u/kenmizell

Feedback and notes encouraged. Not for sale - for education and practice.

I started this one months ago but life had other priorities for a while. Yesterday with the help of Chat GPT critiquing and asking for measurements I was able to compare my almost done blade to a Lifespace Nakiri that I own that cuts quite nicely. I got out the calipers and measured and then when I felt I’d thinned my holo grind better, and had similar (not the same geometry) I sharpened and tested on potatoes… still disappointing. then I tried it on paper and realized it wasn’t really sharp yet. Back to the whetstone for another few minutes. Once it cut paper cleanly like the target knife I tried potatoes again. Done. Almost the same smoothness, though the lifespace is thicker at the spine and slightly heavier than this… Then I made a handle.

This was stock removal (presumably L6) from an old industrial sawmill bandsaw blade.

I don’t own a forge, or belt grinder, or many metal tools yet, I have some woodworking experience and equipment, my dad built houses, so I grew up with a shop.

I cut the blank from the bandsaw with an angle grinder. I used a small propane torch (for plumbing) to heat and hammer sections of the spine with a small ball peen to both add the tsuchime finish and to straighten out the slight bend from the bandsaw. I tried to not heat too close to where the cutting edge would be because I don’t have the ability to harden yet. I also don’t own any hardness test files yet either so I “hope” it’s held but even if not, this a learning experience about knife making for me. and i can always practice sharpening…

Handle is eastern cedar with black walnut ferrule and thin plywood as the spacer. I used a hidden dowel method for the handle burn-in.

Kurogane Tsuchime Nakiri 175 mm

Height 55mm

Spine 1.8mm

behind the edge:

1mm 0.56mm

5mm 1.05mm

10mm 1.20mm

15mm 1.50mm

This was my third knife (fourth handle).

The last photo shows the “Family”:

1st - Hatsukokoro Kurosagi Aogami Super Bunka 180mm (bought the knife with no handle and made the handle)

2nd - Kengata Ko-Sujihiki (Texas Toothpick) 150mm

3rd - Kengata Gyuto 205mm

4th - THIS knife Kurogane Tsuchime Nakiri 175mm

5th - Kurogane Tanto Chef (Brisket Slicer) 260mm (work in progress)

created a post last night with many photos and many paragraphs… hit post… got the spinny thing for a minute (white screen), then the page reloaded and the Post button was still enabled… i clicked Post again… it started spinning again…. i put the phone on the charger and went to sleep. i woke up and it’s gone… not in history, not in drafts, not in the community i posted to (r/knifemaking) title “Third knife ever. Kurogane Tsuchime Nakiri”. i selected flair (showcase), followed the rules…

Took me a while to create… i took measurements with calipers. wrote about materials and methods… Title image included.

frustrated.

when i watched this episode of the Basement with Thomas Campbell he reminded me of the character The Architect that Neo meets in the second Matrix movie. he even says “the problem is choice” which was Neo’s line when meeting the Architect.

did anyone else find this odd similarity? like he’s a nice version of the Architect… explaining things?

1 extra cooked last night and put in the fridge… blade is from Japan. Handle from my front yard in Texas.

saw this on FB marketplace (not mine) but I instantly thought about guys who had their router jig slip when making a juice groove and this corner pour spout is an interesting way to “fix” one that wouldn’t look unintentional.

gonna make tacos in a minute

if so what adapters if any do you need to mount it to the arbor?

I’m wanting to turn a grinding wheel relatively slow for grinding knives.

I’ve searched ebay for the grinding wheel and cover but none exist presently.

i picked this up from facebook marketplace from a guy who was moving. it’s a 1970’s era. not sure what model exactly. haven’t had time to mess with it since i got it…

HAS:

table saw

drill

lathe (but missing the lathe cutting tools)

disc sander

jointer

Wanting:

lathe tools for carving

band saw

locking casters? (is this a thing for these)

where’s the best places to find accessories for these?

and are the accessories interchangeable between models/versions?

150mm Kengata Ko Sujihiki

(Texas Toothpick)

25mm heel height

0.7mm behind the edge

L6 Stock removal (former sawmill bandsaw blade section)

hand tools only (and a drill and angle grinder). no forge, just a propane torch, ball peen hammer, some files, sandpaper, and a makeshift grinder from hole-saw scraps and sandpaper in a drill in a vise.

