# Kiwi Nakiri rehandle/ matching saya from a piece of cedar plank WIP



## quantumcloud509

So I got a kid at work whos turning 18 Wednesday. I wanted to do something nice for him, so Im sharpening and fixing the tip of his knife to the best of my abilities and when I return it from my days off on wednesday, I want to present him with his first nakiri as well.

Found Kiwi nakiri at local Thai food store for $2.99. Found cedar plank under my car port. And off I went into the sunset not having the slightest clue of what Im doing:

View attachment 20316


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## Nmko

Awesome little project... Can't wait to see the end result!


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## quantumcloud509

so i know cedar isnt a good wood for this but time is short and i dont have anything else. I barely have any tools, and I dont know what Im doing and im on a very short time frame. I do have some ebony stain and some clear coat...i know ill stain, not sure if ill clear yet...i also have a low rpm buffer/ polisher and buffing and polishing compound so maybe after stain ill just use that to finish the wood. Just gotta make sure the stain doesnt stain his hands when hes using it. I got lucky and a friend brought over a jigsaw for me to use on a short whim. Wife says i cant use electrical tools anore tonight cuz ill wake up the baby, so im going to go try to use a drill and drill a hole for the tang in the handle and cut the saya in half by hand with my hacksaw. More pictures to follow! Laugh away...


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## quantumcloud509

Ps the handle will be a wa octagonal handle, and I am on the lookouts for a piece of steel, copper, or brass dowel to put into the heel of the handle to a little added weight to the super light kiwi.


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## quantumcloud509

Ok. Got the hole drilled. Ideally i will find some epoxy tomorrow within walking distance of my house and grind down the already weak-sauce Kiwi half tang into something that will fit inside the hole. Fill the hole with epoxy, put the knife in and somehow ghetto stabilize it so it stays centered and in place while it dries.


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## quantumcloud509

now to split the saya perfectly in half...


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## quantumcloud509

Nope, not working too well...hacksaw blade slips a lot and beginning to steer. Gonna have to find someone with a tablesaw tomorrow.


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## quantumcloud509

Freehand semi-WA handle on the low rpm grinder... 



it was quiet enough and the cutting was quiet because of the soft wood that i didnt wake up the baby.


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## quantumcloud509

Ok now I am torn wether to go old school and burn the saya/ handle like a burnt chestnut handle on my Kato and then clear coat or stay with the ebony stain, or both...hmmm decisions decisions...


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## quantumcloud509

Also wondering if I should add some sort of pin into the end of the tang through the handle for more beauty/ weight in addition to the pin I want to add to the butt of the handle...if I do this, the pin ideally will look centered in the handle...


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## Nmko

I think a centered pin would look ace, My vote goes for a light stain and coat on the handle and saya... That burn't look never caught on with me.


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## mkriggen

quantumcloud509 said:


> View attachment 20325
> now to split the saya perfectly in half...



Dude, I bet Lucretia could pull that off :lol2:

Be well,
Mikey


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## hobbitling

Yeah, that looks safe.



quantumcloud509 said:


> View attachment 20325
> now to split the saya perfectly in half...


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## quantumcloud509

I knew this was gonna turn into another Lucretias lucrative feet post. Anyways... Bought some epoxy, not sure if its the right stuff but its whats gonna get used. At my friends fence shop split the saya in half and one of the eye burls popped out, oh well, im thinking of popping the other one out as well...itll look cool. He just happened to have a planer sitting out and i planed the saya pieces down. Hes a marlboro man type of guy and I had a couple really old zippo lighters on me which needed flint, but I gifted them to him for helping me out, in return he gave me a cool little vice, so now I dont have to pull a Lucretia again!


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## quantumcloud509

Had a thick gauge piece of copper wire for the pin but forgot it in my buddies car so now gonna have to figure something new out. Marked the layout on the tang of what Im going to cut. Doesnt look very safe...but gotta finish this project... :/


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## quantumcloud509




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## quantumcloud509

CRAP!! Crap crap!! I was messing around and doing something totally unnecessary and...

really dont have time for this...no pin nailer available but i do have some gorilla wood glue and a c clamp. Hope this works!! Def setting me back now as my next project was to hollow out the saya and glue it together. Maybe ill go look for a pin for the handle and focus on that some...


