Knife #12 WIP - Asian Influence??? - PHOTO HEAVY
- Thread starter Erin Burke
- Start date
Steve Randall
Well-Known Member
GREAT looking work . Like some have said I want to get a mill ......steve
Erin Burke
Well-Known Member
Nice clamping jig, Erin.
:shush: It's top secret... I haven't patented the jig yet. Just trying to give Mr. Wheeler a run for his money. :9:
Thanks Mike... we seem to be doing OK. We appreciate the prayers.
I'm going to stick with WIP. In my opinion, tutorials are done by folk who know what they are doing and have some level of confidence in how the project will turn out. For the most part, I have neither... I'm just inviting y'all along for the journey: good, bad and ugly.
That being said, I have finished the knife and am EXTREMELY happy with how it turned out.
unk: The handle is the most intricate I have ever attempted, but ended up looking decent... and the blade, I'd have to say it's my best polish ever. In fact, I feel that this knife is my nicest to date. Unfortunately, I can't take any photos until I finish the "saya"/scabbard. :001_tt2:I started the saya yesterday. It is taking forever. In this first photo, I have traced the blade onto the walnut halves. I originally planned to use a poplar lining surrounded by walnut, but this saya is just too small to make that work out.
In this photo I have just started carving the blade shape with chisels. I start by taking the majority of the material out "across the grain" as shown, but do final shaving and clean up with the grain. I also carve a bit of extra room where the blade edge will be to minimize contact with cutting edge and the wood.
This process is VERY time consuming and involves dozens of "test-fits" with the actual knife. It is important that the blade slide in easily, but that there is a snug fit at the habaki so the knife won't fall out.
Before gluing the pieces together, I copy the blade shape to the outside face of one of the blocks. I also draw in the proposed profile of the saya. This will help me avoid removing too much material. This step is very important.
Here is my high-tech saya clamping jig. :22:
I'm using Titebond III wood glue, and make sure I minimize the "squeeze-out" into the interior of the saya.
This morning I ran the glued block through my band saw to get a rough profile.
I then cleaned up the profile on my belt grinder.
Next I used the band saw and belt grinder to create a taper to the saya. Then, while the pieces are square, I drilled and epoxied some decorative mosaic pins near the top. This is what the saya looks like now.
That's all I've got for today. We're getting close. :s11798:
bubba-san
Well-Known Member
Erin you have my interest , You may not know this but, the japanese have a strange tanto that does have a cutting edge on the inside curve , It was used to take the head of an enemy If I can find picture I will post it . seems like you are doing everything right . One thing I found out the hard way Hamons dont like too much manganese , anything over .35 you start to loose activity . Here it is check out these wierd babies. http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/unji.htm
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Erin Burke
Well-Known Member
Stew, believe me, I thought about it. It just seemed like it would be tricky to get a good 3D fit on the curves of the blade. Chisels seemed like they'd take less time.
Thanks for the link Bubba... really cool. Interesting how most of the kubikiri had no kissaki.
The hamon on this knife is not nearly as aggressive as i had originally drawn, but ended up being much more suitable - in my opinion - to the overall look. The more I try to grow in my ability to control the hamon, the more I am pleasantly surprised by my failures.
Erin Burke
Well-Known Member
Good morning folks. I appreciate the patience of everyone who has followed this WIP thread. I am not the fastest knifemaker out there. :shush: It took me awhile to take some finished photos as apparently we have three tripods at my house, but do not have a single adapter plate to attach the cameras to the tripods. How does that even happen? Anyway, I was able to purchase some adapter plates for my wife's Manfrotto off ebay, but in the meantime, I found a cheap Targus tripod at Target that allowed me to shoot some photos. I thought I'd give y'all first chance to check out the results of this thread.
The knife itself turned out MUCH better than I could have anticipated. I think, once again, God had my back.
If there is one thing about this knife that I am not completely excited about, it is the "saya"/scabbard. It has a nice fit to the habaki... but just seems kind of plain to me. You'll notice the thumb groove in saya near the "tsuba"/guard. This allows the user to "pop" the knife from the saya using his/her thumb. This may be easier to see in the photo below.
