DanielC Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I haven't posted blades in here in a long time. So here it goes.... I tend to gravitate towards the japanese in my culinary blades. Recently pounded out 4 big billets of sanmai, all of which were W2/1018. This is the first blade completed from the batch. The handle is stabilized maple burl, stabilized spalted black cherry burl, and a Ti spacer that I cut from a billet that I forged from a rough shaped chunk of Ti that came from a Ti foundry local to me. Saya is curly maple and walnut, with a Ti keeper. 2 more big blades, 2 honesuki and 1 general paring are on the bench still to be finished, and in different states of finish. There was a pair of paring knives, but sacrificed one for a break test as I was testing out a very good HT for W2 that worked wonders for the grain after all that heat. Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy98 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Really nice! Was it just 1018-W2-1018? In ine of the photos there is a neat crystal effect around the shinogi? The photos are something else too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Beautiful knife. I like the woods you chose for the handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benton Frisse Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 G'dang that's a beautiful blade. Love the Ti spacers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will W. Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Looks awesome! Great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielC Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Thanks all. More to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jspool Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Beautiful work Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielC Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 Thanks. The blade is unassumingly difficult to pull off. The welding temps of 1018 and W2 are wildly different, so you end up overheating W2. It takes very controlled and careful HT to get everything nice and right with the W2, and with the help of one of Kevin Cashen's disciples, I was able to employ such a HT recipe. To my elation, the grain on the break test blade yielded the finest W2 grain I have ever produced. Invisible to the naked eye, and hard yet under 30x. I sharpen on natural japanese stones, and the combination of this fine grain, and the very fine muds that are produced on the various strata of stones, yielded an edge that was scary to simply touch. I have another Gyuto and several Hanesuki from this batch of sanmai I produced earlier last month left to finish. More to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobasaurus Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Looks great, love the wavy lines. Do you grind hollows on the bevels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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