# Santoku for newlyweds



## milkbaby (Sep 6, 2018)

Friends of mine have a kid getting hitched next week and asked if I could make a kitchen knife for one of the wedding gifts they're giving the soon-to-be-newlyweds. Just put the finishing touches on it today barely in time for them to take it with them to where the wedding's gonna be. Didn't have time to somehow include a coin in the package, but fingers crossed no jinx...

This is a santoku in 15N20 carbon steel about HRc 61-62. Philippine ebony burl and dyed maple burl handle. 181 mm blade, 304 mm overall length. Full convex grind with very slight right hand bias. Balance point right where the blade enters the handle, i.e. at the "finger choil". Rounded spine, eased choil, blah blah blah...

The saya is some sweet quilted maple that I pulled from a box of random assorted figured thins I got from Mike1950 over on Woodbarter, really cool stuff in there and was hard to choose. But I chose wisely, I think?

This Philippine ebony burl is probably the prettiest wood I've ever used on a knife, the pictures don't do it justice at all! I wish that I could find more of it. And the quilted maple makes for the most eye catching saya that I've ever made.

Maybe one day I'll be able to keep a purdy knaf for myself, but to be honest, it's way more rewarding to hear from somebody else how much they like one of my knives. Hope these kids enjoy it together for a long time!

Picture spam commencing now:


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## Danzo (Sep 7, 2018)

Very nice! What do you use to polish that wood up so much?


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## milkbaby (Sep 7, 2018)

Danzo said:


> Very nice! What do you use to polish that wood up so much?



Thanks! Both the handle and saya were sanded to 3000 grit. Since I was hurrying under a deadline, I applied around 6 or 7 coats of Tru Oil with Armor All original protectant as "accelerator". That resulted in a super glossy "under glass" look. The last step was a paste wax finish which gives a more gentle sheen rather than the high gloss of straight Tru Oil.

If you prefer a little more tactile feel in hand, sanding up to 400 or 800 grit will still pop some nice color in wood. Sanding to higher grit will highlight the grain better, increase the chatoyance, and give more of a three dimensional look to the wood figure.


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## merlijny2k (Sep 17, 2018)

Oh man those handles you make are out of this world. Don't tell me you get all thus done on a tiny balcony still? Those blades you make almost define the essence of what it means to have a hand-made one-off and why no ammount of machinery could ever completely replace that.


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## milkbaby (Sep 17, 2018)

merlijny2k said:


> Oh man those handles you make are out of this world. Don't tell me you get all thus done on a tiny balcony still? Those blades you make almost define the essence of what it means to have a hand-made one-off and why no ammount of machinery could ever completely replace that.



Thank you for the kind words!  A lot of the work is done by hand like with handsaws and files (on both wood and steel). 

I moved and now I do most of my work on a screened in front porch instead.  I'm having a hard time deciding where I can put a 2x72 belt grinder and an electric kiln safely, maybe will get a big cart that I will use to move that stuff out to the porch and back in the house at the end of each knifemaking day.


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## Dave Martell (Sep 18, 2018)

That's a hell of a lot of work you put into this knife and it shows, congrats!


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## John N (Sep 18, 2018)

Great stuff, the handle construction is a work of art !


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## merlijny2k (Sep 20, 2018)

milkbaby said:


> Thank you for the kind words!  A lot of the work is done by hand like with handsaws and files (on both wood and steel).
> 
> I moved and now I do most of my work on a screened in front porch instead.  I'm having a hard time deciding where I can put a 2x72 belt grinder and an electric kiln safely, maybe will get a big cart that I will use to move that stuff out to the porch and back in the house at the end of each knifemaking day.



Screened in porch=dust problem/total cleanup after every workday?

I like the idea of a cart though. I ended up building an extra wooden shed and moving everything from the house's original brick shed there. Claimed the brick shed for my grinder and bicycle. Good thing I didn't just put my grinder in the new wooden shed because during my last project my grinder caught fire (oops!).


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