# A(nother) hanlde. Mazaki re-imagined



## cotedupy (Sep 9, 2020)

I'm sure it will come as welcome news to everyone that this is the last knife I have to re-handle, so will stop filling this forum with pictures of slightly amateur wa handles...

After finally managing to make some reasonably nice handles for some other knives I decided, after a little encouragement from the OG Cark K, yesterday to rehandle my Mazaki Kasumi White 2 150mm Petty. Here it is below with its original; horn ferrule and misc wood.






I had bought these little brass things online the other week and wanted to give them a go. Filing brass is well easy eh! Took no time at all with a cheap little file thing I got for a couple of bucks.





Unfortunately that was to be my last gimme of the afternoon. God knows what kind of aeronautical-strength epoxy had been used to glue the handle in, but it was certainly very reluctant to leave the party. Much oven-ing and mallet-ing made no impression, until eventually I came across a tip from another member here and boiled it for about ten mins, and then just about managed to get it off with the mallet. I can certainly now see why people hate removing epoxy-ed handles. There was also some bit of rust on the tang around the glue which I sanded off.

I had an idea that I might want to use the ferrule bit in my new handle so wanted to keep that intact, but again trying to remove it from the rest of the handle proved somewhat tricky. I also forgot about it in the oven for a while when I went off for a cig and a beer (just the handle not the knife), which turned the horn kinda greyish. Hey ho. Eventually I just sawed it off.

Ready to go with another blank I made up from wine oak staves, going for a two-tone black number with a brass spacer (to avoid all of my handles looking exactly the same).





I rather like the result, I only have sandpaper up to 1200 grit, so the horn isn't as shiny as it was before, but at least the grey went. And I actually quite like it like this, so may not bother with further sanding / buffing. Tho I might try tidy-ing up the blade and re-doing a bit of the kasumi.

With the brass the balance is a little back of where it was before, which again I don't really mind - I think it kind of suits Mazaki with the spine thickness they have at the heel. It's also about 1.5cm longer than the original, so I could always take a bit off if I change my mind.


----------



## cotedupy (Sep 10, 2020)

A couple of slightly better pics in the sun, which show the slight colour difference between handle and ferrule...


----------



## Carl Kotte (Sep 10, 2020)

Grrrrrrreeeeaaat!


----------



## juice (Sep 10, 2020)

cotedupy said:


> I'm sure it will come as welcome news to everyone that this is the last knife I have to re-handle, so will stop filling this forum with pictures of slightly amateur wa handles...


I've got a Messermiester that needs a new handle!


----------



## cotedupy (Sep 10, 2020)

juice said:


> I've got a Messermiester that needs a new handle!



Haha! 

(Tho seriously - I'd be happy to send you a wa handle if you want, but unfortunately my abilities don't yet extend to scales.)


----------



## Dhoff (Sep 10, 2020)

Carl Kotte said:


> Grrrrrrreeeeaaat!



Your sock muppet avatar is a tiger with cereal addiction? 

Good looking handle! really like the snug fit. Australia has many talented makers it seems.

Edit: Never change your avatar, it is awesome mate. No offence was meant.


----------



## cotedupy (Sep 10, 2020)

Dhoff said:


> Good looking handle! really like the snug fit. Australia has many talented makers it seems.



Ah cheers! And tho I'm far from talented in terms of making handles, there are certainly quite few good knife-makers here who are also make some pretty swish handles


----------



## cotedupy (Sep 10, 2020)

A quick q. for those who know about these things...

This is what it came out like after a cursory sanding / cleanup. I'd taken a bit of the Kasumi off with wire wool before when cleaning up a bit of rust, and there's not much left now. Is there any point in me trying to re-do it? Given that:

a.) I'm (clearly) not a perfectionist, and have not done it before.
b.) I'm not going to be selling it.
c.) I probably prefer the look of it with a more even finish.

Are there any benefits of having Kasumi on a knife that had it originally...?


----------



## birdsfan (Sep 10, 2020)

Awesome looking handle! You should be proud of how far your skills have come in such a short time. I would be happy to have work like that on any of my knives. And it is really cool that the source wood is from a wine barrel. 

It really is fun to have a creative vision, then craft a product that sees that vision though, and also to overcome some of the challenges along the way. Every project is a new learning experience.

As far as the kasumi goes, I will defer to the more knowledgeable forum members. I did remove the kasumi off one of my knives, for a similar reason. I didn't know how to restore it so I removed it and sanded and polished it smooth. DIdn't seem to change the performance very much. My knife has a really good grind so food release was never a problem. On a real laser, a polished finish might increase stiction, but I am only hypothesizing here. Again I am curious to here insights from more experienced members.


----------



## Tim Rowland (Sep 10, 2020)

Well that turned out fantastic looking.
Very appropriate dimensions and nice crisp facets.
Nice job Mate


----------



## cotedupy (Sep 10, 2020)

Thanks guys! @birdsfan @Tim Rowland . Not quite at you guys' level yet, but give me a couple more weeks... 

Seriously tho I do think I'm getting ok at it... two months ago I'd have been the last person that I, or any of my friends, would've said could do anything in terms of woodworking or making stuff. And yep - it is very enjoyable seeing something through from my own half-baked idea and some raw ingredients, to it actually looking quite nice in the end.

(Just cut up some veg, inc. onion, with it for dinner, and tbh it's so reactive that I'm not going to bother with what it looks like at all in terms of polishing / kasumi. I'm ready for all the brown/blue/grey patina out there  )


----------



## birdsfan (Sep 10, 2020)

To be clear.....I am a rank amateur. No where near Tim's level!


----------

