My knives :)

[milkbaby]

And by "my knives" I specifically mean "knives I've made". The forum reboot dumpsterized the couple threads I posted earlier, so just restarting here. Additional, reposting to the new forum here now!

First a 135 mm petty in 1084 carbon steel about 59-60 HRc, quilted maple handle. First one I made, was a pretty robust grind but food separation good, wedging bad, LOL. I still use it all the time as a beater utility knife.

[milkbaby]

A 162 mm curvy western bunka in 1084 carbon steel. About HRc 59-60, righty biased thin convex grind, thinnest knife I've made with full distal taper. Handle is black walnut, black palm, copper, G10, my custom mosaic pin. After I took the choil photo I fixed the handle asymmetry, LOL.









I made a scorched finish pine saya for it with mosaic pin cutoff embellished saya pin, waste not, want not.

[milkbaby]

140 mm petty knife in 1084 carbon steel about HRc 61-62. Bocote and dyed maple burl handle with brass, G10, and custom mosaic pin. Made this in a hurry to give to my dad as a present by Christmas. Still came out OK.






Custom saya of basswood with tooled and dyed leather (disclosure: I didn't do the leather work, just bought something pretty off the shelf). Friction fit but included a tethered saya pin for extra security.

[milkbaby]

190 mm k-tip gyuto in 1084 carbon steel. About HRc 62-63, righty bias convex grind, not as thin as the bunka but still some distal taper. Handle of dyed maple burl, bocote, copper, G10, and custom mosaic pin. Got it nice and thin behind the edge so great cutter and slicer, but I need to work on the geometry to better the food separation. Scary sharp, I usually reach for this knife first when cooking.

[milkbaby]

160 mm santoku in 1084 carbon steel about HRc 61-62. Righty bias convex grind, experimenting for better food separation without sacrificing cutting power. Also cold forged KU texture maybe could help food separation, but mainly did it because it looks cool, LOL. Handle is paduak, bocote, vulcanized fiber, copper and custom mosaic pin.

Still working on this, oiling the handle for about a week and making a saya. Still not sharpened either. This will be a thank you gift to my old supervisor at the job since I got reassigned at new years. I just couldn't wait to share it because I think it's my prettiest knife yet, and hopefully will be the best performer too.





Asymmetric choil pic. Not yet sharpened, just raw edge off the belts.

[cjmeik]

Really nice stuff. The petty is my favorite. It might be getting close to time to quit your day job!

[milkbaby]

Thanks for the kind words cjmeik! It's been a learning experience so far, still a lot to learn and get better at!

[ared715]

Great work sir!! I love the textured KU finish on the santoku especially!! Great talent for sure! Got me jealous.

[STPepper9]

I really like the scorched Saya, the 140 petty, and the finish on that santoku..

[SteveG]

Dude, that Santoku is sweet!! Your handle shapes look very interesting. How comfy is the Santoku handle?

[jprezfe]

Really good looking knives, the handle on the santoku reminds me of an old pistol.

[atang]

I like the petty. Good looking knives!

[milkbaby]

Thanks for the kind words, everybody! It's a real thrill to design and then make the knife and very satisfying to use them. I enjoy the challenge too.

The santoku handle hasn't been tested yet as I've been oiling the wood this past week, now it'll dry a few days to a week before I'll finish it then do the final sharpening. I only test the initial design with a simple balsa model, so I won't truly know how good in hand until finished. I could go all out and 3D prototype the handles with cardboard or styrofoam, but for my own use, I'm very tolerant of many styles of handle. And the people I'm gifting to are similarly light home users too.

[Lepus]

The hammer marks are really distinct. Very cool.

[ared715]

Sweet Bunka!! Love the flat profile and pronounced belly up front!! Looks like a killer!!

[mchltylr]

Looks like they're coming along great

[Bensbites]

I Haven't commented on the thread yet, not sure why, you make some great looking knives.

[Dmiller]

Those look really cool. I wish I could make my own knives :-/

[Bensbites]

What equipment do you need to do this type of work? Is there a ton of noise? I only get my work done at night when everyone else is asleep, and I can't make more noise than my tablesaw/dust collector.

[Willison_Knives]

Some great looking work! i love the saya pin. May have to try out the idea for myself:D
Great looking sayas!
Very individual and unique style to. This is something i need to work on, as i feel im trying to replicate something not worth replicating as theres are already many number of reputable smiths producing great knives.

Im starting to do similar styling to the japanese with western inspired wa handles.