# Tosagata Rehandle



## wsfarrell

I bought a $40 Tosagata at JWW like the one below and decided to do something about the handle.







I looked around on the web and found a pre-made (and pre-drilled) pakkawood/ebony handle at EE for $45. I was hoping to use the "burn-in" method of attaching the blade to the handle, but was advised that I'd need an oxy-acetylene torch to heat the tang quickly enough to avoid overheating the blade. So I went to Plan B. After a little grinding on the tang and a little filing in the handle slot, I filled the slot with Gorilla Glue and pushed the tang in, being careful to align it. Worked like a charm. I was thinking of using epoxy, but couldn't find anything thin enough to flow into that small slot and fill the handle. And the Gorilla Glue is made for furniture, so I'm hopeful that it won't be too brittle for this application. The knife is made of (unspecified) blue steel, allegedly hardened to Rockwell 63. Takes a great edge, and it feels really good in the hand now.


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## obtuse

Looks great? What did you do about the foam?


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## Johnny.B.Good

Nicely done.

Looks good to me (big improvement).


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## Crothcipt

Looks great. Way to improve a 40$ knife.


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## kalaeb

Nice, much better. You will not have any issues with the gorilla glue. Its pretty good stuff.


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## Eamon Burke

much better


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## mhenry

obtuse said:


> Looks great? What did you do about the foam?



+1 that does look very good. What did you do about the foam /expansion of the Gorilla glue?


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## Justin0505

Cool! Thanks for sharing. 
Looks like you maybe used the white / clear flavor of Gorilla glue?


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## NO ChoP!

Looks like a Moritaka now; even appears to have a welded stainless tang....


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## mr drinky

I have two tosagata from JWW and never knew what to do with the handles. I just sanded them and experimented with treating the handles with different oils (tung, orange, walnut etc.) along with different waxes. They still look plain though. I might try your upgrade option though. Nice job.

k.


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## wsfarrell

Justin0505 said:


> Cool! Thanks for sharing.
> Looks like you maybe used the white / clear flavor of Gorilla glue?



It's called Gorilla Wood Glue, sort of a creamy color, a little thicker than Elmer's, no foam.


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## add

Very nice work.

Any thoughts on the quality of that replacement handle?


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## wsfarrell

add said:


> Very nice work.
> 
> Any thoughts on the quality of that replacement handle?



I'm quite impressed with the quality. The slot seems to have been drilled square. It looks just like natural wood to my untrained eye. It's not fancy, but I didn't want fancy on an inexpensive knife with kurouchi finish. It's on the larger side girth-wise, but I think that's preferable to being on the smaller side. I hit it with some micro-mesh and wa wax, and it feels as good as any handle I have.


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## Still-edo

Oh where did you get the handle that looks good for that price!


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## Crothcipt

I like the handle with the knife. It makes a great pair.


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## SameGuy

http://www.epicedge.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=174&cat=Misc+Makers

The prices seem to have increased... or is that a petty-sized handle on the Tosagata?


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## wsfarrell

That's a petty handle on the Tosagata. The larger ones are a little more expensive. I just put a larger one on a Takagi santoku, which completely transformed the knife. Pics at six.


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## wsfarrell

Don't know whether to start a new thread or continue this one, so I'll just continue for now.

Here's a shot of the Takagi I recently got at JWW:






Great knife, but the blade came out of the handle at a 20 degree angle and the handle itself was pretty cheap. I used a larger version of the pre-made EE handle on this one, around $50. Here are a few pictures:














Came out pretty good, and the knife is one of my best cutters now after some thinning/sharpening/polishing.

Since we're talking handle mods, here's a pic of the Kramer 52100 paring knife:






Also a fine knife, but my hands are a little large for it and the sharp-edged scoop at the bottom of the handle kept digging into my little finger. So I put it on the belt grinder, 120 through 1000, then polished it up on a hard cotton buff with black compound. The "repair" is completely undetectable, and the knife is 100% more comfortable for me to use now. Last pic:


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## Crothcipt

nice work on both knives.


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## knyfeknerd

Really nice, especially the Kramer.


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## add

knyfeknerd said:


> Really nice, especially the Kramer.



+1

Folks either seem to love or hate a pronounced bird's beak.


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