# Making a saya! (And some questions)



## ENK (Aug 23, 2022)

My dad has a woodworking shop in his basement, and I asked if we could make a saya for the Yu Kurosaki nakiri I bought off BST earlier this year. This is the result from three pieces of maple. We didn’t have a blueprint, just figured it out as we went using all the tools -- miter saw, table saw, band saw, jointer, planer, drill press…



Two questions for anyone with more saya making experience:
- How do you make these from two pieces instead of three (no glued on third piece to close the gap at the point end of the blade)?
- And how do you make rounded cuts for other knife shapes instead of a rectangle like mine?

Any help is appreciated!


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## deltaplex (Aug 23, 2022)

1) Two pieces of flat stock and chisel out the pocket for the blade
2) band saw or rough cut on a miter saw and sand to desired shape

Or a bevy of other ways...


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## birdsfan (Aug 23, 2022)

The timing of your question is perfect, as I am about to start a 2 piece saya tomorrow. I will take some WIP pics along the way and post them here. I should have prefaced by saying that I am not a professional saya maker, nor do I play one on TV. I have stumbled on my technique through trial and (significan) error. That said, my methods work for me, your mileage may vary...


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## ENK (Aug 23, 2022)

birdsfan said:


> The timing of your question is perfect, as I am about to start a 2 piece saya tomorrow. I will take some WIP pics along the way and post them here. I should have prefaced by saying that I am not a professional saya maker, nor do I play one on TV. I have stumbled on my technique through trial and (significan) error. That said, my methods work for me, your mileage may vary...


thanks! please keep me updated


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## MowgFace (Aug 23, 2022)

I have only done 2 piece sayas with Basswood, so take this with much salt.

I ended up tracing the knife with pencil, then scoring the outline with a blade, then starting at the spine edge chiseling from the middle of the "pocket" area to the scored line in order to start the pocket. Once i got the spine depth, i focused on the edge side, then blended the middle i used clamps on the 2 pieces to verify the friction fit (or pin fit). Shaped the saya with a 4x36 belt sander, and called it a day.

I only used hand tools for all of this. Hardware store chisel, cute little table jig saw, and a 4x36. My workshop was a 5Gal bucket to catch all of the wood chips while chiseling.


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## silylanjie (Aug 23, 2022)

I had made many sayas using 2 piece of woods. Usually what I do is have one piece of the wood that's thin and other piece that's thicker to chisel the pocket of the blade. After the pocket of the blade is chisel out, I'll then cut out roughly shape of the saya on both pieces to glue both together. Once both pieces is glued, I'll sanding and shaping the saya. I also had used a router tool to carve the pocket of blade instead of the chisel, just to be lazy. 

I'm very sure there are many other ways in making a saya. Just find whatever you're comfortable with and have fun.


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## silylanjie (Aug 23, 2022)

Now, I only use blade guards and a knife magnet holder. Most of my sayas I had made and bought just sits in a plastic bin


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## ENK (Aug 23, 2022)

Funny that everyone uses a router or chisel to hollow out the middle. We didn’t think of that and put a bevel on the edge of each piece of wood, one for the top and one for the bottom, then glued them together and added a small third piece to cap the end. Will try routing the middle next time.


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## birdsfan (Aug 25, 2022)

As Promised, I took some pictures of the progress of a saya I am working on at the moment. I started by cutting a piece of 3/4 inch stock down the middle with a table saw to create a pair of book matched 3 inch by 12 inch thin stock boards. I did have to plane one of them down a bit so that I would have less thickness to grind off on the belt sander.







I marked the outline of the blade on one of the boards, also marking where the handle met the blade. That becomes important when making the cut outs to accomodate the handle.






Now I have found it helpful to define the edge of the pocket for the blade with a dremel cutting tool. When I use the router, it creates a lot of wood chips, which easily obscures my pencil line. Perhaps this is an unnecessary step, but it tends to help me cut nice straight lines with a hand router.






I use a hand/trim router to cut the pocket of the blade. Depending on the thickness of the blade and distal taper, I may have to make multiple passes at increasing depths so as not to burn the wood, or my bit. This was the case with this Yanick, Very pronounced distal taper, I first made a shallow cut, then a slightly deeper cut to accomodate the increasing thickness of the convex bevel, and finally a third pass to allow for the distal taper and the thickness of the spine near the handle. I use a dremel tool with a carving bit to ease the transition between the different depth router passes.









I use a small chisel to clean up the edges of the pocket, then uses sandpaper with a small block to smooth the inside of the pocket for the blade.






I cut out the outline of the saya around the pocket then glue it to the other bookmatched rectangle piece. I dont cut both boards to shape, because it is easier to line up the top/spine and heel of the boards than 2 blade shaped halves. I use titebond original formula. There have been some discussion threads on here that indicated that the other titebond formulas might cause rusting on the blades. Before I read that thread, I made my first few sayas using Titebond 3, and in fact, I did have some rusting on a blade edge. Since I switched to the original formula, I have not had a single instance of rusting. And yes....I do clamp the sh*t out the boards.






Once the glue is completely dry, I cut out the shape of the saya, and do the cut out for the handle. This allows me to ensure that the blade fits inside the pocket and does not need to be filed out






Now the sanding begins. This saya is katalox, Mexican ebony, which is very hard and abrasion resistant...... It will take time...









Once I am happy with the thickness, I cut out the final shape of the saya and sand the rough edges a bit

Like I said, I am not a professional. There are a bunch of ways to get to "done" 

Hope it helped!


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## TB_London (Aug 25, 2022)

Not done a WIP for a while but here’s an old one





Making a saya for a Takeda gyuto


Been a while since I posted anything but have had a few days off work and have been able to get into the workshop. Making a saya is quite straight forward, just needs a bit of effort in preparing the stock, and then plenty of trial fits. Started off with a piece of reclaimed Teak, looks a...




www.kitchenknifeforums.com





saya making is pretty fun except for when that friction fit moves from a satisfying grip to a nothing comes in or out after glue up. 

I’ve found Kant twist clamps are so much better for avoiding slippy glue ups


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## kennyc (Dec 30, 2022)

How are you finishing/shaping the mouth/throat area of the saya? Try as i might, I'm having trouble keeping grit out of the inside while using sandpaper of any kind, which ends up scratching my knives. I've also tried using files and chisels for shaping the mouth area but the finish isnt as nice as sanding.



birdsfan said:


> As Promised, I took some pictures of the progress of a saya I am working on at the moment. I started by cutting a piece of 3/4 inch stock down the middle with a table saw to create a pair of book matched 3 inch by 12 inch thin stock boards. I did have to plane one of them down a bit so that I would have less thickness to grind off on the belt sander.
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> View attachment 195400
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## birdsfan (Dec 30, 2022)

If you are talking about inside the saya, I do most of the shaping before gluing the 2 halves together. Before applying the glue, I clamp the halves and slide the knife inside to check for fit. If it does need a little more stock removal, I use needle rasps and sandpaper. I use old belts from my 1x30 belt sander. They are pretty beat up, and don't have a lot of loose grit.

If you are talking about the edges, I do all the finish sanding with a handheld orbital sander.


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