# Looking for some help with some decisions.



## Armaros (Apr 12, 2021)

Hey all. A friend and I are making knives for a school project, and I chose to make a takohiki-esque knife. 18.25" blade, 1" thick at the heel. It'll be a pain, but it should be worth it. Now that the backstory is there, I was hoping you all could help me make a few decisions on it. The handle will be two pieces, and the handle body and saya will both be out of some beautiful white oak I have. However, I have no idea what type of wood/material I want to use for the bolster piece. I don't think I want a lot of contrast, because I want to keep the design clean and simple, but past that I've hit a wall. Second, I think I want to do some engraving, but I don't have chisels for metal, and I don't have the money right now to buy them. Do y'all think I can use a dremel, or should I just not risk it and not do that? Finally, do I handsand to a satin finish or a mirror finish? The entire project is up to me, I'm just not sure what I want to do, and I've never made a knife like this before so I wanted to see what other people thought. Thank you very much in advance, and I appreciate y'all.

PS: I attached the picture of the blade outline on the steel (1095). The outline looks a little rough, but it'll get cleaned up as I grind it, I just had to attach the template with magnets because I didn't have superglue.


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## Armaros (Apr 12, 2021)

Realized that the picture didn't upload. Here it is. Thanks y'all.


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## Alan R McDaniel Jr (Apr 12, 2021)

Why aren't you using a full tang? 

In my very limited experience, I've found a full tang easier to make than other styles. Also, I'm sure there are some guys out there who can do great things with a dremel tool. I think engraving done by a novice with a dremel tool would look like a novice had used a dremel tool to do the engraving. If you want to keep it simple, then keep it simple.

Now, my two cents in this regard is worth less than that, but I know that some of the most beautiful knives I've seen are those that have good clean lines and well fitted and finished handles.

Alan

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Wildthings (Apr 12, 2021)

I'm with Alan on the dremel. Don't do it

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Armaros (Apr 13, 2021)

Alan R McDaniel Jr said:


> Why aren't you using a full tang?
> 
> In my very limited experience, I've found a full tang easier to make than other styles. Also, I'm sure there are some guys out there who can do great things with a dremel tool. I think engraving done by a novice with a dremel tool would look like a novice had used a dremel tool to do the engraving. If you want to keep it simple, then keep it simple.
> 
> ...





Wildthings said:


> I'm with Alan on the dremel. Don't do it


Sounds good on that end. And I'm not doing full tang because the japanese style knives are almost exclusively hidden tang, and so I'm sticking with not. No substantial reason. Thanks y'all.


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## Wildthings (Apr 13, 2021)

Look on Google images, pinterest etc Lots of ideas for handles. Is it going to be octagonish ?


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## Armaros (Apr 13, 2021)

Wildthings said:


> Look on Google images, pinterest etc Lots of ideas for handles. Is it going to be octagonish ?


Yeah something right that. Probably octagonal but rounded some for comfort.

Reactions: Like 1


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## SubVet10 (Apr 13, 2021)

Wa style handle? Simplelittlelife on YT has several vids on how to do it.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Great Post 1


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## Armaros (Apr 13, 2021)

SubVet10 said:


> Wa style handle? Simplelittlelife on YT has several vids on how to do it.


Yeah Wa style ish. Mostly I just need some suggestions for wood to pair with the white oak. I was thinking box elder maybe.


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## Arn213 (Apr 13, 2021)

Forget the wood being focal- wrap it with shagreen. It’s the way. Thank me later

Reactions: Like 1


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## Armaros (Apr 14, 2021)

Arn213 said:


> Forget the wood being focal- wrap it with shagreen. It’s the way. Thank me later


What's that?


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## Mike Hill (Apr 14, 2021)

Leather made from Shark, sting ray, dogfish skin.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Arn213 (Apr 14, 2021)

Armaros said:


> What's that?


Shagreen is hide- this particular one I am referring to is either ray skin or shark skin. This exotic species was use during the Art Deco period in the 1920’s, employed into furniture and the French termed it “chagrin”. The Japanese term for this is “samegawa” use of the shark skin or ray skin belly wrap in swordsmiths during the Hein Period (c. late 790’s-1180’s). The wood handle is wrapped with this hide material and then wrapped over with fabric material (knotted). It is intended to give you better grip and it creates this cool effect of a “diamond” window of the fabric over wrap where the material of the shark or ray skin is partially exposed. The hide is dyed with all sorts of color and has a finished. Ray skin is really tough and strong material. By the way, they do sell leather hides that simulate shagrin. You can buy cut offs. we have used is a company called Edelman Leathers. 

Here is a link to the process:








Full Wrap Samegawa


In this tutorial I will demonstrate how I apply a full wrap of samegawa (ray skin) to a bare tsuka core. There are a lot of different methods of applying samegawa to a tsuka and after experimentin…




www.cottontailcustoms.com





Some photo’s for reference and not mine:

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Informative 1


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## Mike Hill (Apr 14, 2021)

Genuine sting ray is not all that hard to find. Tandy used to have it - but not noticed it the last few years. But I've seen it on amazon, ebay, etsy, etc.... Probably $30 to $50 per skin, but they aren't too big. That would be natural - don't know what colors or bleached would be. You can find shark skin also, but it will likely look different than the handles above. And it varies according to species but is often cheaper. Dogfish is a shark by another name - so would be similar.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Arn213 (Apr 14, 2021)

^They both have different texture and visual pattern. The ray skin is more pebbled/circular and raised. Shark skin is more low relief tracery (raised and recessed) and has diagonal lines forming geometric patterns. The ray skin is more tough and hard. You have to pay attention to the thickness which a specific leather thickness gauge caliper to get the specific reading in ounce/mm.

You have to buy these from vendors that are reputable, reliable and harvest them responsibly- those vendors are out there.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Armaros (Apr 14, 2021)

Mike Hill said:


> Genuine sting ray is not all that hard to find. Tandy used to have it - but not noticed it the last few years. But I've seen it on amazon, ebay, etsy, etc.... Probably $30 to $50 per skin, but they aren't too big. That would be natural - don't know what colors or bleached would be. You can find shark skin also, but it will likely look different than the handles above. And it varies according to species but is often cheaper. Dogfish is a shark by another name - so would be similar.





Arn213 said:


> ^They both have different texture and visual pattern. The ray skin is more pebbled/circular and raised. Shark skin is more low relief tracery (raised and recessed) and has diagonal lines forming geometric patterns. The ray skin is more tough and hard. You have to pay attention to the thickness which a specific leather thickness gauge caliper to get the specific reading in ounce/mm.
> 
> You have to buy these from vendors that are reputable, reliable and harvest them responsibly- those vendors are out there.


Awesome. Unfortunately I have to stay within a budget, but if I can find some at a good price I'll definitely get some. Thanks for the tip.


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## Nature Man (Jul 28, 2021)

Did you finalize the details of your design? Chuck


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## Armaros (Aug 2, 2021)

Nature Man said:


> Did you finalize the details of your design? Chuck


Unfortunately the knives never returned from heat treating so… no?

Reactions: Sincere 1


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