# WIP Honesuki



## jessf

I called my local steel supplier and they had A2 and D2 steel in stock. So I thought about it and did a little research and decided that the D2 would be as good a place to start. It's used for tool and die, planer blades being a common use. I figure the best knife geometry and grind for this type of steel with large carbides might be a thick, single bevel honesuki as that most closely resembles a planer blade. 

Steel is D2 1/4"x2"x24"

Blade specs will be:
-165mm choil to tip
-45mm at the heal

Nothing fancy, just a grinder, painters mask, safety squints, ear protection, gloves a few clamps and falling snow.




I used a scrap piece of steel as a straight edge with great effect.










this pile of garbage crapped out half way through. Smoked the motor, might be the brushes or windings or some other factory defect. Either way it was a gift from two years ago and I don't recall registering the warranty. Luckily I have two grinders and was able to finish the job.:wink:





A little cleanup on the belt sander. I need to work the radius on the choil area because right now the blade tapers too much where the tang would enter the handle. From what I've seen, the spine and the front side of the tang area are parallel lines as they enter the handle. 




got the backside flat, I will need to hollow grind this later, for now it can remain flat.




Call this a rough blank and my task done for the night. On Wednesday I'll take the grinder to it again and begin thinning it out.


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## Godslayer

That is so cool. :knife: any idea on what the hrc on that is going to be.


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## Twistington

Ah, the safety squints... how could anyone with an angle grinder live without them?


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## jessf

Once it's hardened I believe D2 can go as high as HRC65 but I imagine I'll shoot for 61-63 range. I'll be sending the blade to Bodycote for heat treating so it will be up to their expertise. I know a guy who knows a guy that can test the HRC to confirm.



Godslayer said:


> That is so cool. :knife: any idea on what the hrc on that is going to be.


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## jessf

I don't know where i got 65 from. What I'm reading now says 63 is the limit. Either way, it will be in the 60's range.


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## jessf

another night, and some more progress. I need to even out the bevel but I'm basically 80% there me thinks.











WIP Honsuki Poem:

Word to the wise, 
and people with hair, 
wear a hat when you grind, 
That **** gets everywhere.


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## chiffonodd

jessf said:


> Word to the wise,
> and people with hair,
> wear a hat when you grind,
> That **** gets everywhere.



lolol nice work all around


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## jessf

chiffonodd said:


> lolol nice work all around


gracias.








if I had to do it again I'd start with thinner stock.


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## chefcomesback

Looks very nice


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## jessf

a bit more work. I think it's ready for the heat treat. The rest of the grinding and finishing will come after. I do want to stamp some kind of initial in there. I may try and make a small chisel out of a scrap piece of the D2 which I can crudely harden at home. see if that works.


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## ecchef

Nice radius on that choil.


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## jessf

Thanks. I'll round it off after the heat treat. Wondering if I should send the blade to a knife specific heat treater or take it to my local tool and die. This is tool steel after all, but guys that specialize is blades might be the better choice. Just means a longer wait as the blade guys are 3500km away.


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## jessf

well that idea worked. 





I've got the handle wood in the pickle. Going with black wood and wenge with a black and white spacer.


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## jessf

A flat strike vs an angle strike.


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## jessf

back from the heat treat. no warping of any kind. I brought the blade into CAD so I could check the handle size. Everything looks to scale, I should be able to use the same plans for my Deba handle. I like the subtle taper and feel of that handle.


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## jessf

set the hollow back on the belt sander with a shaped wedge below the platton. Seems to work ok. I can go back and even it out. I'm setting the bevel and the faces with my 220 wetstone. I'll progress to higher grits on the bevel only as polishing the flats is a waste of stone. This D2 does not like to abrade. 









already paper cutting and not even past 220 grit stone.


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## jessf

Stopped working on the blade and finished the handle. Tang slot is tighter than a Balinese pole dancer. Just a test fit for now. I will finish the blade and give the handle a light sanding tomorrow. Should be done before the weekend.


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## Godslayer

So are you a vendor pro craftsmen now or what? Polish the blade and handle, smooth the edge and people would think that's a very expensive honesuki. Very very nice work


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## jessf

Thanks. It's been a fun project. Still a long way to go before it's done. I expect the polishing to take a while.




Godslayer said:


> So are you a vendor pro craftsmen now or what? Polish the blade and handle, smooth the edge and people would think that's a very expensive honesuki. Very very nice work


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## jessf

handle is ready for oil.




and a my belt sander setup for making the beast with two hollow backs.


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## Matus

Really cool. I am just curios - what was the motivation for the hollow back?


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## jessf

I believe that's what you must do with a single bevel knife. No? I haven't read it anywhere but it makes sense to hollow the backside to ensure you keep even pressure on the leading edge when flattening the back. Essentially the edge and the spine are the only two points of contact when flattening the back. A non-hollow back could run the risk of being sharpened out of true and almost becoming a 95/5 bevel over time. I have read that it helps with food release, but that was entirely not my motivation. I'd be curious to know if you have any single bevel knives that do not have a hollow back.