Handle is eastern red cedar, plywood from a brie cheese crate, and scrap walnut (from making cutting boards) as a ferrule.

it’s a pretty good slicer, used it to eat a ribeye tonight.

i still need to work on steadiness while thinning…. critiques welcome.

i don’t have a forge and didn’t do any heat treating aside from the torch and hammer to add the texture to the spine. i’m guessing that removed some hardness from the blade, but i sharpened another one and it seems to be holding an edge, so i decided to finish this one as well. i don’t have hardness files yet so don’t know HRC but i’m guessing it’s somewhere between 50 and 58 (wide range I know) maybe I’ll buy some soon and test it.

Hi all, I made a Kengata Gyuto 204mm 50mm height, 0.7mm behind the edge, 2mm spine; out of L6 steel. After thinning it some more yesterday I tested it out by cutting Fillet steaks from a prime tenderloin… then my wife tried it on some lemons. i cleaned the knife after and dried it. and didn’t notice a patina last night, but this morning it has quite a bit of patina… some blues and some oranges. is there a chart somewhere that lists what colors come from what? I know you can get black with instant coffee, and I’ve heard onions and lemons (acidic things) cause a patina… but is there a list?

it’s actually the second knife I cut from L6 (Stock removal) bandsaw stock, but the first one that I put an edge on and finished (and the 3rd ever handle I’ve made and burned on).

204mm Kengata Gyuto (8-1/32” cutting edge)

1.6mm spine

0.72mm behind the edge

50mm tall

Handle is Eastern red cedar with plywood stripe and walnut ferrule.

It was supposed to be 210… but when I was grinding with improvised tools I overheated the tip and had to file it back (I’ll post a comment pic with the improvised grinding tool)

The last pic in this set has my:

150mm Ko Sujihiki (Top- unfinished first knife, 2nd handle- still needs sharpening and potentially heat treat)

180mm Hatsukokoro AS Kurosagi Bunka (Middle- my first handle, bought the knife)

204mm Kengata Gyuto (this knife)

I plan on making a set… I also have a Nakiri and a Tanto Chef cut out and profiled…

I don’t own a forge or kiln yet and was originally planning on making 10-12 knives before getting one and then practicing with coupons to get the heat treat process dialed in before doing the whole set, but I started wondering if they would hold an edge as-is (I mean they came from hardened high carbon L6 that spent years ripping trees into boards) what if I didn’t need to heat treat?

So this is a test. I will use this next to my AS bunka for the next few months while I make more knives and if it doesn’t roll an edge and performs well, maybe I’ll just sharpen them all.

This is my 4th knife ever, made using Stock removal from an L6 bandsaw blade. i think i may have gotten a little thin at the edge pre-heat treat, I guess I will find out when i get a forge, or kiln.

Thoughts? critiques?

This was all done with hand tools except for an angle grinder, I don’t have a belt grinder yet.

I saw a video of a guy who made a sled and table for a power plane and he was able to flatten a large cutting board in under a minute…. made me curious.

if so what brands are good and what are crap. there’s a vast difference in price from $38 to $300.

and how hard is it to find the hardware to build your own sled? (the rods and sliding holes)

so in my other post i mentioned meeting an old knifesmith teacher who was selling off his tools. I’m now 3 weeks into making my first knives (working mostly on weekends).

I plan to make a set. Don’t own a forge yet or a bench grinder, but i do have a propane torch, a bench vise with a small 3x4” flat area, a ball peen hammer, a few files, sandpaper, an angle grinder (which i used to cut out the stock).

I’m making

#1 a texas toothpick petty

#2 a k-tip Gyuto

#3 a nakiri

all with a light tsuchime and kurouchi finish

i still have some geometry refinement to do on #1 & #3, but today i worked on the Guyto. draw filing, then hand sanding with a jig i made using my bench as a flat surface for the sandpaper and moving the jig-mounted blade… (120,220,400,800).

this is all pre-heat-treat but the bandsaw blade it all came from was likely hardened. it takes forever by hand.

how am i doing for a first attempt?

what tips or feedback do you have for a total noob?

pics get older as you scroll, last 2 show my tools.

I plan to draw file the toothpick and nakiri and then sand similarly.