soft. And the damn thing is very oily and is pain to finish. I made two prototypes from Pine and it was damn soft as well. The were two more times when I got very soft wood, but it was long ago and I forgot the species. Most of the time I buy wood from trusted wood suppliers who knows what they are doing, so it's not really a problem.

Sorry to derail this thread. Hopefully I could post some more relevant pictures here in the nearest future

 

Yeah, I just saw that it's not showing up on my phone, but it was certainly there on the laptop last night. I'll see if I can get some time to figure it out this evening.

 

Let's see if this version can be seen across all devices...

 

That looks like the workings of Mert, at least the handle does. Looking good

 

Great to know Devin is feeling better. He called to make sure I was happy with the knife and offer help and support in putting a new grinder to use. I can understand why he's so well respected. Mission accomplished .

 

Indeed it is, a complete rework of a Tadafusa, or Tansufusa:
http://www.kitchenknifefora.com/threads/tadafusa-remake-tansufusa.3079/

 

Mert is crazy good!

 

Ah so you picked that sweet blade up

 

Devin IS the man! Makes a mean knife too.

 

Funny, it doesn't trigger my trypophobia at all.

 

Fat ninja cousin showed up too: