Bill Menees's Blog

I finished knife #5 today. I wrapped it a few days ago, and I polished and sharpened it today. I learned a lot making this knife. I now know more of what I can and can't do with the tools I have. Most of the limitations of my tools affect the blade appearance (e.g., no hollow grinding, no mirror polish), but I can at least make some interesting knives with what I have. It's just slow going.

This knife is a stripped-down tanto with no menuki, fuchi, habaki, etc. It has no temper line (hamon), and it uses a full tang because that was easy and strong. Basically, everything is as simple as I could make it on this knife while still applying a lot of the principles I've learned in my recent studies. One day I hope to be able to make traditional Japanese-style katanas, but this is just a small step toward that.

The wrap is all done with 1/2" black "leather-like" strap that I got at Joann's Fabrics. I didn't want to use real leather since this is the first knife I've made with a wrapped handle like this. The faux leather feels fine, but next time I'll try to find some that's 1/4" or 3/8" wide.

For the finish on the oak I used Minwax's Pecan Polyshades to apply the stain and polyurethane sealer at the same time. I applied two coats per the product directions, but I applied it with a paper towel instead of a brush. It took several days to dry to a hard, non-tacky finish, so I don't know if I'd mess with Polyshades again. The final finish is ok though.

Material: D-2 steel with oak handles (tsuka) and scabbard (saya)
Blade Length: 6 3/4"
Overall Length: 12 1/4"
Started: September 1, 2006
Finished: September 30, 2006

Labels: Knifemaking