by Colton | Jan 4, 2018 | Knives, Saya, Woodworking
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
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by Colton | Sep 7, 2017 | Tools, Woodworking
This plane is made in the Taiwanese style. The body is 25cm long and made from a solid piece of White Oak. The wedge is Soft Maple.
Put to use it glided over the stock surface and easily produced fine shavings. I am quite pleased with how it turned out!
Plane Dimensions:
Length: 25 cm
width: 6.5 cm
Height: 4.5 cm
Toe: 15 cm
Mouth: 0.5 mm
Brass Pin: 3.1 cm from bottom to centre
Blade Width: 4.8 cm
I started by ripping a piece off of my slab of White Oak. I used the outside section to get grain close to quarter sawn. Before planing the stock square on six sides, you need to establish which side is the sole and which end is the toe. For the sole of the plane you want the side that was the closest to the centre of the tree. That will be the tightest grain, making it the most durable side. With the sole facing the ground and looking at the profile (side) of the plane; you want the grain to be running parallel with the sole. If it’s not, the grain needs to be sloping downward from toe to heel. That way it reduces friction, enabling the plane to more easily glide over the surface of what you’re planing.
The mouth of the plane is located 60% of the distance from the toe. This makes the toe of this plane 15 cm and the heel 10 cm. All of the other layout is based off the location of the mouth. First I went with a 45 degree angle bed for the blade. Then added the mark for the thickness of the blade. Off of this I add in wedge angle. Once all of these are marked out I can mark the placement of the wedge pin. This pin is located 66% from the bottom. All that is left to do is mark the top and bottom to coincide with the width of the blade and start chiseling out the waste.
Once you have that all done you can move on to seating the blade in the bed. This takes quite a bit of effort and patience. Using a pencil, scribble on the face of the blade that will be resting on the bed. Insert the blade in the plane and with firm downward pressure, rub it up and down. This will show you were the high spots are. Using a file you slowly remove all these high spots. Repeat this process a few times until you’re getting even contact between the blade and the bed. Taking the time to get a good fit makes the difference between a plane that sings and plane that sits on the shelf because it just chatters and makes a mess.
When fitting the wedge you want to make sure there is even contact and pressure being applied across the whole width of the blade. I haven’t experimented too much with wedge angles but have found that 1:6 works great. Measure 6 cm and 1 cm up, then mark a line from the corner through the top of the 1 cm mark and you have your angle. I have one drawn on my bench hook so I can quickly grab the angle using my sliding T-bevel.
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Slab 7cm thick White Oak ripped and crosscut. Saw for scale.
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This a profile shot of the plane with the marked layout. The toe of the plane is located to the left. The bed angle for the blade is 45 degrees.
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Here we have the wedge pin installed and the blade making proper contact with the bed. Now about the fit the Maple wedge.
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Front 3/4 view.
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Back view.
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Front 3/4 view with a brass plane hammer from Lee Valley.
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Here is a piece of pine I tried my new hand plane on after sharpening.
by Colton | Jul 8, 2017 | Furniture, Woodworking
On my exploration of wood joinery I stumbled across a simply constructed Japanese style bed. I believe tatami refers to the mats that a traditional tatami bed utilizes. I would be using a western style queen size mattress so I decided to design my own using the elements of a traditional Japanese tatami bed.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to start learning Sketchup. Sketchup is a 3D design software that has a much more simple tool set than something like AutoCAD which makes it great for woodworking. To me, it’s almost like playing with 3D lego.
The bed is constructed out of 2×6 nominal construction lumber. It is finished with Boiled Linseed Oil.
by Colton | May 12, 2017 | Handplanes, Tools, Woodworking
It can be difficult to pair down rebates with a chisel. So for fun I wanted to try making an adjustable rebate plane with some scrap wood. For the iron (blade) I wanted it to accept a 1″ chisel. It worked surprisingly well.
by Colton | Mar 5, 2017 | Furniture, Tools, Woodworking
This is the chest I built to house all my hand tools. It was designed by Michael Pekovich over at Fine Woodworking. I decided to get plans for my tool chest because I had never made anything like this before. This way I wouldn’t run into any road blocks due to a design error and could just focus on practicing my joinery.
I tried to leave all the “mistakes” to show my progression and give it a little of my character. The hand tools that live in this chest are the ones I used to build it. I’m sure it will gain some more tools along the way. This project was done in my spare time, learning as I went. It took approximately 2.5 months from start to finish.
The hinges and chest handles are Stanley brand. Drawer pulls are made using steel rings and cotter pins. The lid support rope is hand woven hemp with carved maple brackets securing it at both ends. The chest is made out of pine and finished with boiled linseed oil.
by Colton | Oct 15, 2016 | Furniture, Woodworking
I didn’t know this is actually a popular challenge. This came about for me because I am learning how to use traditional hand tool methods and want to pratice my joinery. Looking around at what materials I have available my wife said “hey, there is a 2×4. What can you do with that?” So here we are; seeing what I can build from a single 8 foot 2×4″.
I am planning on incorporating a few methods I want to practice: mortise and tenon, hand planing, and ripping stock to thickness.
I start by crosscutting all the pieces I need. Two 16″ pieces for the top, two 16″ pieces for the legs, one 10″ and one 12″ piece for the aprons. Now I’m ready to start ripping to thickness.
First I ripped two of the 16″ pieces lengthwise to give me four 1¼” square legs after planing. I then moved on to ripping the 10″ piece in half to give me two ½ x 3¼ x 10″ pieces for the end aprons. After giving the piece for the top the same treatment I was ready for assembly. I don’t have any bar clamps so I need to improvise for clamping the table top.
It was a fun project and I learned a lot.