This next photo is probably the best shot of the guard and habaki, and it also really shows some of the whispy detail in the hamon. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the cutting edge of this knife is on the inside of the curve.
You'll also notice in this photo, that there is a little patch of gray JB Weld on the edge of the habaki. I didn't even notice it until I was spotting this photo on my computer screen... now it drives me crazy. I'll scrape it off with a toothpick tonight.
You'll notice that the hamon is not symmetrical from side to side. I'm still very happy with it. :thumbup1: You'll also notice that the tip of the blade is poking a hole in one of my wife's photo albums... let's keep that our secret. :shush::nothing:
Just another random photo that I liked.
Finally, this last photo shows some detail on the back side of the guard. If you look closely, you can partially see my makers mark "E. F. BURKE". Around the rim of the guard I stamped "A C O H". I made this knife with the intent that it be auctioned for my friend Cash Parriera and his Family. "A C O H" = "A Cash of Hope". I'm still working on the logistics of the auction... but hopefully everything works out.
Thanks for following this thread. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Peace.
The knife itself turned out MUCH better than I could have anticipated. I think, once again, God had my back.
If there is one thing about this knife that I am not completely excited about, it is the "saya"/scabbard. It has a nice fit to the habaki... but just seems kind of plain to me. You'll notice the thumb groove in saya near the "tsuba"/guard. This allows the user to "pop" the knife from the saya using his/her thumb. This may be easier to see in the photo below.
This next photo is probably the best shot of the guard and habaki, and it also really shows some of the whispy detail in the hamon. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the cutting edge of this knife is on the inside of the curve.
You'll also notice in this photo, that there is a little patch of gray JB Weld on the edge of the habaki. I didn't even notice it until I was spotting this photo on my computer screen... now it drives me crazy. I'll scrape it off with a toothpick tonight.
You'll notice that the hamon is not symmetrical from side to side. I'm still very happy with it. :thumbup1: You'll also notice that the tip of the blade is poking a hole in one of my wife's photo albums... let's keep that our secret. :shush::nothing:
Just another random photo that I liked.
Finally, this last photo shows some detail on the back side of the guard. If you look closely, you can partially see my makers mark "E. F. BURKE". Around the rim of the guard I stamped "A C O H". I made this knife with the intent that it be auctioned for my friend Cash Parriera and his Family. "A C O H" = "A Cash of Hope". I'm still working on the logistics of the auction... but hopefully everything works out.
Thanks for following this thread. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Peace.
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Erin Burke
Well-Known Member
Thanks Jim... I appreciate the positive feedback. But I have seen work by - and occasionally met - really talented makers... None of my stuff to date is comes even close. I think that I'm just good enough to fake it well.
Plus, having all of my pro-photographer wife's equipment lying around doesn't hurt either.Speaking of... I took a few more photos last night before putting the light box away.
And this one - while not a great picture - is fun because it shows the original artwork/design next to the finished knife.
Thanks again.
Deltashooter
Well-Known Member
Erin,
Thanks for the WIP. What a combination, looks very nice. Yea I’ll have to agree with the scabbard looking a little plain, but that’s just because of the knife being so pretty. Maybe some carving, ca glue, and turquoise powder would make a better fit to the knife?
Nice bowl also. Did you spin it?
Thanks for the WIP. What a combination, looks very nice. Yea I’ll have to agree with the scabbard looking a little plain, but that’s just because of the knife being so pretty. Maybe some carving, ca glue, and turquoise powder would make a better fit to the knife?
Nice bowl also. Did you spin it?
Ronald P. Rochon
Well-Known Member
Came out beautiful Erin; Thanks for this very educational wip! Ron.
Erin Burke
Well-Known Member
Nope... that bowl is all I have left of a tall Monkey Puzzle tree that used to stand in my front yard. The tree started to die a few years back, so it eventually had to come down. I ended up being contacted by a gentleman from UW (a professor I think) who wanted some of the rounds for turning. I set aside some pieces for him... then about a year later this bowl showed up in the mail. :thumbup:
John Andrews
Well-Known Member
Novice maker? I don't think so! That's some mighty fine work, Erin. This is by far one of the best threads I have had the pleasure of reading and your quality of pictures speak for themselves, too.