# 210 Kippington Honyaki



## Kippington (Jun 29, 2018)

I've mentioned in another thread that I've been working on my fit and finish. In the past I've had no idea how to polish my differentially hardened knives, but now - with a little extra TLC - I'm _very _pleased with how they're turning out.

So here is my new take on a 210mm x 51mm 1095 steel gyuto:






I like how different the hamon is from side to side. There was no clay involved in the making, the spine was simply left out of the water during the quench. I've bought clay for future experimentation though, this method was killing me with failure rates - it was worse than 50/50.

It has my normal distal taper and a Mizuno style grind (maybe a bit thinner?) with a right hand bias.





I'm still working out my handles. This is tea-tree wood and pine with an acrylic/aluminum spacer.
The wood isn't stabilized or anything, so it needs oil and waxing. My thinking is that it's alright on carbon steel knives, as the upkeep is higher anyway.
Can you believe, each coat of oil takes 24 hours to dry, then they suggest a 7 day wait before sealing with wax!
Should I forget all that and splash out on some stabilized stuff instead? Wood confuses me! 

I'm super happy with how this turned out!


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## minibatataman (Jun 29, 2018)

Damn that looks good! The lines look a lot more organic without the clay, if that makes any sense. The handle looks great too


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## Nemo (Jun 29, 2018)

Looks beautiful, Kip.

Making any 240s?

Keep up the good work.


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## esoo (Jun 29, 2018)

One awesome looking knife.

Make that in a 240 and then shut up and take my money.


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## Marek07 (Jun 29, 2018)

Kippington said:


> I've mentioned in another thread that I've been working on my fit and finish. In the past I've had no idea how to polish my differentially hardened knives, but now - with a little extra TLC - I'm _very _pleased with how they're turning out.
> 
> So here is the new take on my F&F: A 210mm x 51mm 1095 steel gyuto:


Been working on your F&F, hey? Sure looks like you've succeeded on that front!
Looking sharp Kipp!


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## McMan (Jun 29, 2018)

Very nice!!--I'm lovin' that profile!


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## milkbaby (Jun 29, 2018)

Really nice job on the beautification front! 

Handles almost always take a week or two for me it seems. Even some stabilized woods can pop a bit more with oil/varnish finish.


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## HRC_64 (Jun 29, 2018)

Love the distal taper...like everyone else 
appreciate your work and can't wait for 240s


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## panda (Jun 29, 2018)

waiting to see 245x51 workpony in 52100  with same handle as craig's workhorse but with a plain black ferrule attached to it.


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## Gjackson98 (Jun 29, 2018)

This is beautiful, what’s the weight?


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## YG420 (Jun 29, 2018)

Looks awesome! Put me down for a 225


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## Kippington (Jun 30, 2018)

Thanks everyone!
It's 185 grams in weight, and I absolutely agree it looks neat without the clay.
I have to try the clay method next though, see where that takes me. Hopefully there will be less cracked blades in my future!

I'm going to be working on some longer ones in the next few weeks, seeing as there seems to be quite a demand for it. All custom orders though, I need to work through my list.
My supplier had no 1095 available so I ordered some W2 instead.

Panda, don't you already have one of those from Marko T?


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## panda (Jun 30, 2018)

no its 240x50 and i've relegated it to fine detail work duties (work foal?). ive also got WH covered so where you come in is an in between knife. slightly thinner version of craigs WH with same steel same HT just in WP size


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## Fishman7 (Jun 30, 2018)

great work look forward to seeing more i would be into a 240


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## brainsausage (Jun 30, 2018)

panda said:


> waiting to see 245x51 workpony in 52100  with same handle as craig's workhorse but with a plain black ferrule attached to it.



I’ll second this with the exception that I have no need for a ferrule or fancy handle in general, and 250x55. Thanks! I’ll shoot you my address and you can just send it over whenever. No rush!


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## panda (Jul 1, 2018)

work pony


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## Kippington (Jul 1, 2018)

Panda... you're one sick puppy


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## labor of love (Jul 1, 2018)

Kippington, if you ever make a work pony with Damascus it could even be a “work donkey”!!!


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## brainsausage (Jul 1, 2018)

Workass?


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## Kippington (Jul 2, 2018)

Punk-ass work-a-donkey.
I've actually received a couple of requests for the work pony grind because panda has been so damn influential.

