# Tosa and Nakiri



## Steve Smith (Mar 20, 2021)

The blades were purchased from Ibuki Blade direct from Japan. The Nakiri handle is Afzelia burl and African blackwood. The Tosa handle is Honduran rosewood and African blackwood. Finish is a waterborne poly.

Reactions: Like 3 | EyeCandy! 5 | Way Cool 3


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## TRfromMT (Mar 20, 2021)

Ibuki blanks are awesome and those are some nice knives!


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## Nature Man (Mar 20, 2021)

Love the wood! What is the theory on the shape of the handles? Chuck


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## Steve Smith (Mar 20, 2021)

@Nature Man japanese knife handles are traditionally octagonal in shape with a slight taper. I made them larger than traditional handles since these are for my dads 75th birthday and he is quite a bit bigger than the average Japanese guy.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Wildthings (Mar 20, 2021)

Daggummit Steve! You done gone and made me spend some money on a blade blank!!

BTW beautifully done handles!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Arn213 (Mar 21, 2021)

The proper term for that type of traditional Japanese knife handle is a “Wa handle”. They come in other different profiles outside of the octagon shape- there is hexagon, oval and d shape/chestnut. There are different hybrids and one particular I like is based on the octagon- parallel flat side edge with an arc top and bottom. 

As Steve mentioned there is a slight taper towards the blade orientation (wider at the end and narrows slightly towards the bolster). The wa handle is what I would consider on the slimmer side- hence if you have big hands (like a Yogi Berra catchers hands), it will fill like a “popsicle stick” (that is a guitar neck term for a thin/slim guitar neck)...........well not quite, but you get the idea that is not “beefy”. That is why Steve as he has mentioned that he adjusted the size of the handle to tailor to his fathers size hands. 

The Japanese chef’s knives with the wa handle tend to be front heavy where the blade side is- just like some baseball bat the that would be barrel heavy; there are knob/handle heavy bats as well as a balanced bat based on a players preference. I prefer the octagonal shape because it allows you for a better grip frictional grip with less slippage and ergonomically comfortable (to me at least)- tennis racquet handle is octagonal (8 beveled sides) for ergonomic comfort & for better fictional grip (yes, the bevels serve as a reference point for certain types of grips).

Reactions: Informative 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 21, 2021)

Steve Smith said:


> The blades were purchased from Ibuki Blade direct from Japan. The Nakiri handle is Afzelia burl and African blackwood. The Tosa handle is Honduran rosewood and African blackwood. Finish is a waterborne poly.
> 
> View attachment 205566


Nicely done.

I just checked out their site. Wow. Have you seen their hatchet knife? That is so cool. I need to try to make one....


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## Steve Smith (Mar 22, 2021)

@ripjack13 this one?


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## ripjack13 (Mar 22, 2021)

Steve Smith said:


> @ripjack13 this one?


These....

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Steve Smith (Mar 22, 2021)

Very nice, but beyond my budget

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 22, 2021)

Yep. I have a bunch of old hatchets and ax heads. I may try to see if I can make one.


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## Strider (May 1, 2021)

Lovely stuff! Did you get to use them properly? How do you take care of them?


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## Mike1950 (May 1, 2021)

very nice we have 2 Japanese knifes bought about 2001. been our go to knifes for 20 years. might have to look into the long carvers-thanks for link.


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