Rehandle Gallery

Thanks Jeff

 

Great work on the Itou Dave. Almost makes me want mine rehandled... though i like the flashiness of my abalone handle

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Thanks Alex

 

Dave, I don't care what you say, you are a true artist and a consummate craftsman.

That's my Yoshihiro in post #75. I received it as a gift but rarely pulled it from my block for a couple of reasons: the D-shaped wa handle didn't really fit me well and made the balance far too blade-forward for my comfort - it felt stiff and heavy and unresponsive in my hand; and the edges of the spine and choil were *really* sharp, making it uncomfortable in a pinch grip.

Now, it not only looks stunning - you were absolutely right about the copper(y)ness of the spacers, BTW - it feels much more balanced and lively and is *much* more pleasant to grip. The fit and finish are excellent - I can barely feel the joins, even where metal meets wood. And the heavily padded zip case you shipped it back in was a nice touch. Stellar work for a *very* reasonable price, and well worth the wait.

One of these days, I'll get in touch with you about ordering one of your sujis. In the meantime, I'll enjoy your work on this one.

 

Stop CD, you're embarrassing me....OK don't stop I can take it. :cool1

 

Here's a couple of Hiromotos that came in to have koa handles made. The customer purchased some really nice wood, he went with two different grades here. Which one do you like more?

 

Beautiful work again, Dave. I like the lighter handle on the santoku(?) better..

 

Darker one is my preference, based on the photos; both look fantastic.

 

Both great looking pieces of wood, I bet they both have great movement in changing light. I like the darker but I bet the lighter is higher grade.

 

They look great Dave! I can hardly wait to get them.

Matt, yes, the lighter Koa was a higher grade. The vendor who I purchased it from said it was one of the best pieces he had ever had. I wanted a lighter and darker piece so that I could tell the difference when the knives were in a block. The vendor picked out two pieces he thought looked similar in curl and off to Dave and his magic workshop they went!

I already own another santoku with a Koa handle done by Dave from a breast cancer auction a few years ago on another site so I know I'll love them when I get them!

 

Hey Ronnie, thanks for stopping in and giving us the details. I'm glad that you like the look of the handles, hope they don't disappoint in person.

 

Here's a couple more rehandles freshly completed....


1. Teruyasu Fujiwara Santoku or Gyuto (?) - AZ Ironwood with copper/G10 spacers & a single copper/nickel silver mosaic pin

Converted from full tang to hidden tang, see THIS for details.
The spine/choil were also rounded and smoothed out.



2. Gesshin Ginga Sujihiki - Black Ash Burl with nickel silver pins

Note how the tang is wider at the top of the handle than at the bottom, nice challenge.

 

Today I bring you a rare older knife that belongs to my friend Ryan who's been waiting for a very long time to get this re-handled. The knife is a Hiromoto (solid) White #1 (?) that was made for a short run way back in the early KF days after being found by the maker after many years of them being long forgotten about.

These knives came with an extremely blocky metal bolster and pakkawood handle with poor fit 'n finish. A lot of these knives were rehandled right away as a result and this particular one was no exception.

The original handle maker had removed the bolster (which was only tacked on) and obviously had issues with getting the blade cleaned up where the bolster had sat so the handle was installed far up onto the blade yet there was still some pretty decent grind marks present in the blade. He also used the full (and very poorly shaped/ground) tang which turned out to be a mistake as the scales pulled away from it over time.

After talking with Ryan about all this we decided to go with a hidden tang. This would allow the handle to be mounted back in a more traditional position and would also remove the misshapen tang from the equation completely. I took the liberty, while the handle was off, to refinish the blade, rounding the spine and choil while I was at it.

Ryan likes weird stuff so he went with a green dyed box elder burl and highly streaked honey horn for the ferrule.

I'm hoping that Ryan likes the new configuration because he's not one to hold back his opinions to me. LOL

What do you folks think of it?

 

HOLY SH!T.......

I can't saying anything else about that handle.

 

Nice Dave! Silk purse for sure.
Tell Ryan to get his fanny on the fora and say hello.

 

Sounds like a nightmare of a job. Sweet finish though. Any before pictures?

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Technically, I looks perfectly made and the blade looks pretty. Regarding the handle: it is clearly absolutely not my taste at all.

 

That'll do. Thanks

I will! Thanks Jim

No before pictures, wish I did though. Thanks for the compliment.

Thanks

 

Hiromoto AS Cleaver

Yes folks this is a real deal super rare Hiromoto AS cleaver here!

I was charged with cleaning it up, rounding up the edges, sharpening, and making a new handle. This was first converted to hidden tang and then I followed the maker's handle shape for the profile going with some really nice afzelia lay burl and African blackwood for materials.

I'm 100% positive that in the future when you search Google for "bad ass cleaver" this is going to pop up on the first page.

Now to get it off to the new owner Lonnie and see what he thinks of it.

 

Oh man, I want that cleaver.