Fujimoto Nashiji knives are made exclusively for Knifewear, a Canadian importer of high end Japanese knives. The core of the blade is Aogami #2 (blue #2) carbon steel clad in stainless steel. This gives all the benefits of a carbon steel knife with less maintenance since the only part that can rust is the exposed cutting edge.
The request for this knife was to make it stand out from the crowd. After some dialogue back and forth the only real request was that I use some funky figured wood. Here is what I came up with.
Knife Specs
Type: Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto
Length: 243 mm
Steel: Aogami #2 (blue #2)
Blade Height: 47 mm
Tang Thickness: 6 mm
Handle Shape: Octagonal
Handle Material: Maple Burl, African Padauk, Ebony
Handle Length: 143 mm
Ferrule End Width: 19 mm
Ferrule End Height: 23 mm
Butt End Width: 21 mm
Butt End Height: 26 mm
I particularly like the size and dual taper on this octagonal handle. It is a good size for a workhorse knife but is still nimble for finer work. The ferrule has been sealed around the tang of the knife with epoxy to prevent moisture from entering into the handle. The blade road was lightly polished out to give the knife a bit more of a refined look. I think the contrast with the hand hammered finish goes nicely. The knife was then hand sharpened on a progression of synthetic Japanese water stones and finally stropped with 0.5 micron compound (30,000 grit).
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- Original Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto
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- The original burnt chestnut handle with plastic ferrule
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- The handle appeared to be burned in but then epoxied after.
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- Maple Burl block being ripped to thickness for the new handle blank.
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- One face of burl contains eyes and the perpendicular face shows radiant lines.
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- Ebony spacers. Helpful tip when using multiple woods for one handle is to try and have the grain of each wood going the same direction.
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- Handle blank mock up.
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- Marking out the tang slot. So far I’ve found I get cleaner results on the front ferrule face if I do these separately
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- Marking out reference lines on the outer faces ensures the tang slot is lined up even if the different stock is slightly different widths.
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- Epoxy is used for clear glue lines.
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- I have used the top as my reference face and marked out everything for my dual taper based off that.
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- Chamfers were cut by hand using my trusty taiwanese style hand plane. 5 mm marked in from the corners.
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- First coat of Tung Oil shows how deep red the Padauk can go.
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- The client asked if I had enough of the burl left to make the saya. I did technically but it required ripping and book matching.
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- Layout of the retaining pin and cut out for the ferrule.
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- The saya was proving difficult for relief carving out the slot for the knife so I opted for a laminated construction.
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- Rehandled Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto
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- Maple burl saya with Ebony pin.
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- Colton Organ stamp!
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- Rehandled Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto with Maple burl saya