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## quantumcloud509

cant find pin material, outlined the inside of the saya now to clean it out and glue this sucker together...


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## quantumcloud509

hollowed out saya. Now to glue it and round it off afterwards. Still need to find material for handle pin and saya pin.


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## quantumcloud509

Mind you Im babysitting a 4 month old and have to clean the house and cook dinner in the next 2.5 hours


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## quantumcloud509

gluing process. Really hope too much glue doesnt go into the saya and restrict movement of knife. 

I know its silly but im going to try and etch the kiwi. Heating up vinegar right now. I dont even know if this is how you do it...never etched anything in my life. Is this process even called etching or forcing a patina? Ive been here long enough...i really should know...did way too many drugs back in the day...


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## quantumcloud509

damn! No reaction in the pan of vinegar...maybe i should add some baking soda???


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## quantumcloud509

meanwhile on the saya front:


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## Nmko

quantumcloud509 said:


> View attachment 20358
> damn! No reaction in the pan of vinegar...maybe i should add some baking soda???



Did you put any etchant in with the vinegar?

The saya and handle are looking rad! Any plans for the pins?


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## quantumcloud509

No i doesnt have. Give me example please? I did get a super super badass color pattern! Its blowing my mind dude! 
cant really tell in the pic but it has super pearlescent colors within a gray border reminiscent of a traditional japanese watercolor mt fuji painting.


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## quantumcloud509

or a tsunami


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## quantumcloud509

Is mustard and etchant?


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## quantumcloud509




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## Nmko

Should have specified sorry, mustard will probably do the same thing the vinegar did but with a slightly wilder pattern i would assume.
etchant being the chemical added to 'etch' - remove metal, should be able to buy it over the counter at radioshack... pretty sure you can get it on ebay too. But looks like you don't need it!

*That reaction is BADASS! *:nunchucks:

Awesome work man, you're tempted to keep it now i bet.


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## quantumcloud509

Ye that thought crossed my mind but I think it would be way cooler to give it to this kid man. Hes from the hood and you only turn 18 once and I think him and his 19 year old dishwasher buddy will run a very successful restaurant someday...trying to invest in their future...


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## Nmko

Good on you, always good to work with people you can see would make great cooks/chefs in the future. 

So what's the next little project going to be?


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## quantumcloud509

No pin will be used for saya because it just somehow turned itself into a perfect friction saya! Woohoo


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## quantumcloud509

I dont know ive never done this before...i only cook man...i dont know how to do anything else


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## quantumcloud509




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## quantumcloud509




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## quantumcloud509




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## quantumcloud509

Ok enough of the fashion shots. This work isnt even completed yet! Ive been eating some new to me Hindi food and Taiwanese(store where I bought the Kiwi) food all day and it takes away my attention along with my kid...still to seal the blade, and to either put some crazy subtle black ink art on it or burn designs into it with my soldering gun or burn it and sand it down some and then clear coat it or what....??? pretty sure Im going to clear coat it but kind of digging the natural look and dont know if I want to use Ebony stain anymore.


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## quantumcloud509

Some tribal earthy designs burned into it....maybe a burnt in etching of a cedar tree or a cedar cone....


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## quantumcloud509

Bah humbug making pins without a little tube to put them into for pattern and uniformity and setting tangs for my first time sucked and im pretty unhappy right now. Also torched the wood sanded certain parts down and oiled/waxed it. I want it to scream mountain man.


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## sachem allison

think you are doing a great job. Love mountain style personally.


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## quantumcloud509

o


Ok this project was embarrasing but i feel like I can make sayas for my knives now and that makes me happy. I messed up a lot and hurried things which should have went slow. I will never sell a knife without a saya in my life again. I will probably never make a handle for a knife ever again as well  oh well.


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## Von blewitt

I think you did a pretty good job considering your limitations! It's certainly alot more unique then your average Kiwi Nakiri. Good job


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## icanhaschzbrgr

That's a really cool project! You definitely gotta earn craftsman badge with this


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## quantumcloud509

pm me to get om the list lol


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## JHunter

inspired to try my hand now. Dug out a piece of Western red cedar to start and will try to put up a wip


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## quantumcloud509

Nice! It was a very fun project. And it was fun to give away.


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