You know that Mizuno style grind? I'm calling that my work pony from now on. Four grinds are enough for me:
Laser (thin)
Work pony (medium)
Work horse (thick)
Hook grind (food release)


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## Nemo (Jul 2, 2018)

Danm!

Gotta collect them all!

Only 3 to go [emoji16]


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## panda (Jul 2, 2018)

Kippington said:


> You know that Mizuno style grind? I'm calling that my work pony from now on.



<3


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## labor of love (Jul 2, 2018)

Fine then, but I still want like a galloping cyldesdales (the Budweiser horse) kanji on my workhorse.


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## Kippington (Jul 3, 2018)

The Clydesdales aren't even on the Bud bottle!





But of all the beers I should steal a logo from, this might be the one...


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## panda (Jul 3, 2018)

i like this one


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## K813zra (Jul 3, 2018)

That is one good looking knife, I really like it.


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## ashy2classy (Jul 3, 2018)

So killer...great work!! I'll definitely have another one of your blades if you get your shop back up and running!


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## LucasFur (Jul 3, 2018)

What a blade, Looks perfect. Congrats on the determination to keep going after the failures.


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## mc2442 (Jul 3, 2018)

Ashy, I believe he is up and running again...though I don't think we can order kanji's by request. I kinda like the one from Panda, but it is probably like a tattoo as in there is nothing that I would probably still agree with a couple years down the road.


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## merlijny2k (Jul 12, 2018)

minibatataman said:


> Damn that looks good! The lines look a lot more organic without the clay, if that makes any sense. The handle looks great too



Yes that makes sense! It what sets it apart in some way.


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## Kippington (Jul 17, 2018)

merlijny2k said:


> Yes that makes sense! It what sets it apart in some way.



It sure adds a lot of character - far from straight and boring as people might expect to see with just an edge quench.
My most recent hamon used the same method - and it looked really interesting - but it reached too close to the edge and had too much going on... so it cracked as the grind got thinner at the edge.


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## ashy2classy (Jul 17, 2018)

Bummer! That one looks killer!


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## panda (Jul 17, 2018)

some of us would prefer boring straight line with clay


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## Kippington (Jul 23, 2018)

panda said:


> some of us would prefer boring straight line...


Done.
But seriously, you kinda predicted how the next one would turn out.




It didn't crack this time, this custom only took _four freaking attempts_... 
So I made me something like $2 an hour during the project haha!




Made a little knife out of one of the cracked ones, there'll be about six if I do the same to the others. Should I sell them or give them away?


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## Jville (Jul 23, 2018)

Kippington said:


> Done.
> But seriously, you kinda predicted how the next one would turn out.
> 
> 
> ...


Give them away... Uh, one to me . Are they going to be parers? Kind of looks like it could be.


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## Xenif (Jul 23, 2018)

That little one you made out of the tip looks really cool !! I will trade you a bottle of good maple syrup for it!


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## Kippington (Aug 12, 2018)

Sorry, I'm giving them away to people that I'm already sending stuff to... mailing individual things from Australia just costs too damn much. I could ask for shipping costs, but then it wouldn't really be free!

My newest one is 245 x 54mm.
Thanks to mc2442 for sending me the stabilized woods, I should start getting some for myself.
Apologies for the glare in the pictures, it's one of the best ways to get the hamon to show up. That sucker likes to hide under normal lighting!


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## milkbaby (Aug 12, 2018)

Still autohamon or clay now? This is 1095 or W2 (not white 2)?

I tried the rainbow quench like I've seen from Tai Goo and Don Carlos Andrade and it makes a nice pattern. But, it seems etching is needed to bring out the most contrast. Japanese honyaki seem to stick with subtle hamon through polishing only?


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## Kippington (Aug 12, 2018)

Still no clay, just an edge quench. W2 steel.
Whats the rainbow quench? I've never heard of it!


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## milkbaby (Aug 12, 2018)

From what I understand it's a multiple interrupted edge quench. Austenitize then edge quench partially with some edge to spine agitation, then go deeper or shallower repeating it a few times. Kevin Room described it to me, I think he's down under like you. But I didn't find an easily repostable pic of his version.


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## Kippington (Aug 12, 2018)

Very cool, I'll have to look into it.


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## mc2442 (Aug 12, 2018)

Looking forward to it Kip!
Thanks again,
Matt


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