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## Matus

My point was - what was the motivation going with single bevel design for a honesuki and not 95/5 (or 99/1 ow whatever one wants to call it). I could well understand that just simply the challange of making single bevel knife was the motivation, but for honesuki a 95/5 (or something) would be more practical as it gives stronger edge. I am just curios here 

You are right - all single bevel knives (the way this description is used on japanese kitchen knvives) have concave ura side. Once one side would be just flat, it would not be practically possible to de-burr the edge from this side just putting the knife flat on stone and one would need to apply a slight angle and volia - there is 99/1 (or 95/5) knife


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## jessf

Ahh. My reason for going with a single bevel was primarily steel selection and the uniqueness of single bevel knives in general. I think D2 lends it self well to a thick knife with a steep edge where hair splitting sharpness isn't the end goal. This lead me to some kind of butcher type knife and I already bought a single bevel Deba which I'm pleased with, so I knew I didn't want another one. The deba is also impractically sharp in my opinion. I don't need to be able dismember a chicken then shave my arm. I liked the shape of a Honesuki and figured a D2 version of it would have a higher chance of success than a D2 laser.

There's also a considerable amount of ignorance on my part; I don't know what I don't know. I fill the blanks with research and a general inquisitive nature. Never made a knife before of any kind and I haven't done much metal shaping so I wasn't even sure how well my angle grinder would cut the stock material, then I wasn't sure how well I could grind the flats with the tools I had. So, basically, it's a single bevel honesuki because it had to be something and all options posed challenges and unknowns. I come at it with fresh eyes and a "why not" attitude.


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## Matus

I seem fair enough  I have to admit I would not dare to try to make single bevel knife as my first knife 

Just a sude note - D2 is excellent steel for kitchen knives (look at Yoshikane SLD - that is D2 steel). My honesuki from JCK is also D2 (SLD) steel. D2 can actually hold a very accute edge, so if you have the material at hand you should not hesitate to make a gyuto or a petty.

I would love to hear more about the handle (it looks great) - I am planning to make my first wa handle soon and try to collect as much ideas as possible.


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## jessf

I did a WIP wa handle thread for my deba, you might find some info there helpful.
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/26234-New-Wa-Handle-for-165mm-Deba?

I've got 3 more knives I want to make, a gyuto, nakiri and a version of a single bevel birds beak paring knife, all out of 1084 steel that I can heat treat at home instead of sending out. I'm doing a passaround event amongst my friends with the end result of everyone keeping the knife of their choice. I'll keep the rest of this 1/4" thick D2 stock for making chisels. I would not hesitate to make a knife out of D2 in the future, just thinner stock for sure.




Matus said:


> I seem fair enough  I have to admit I would not dare to try to make single bevel knife as my first knife
> 
> Just a sude note - D2 is excellent steel for kitchen knives (look at Yoshikane SLD - that is D2 steel). My honesuki from JCK is also D2 (SLD) steel. D2 can actually hold a very accute edge, so if you have the material at hand you should not hesitate to make a gyuto or a petty.
> 
> I would love to hear more about the handle (it looks great) - I am planning to make my first wa handle soon and try to collect as much ideas as possible.


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## Matus

That is some really cool WA handle WIP. One quick question - how did you make sure that the single elements stay aligned (as they already were drilled)?

Indeed - making a gyuto from 1/4" stock would not be too much fun


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## jessf

I used a slotted dowel which I neglected to show in the post. At the beginning of my WIP wa handle thread there's a link to Mike Riggen's post on the same topic and it goes into more detail. There are many ways to do it but adding a slotted dowel eliminates a lot of unnecessary cutting after the fact.


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## Matus

I see - cool. I will try to make a handle along those lines, just have to figure out how to reasonably slot that dowel as I only have a hand-held saw(s).


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## jessf

Handheld saw as in a circular saw or a manual carpenters saw?


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## jessf

got the handle mounted and the blade 90% to where I want it as far as polish goes.




I bit of touch-up and it's done.










I'll make a balsa wood saya tomorrow.


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## Matus

That looks really great - that handle is beautiful!


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## Ucmd

Wow, not too shabby for first knife.


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## jessf

Thanks gents. According to my logs I've put in about 12 hours, not including curing time for glues and such. Much of that time was spent grinding over half the thickness off. For the next three knives I hope to cut a few hours off that time by value engineering the tasks into batch steps.


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## Matus

12 hours is insanely good time from where I stand. I need to get a belt grinder


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## jessf

I wasted a night trying to hand polish and in the end accomplished what I wanted 15 mins on the belt sander. Sometimes the tools make a huge difference.


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## jessf

a bit more polish and a few glamour shots.


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## jessf

Cuts chicken just fine. Seems to hold its edge well and the heft makes cracking leg bones a snap.


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## Mucho Bocho

Looks like a chicken zombie killer. Great WIP thanks for posting.


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## jessf

ha. three more knives. you bloody fool.


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