# another "project knife"



## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 9, 2014)

Probably not the project knife that most of you expected to see here, but I already had this knife for a few years now, so why not?

Ikea 365+ Gnistra 160mm long. 12$ new.






After getting some decent Japanese knives, I completely forgot about this one. It was hidden somewhere in the drawer for several month. So I decided to make some fun out of it.

Some basic reprofiling and rehandling.










steel needs some polishing and thinning of tip, but it was a fun small project for me. 
Also this is probably my first western styled handle with hidden tang construction.


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## RavenMad (Apr 9, 2014)

Nice mate! Any in progress shots? Particularly how you did the hidden tang? I'm doing a repair/re-handle job on the mother-in-law's boning knife that only has a tiny stub of a tang and will be doing a freehand western handle with hidden tang as she won't understand a wa!


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 9, 2014)

As you can see, the tang is pretty similar to what you'd see on Japanese knives, so nothing special here. I cut about 1/3 of this tang as it was too long for my needs.


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## Bill13 (Apr 9, 2014)

Nice job! The profile looks much more useful now - as well as the handle.


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## RavenMad (Apr 9, 2014)

icanhaschzbrgr said:


> As you can see, the tang is pretty similar to what you'd see on Japanese knives, so nothing special here. I cut about 1/3 of this tang as it was too long for my needs.



Thanks!  Really nice job you've done. Interesting shape on the handle - how does it feel in the hand?


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 9, 2014)

RavenMad said:


> Thanks!  Really nice job you've done. Interesting shape on the handle - how does it feel in the hand?


This handle is very comfortable for hammer grip and terrible with pinch grip. I believe it should have been thinned at least twice to be ok for pinch grip. This size/design is more suitable for hunter knives, not kitchen. But anyways


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## Mrmnms (Apr 9, 2014)

you doing some great stuff. What kind of wood? Thanks for sharing this>


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 9, 2014)

Mrmnms said:


> you doing some great stuff. What kind of wood? Thanks for sharing this>


Thanks!

It's made from a small piece of Ebony and Alder burl (which was marked as "grade B" and was pretty cheap when I bought it few month ago). Very soft wood that I wouldn't use for any serious project, but good enough for this like this knife.


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## WarrenB (Apr 11, 2014)

That looks great:thumbsup:


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## Matus (Apr 11, 2014)

You did a great job. But how is the blade quality - was it 'worth' the work?


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 13, 2014)

Matus said:


> You did a great job. But how is the blade quality - was it 'worth' the work?


Good question. I don't know what to answer it was my best knife before I dived into the world of Japanese knives. I still think it to be of great value. 

When I tried to actually cut few things after rehandling, I quickly realized that new handle is terrible. Too thick. So I had to trim all the meat from handle. Now it's about twice thinner then before and feels way better. Pretty comfortable with pinch grip. I'll post new picture when I'm done with polishing and finish (polishing soft wood is PITA)


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 27, 2014)

Had to thin and completely refinish handle. Tried to fill the grain thanks to Mikey and Mark's tutorials. Now I'm pretty satisfied with it. Looks very glossy but feels pretty good in hand. Wasn't able to capture good photos, so here's a short video of how it ended up:
[video=youtube;o41plmwbhqo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o41plmwbhqo[/video]


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## cheflarge (Apr 28, 2014)

Damn, dude, what a frickin' beautie!!!


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## keegan (May 5, 2014)

My question too, or the time it took you to do it!



Matus said:


> You did a great job. But how is the blade quality - was it 'worth' the work?


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