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I made the handle about a year ago, but as I did not have a decent forging setup at the time I delayed on making the blade. Having moved into a new home since then I managed to set up a smithy suitable for small work. The first items I forged were a couple of blades for higonokami folders as they are some of my favourite knives to make and embellish with carvings and inlays. Blade length: 3 3/16" (80mm). Blade width: 17/32" (13.5mm) Blade material: W1 tool steel, differentially hardened and tempered, hand rubbed finish Handle length: 3 3/4" (94mm) Handle materials: Wrought iron, sterling silver, fine silver, bronze pin. Techniques used: hon-zogan, nunome-zogan The handle dimensions are based on that of a kozuka (lit small handle) used on the kogatana, the small side knife carried in a katana or wakizashi scabbard. Thank you for looking, questions and comments welcome!

Hi all, With the help of @Aiden CC, @C Craft & of course @Alan Longmire I am embarking on the journey of designing, and making a FF. I have a great little piece of 1075 left over from my first knife project (Just posted, even though completed in Jan). I will be able to get 2 blades out of it. The piece is 110mm x 50mm. I am aiming for 2x 100mm x 22mm blades. These are the knife blades i have come up with - (Also the first knives i have drawn, man, drawing concepts is addictive) - Your feedback is welcome please. Each has a cutting edge of 70 - 75mm (3" ish)

This is a follow-up to last year's "Tiger under a tree" http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=26501&hl=tiger I found this photo of a kozuka with the same tiger, and decided there and then that it will be my next stock project. With kozuka conforming to quite rigid dimensions (14 x 96 mm) it was a simple matter to transfer the design to a folded steel handle. Then the trouble started. It is a very shallow carving, the amount of depth one sees in the photo is only an illusion, it took me a couple of days to get the basic form ready for the inlays, and as I worked on the inlays I kept on correcting tiny mistakes. I'm not going to bore you with the 14 in progress photos, these you can see here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/+TiaanBurger/albums/6145466349135758385, I want to show you the good stuff! The two pictures show my progress as at 16h00 this afternoon, about four weeks into this project: The handle is 14mm wide (about 9/16" for you imperialists). The base metal is mild steel, the inlays are 24K gold. Q&C welcome. More pics coming over the next couple of days...

After damaging my right hand in October 2014 I stayed away from the forge for a while. In the beginning of February I picked up the hammer again to rebuilt my strength, it was slow going, working for an hour a day. The first thing I forged was a rough folding knife handle: It sat on my bench for a couple of weeks while I worked on orders. After writing up all my job cards on a year planner I realised that I have to make time for my own work else I will never have anything in stock. I decided to make one object per month to keep the insanity at bay. The search for a theme for this knife ended as soon as I read the tale of the "Hare of Inaba" on wikipedia. I found a photo of a kozuka made with this theme and used that as original to work from. I guess one can call this knife an "utsushi" of sorts. I had to make three more dot inlay punches, as the dots are of different sizes, and some are oval. Carving and inlays on the front done: Inlay with my mei on the back. It reads "Furuki", meaning "Ancient tree" The finished knife: Specs: Mild steel handle, with silver inlays. Bronze pivot pin San mai blade. (Wrought iron with a random pattern damascus core) The handle is sealed with three coats of urushi lacquer

Patinated mild steel handle with silver inlays. Sealed with urushi laquer. San mai blade, wrought iron with a random pattern damascus core. The handle was hand carved using traditional Japanese techniques and tools. Price: US$800 excl shipping. Paypal accepted. PM or email me ( carel.s.burger@gmail.com ) if you are interested in buying this knife. Comments pertaining to the physical details or purchase of this knife welcome. All other comments on the Show and Tell forum: http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=31315 please! Thank you for looking!

Every single knife I have made since 1986 have seen the touch of a grinder. This time I decided to make a knife sans power tools. (The pin hole was drilled with a power drill.) It was an interesting and very enjoyable exercise. The handle is wrought iron with a filed finish on the back and spine. The inlaid cartouche is sterling silver, with the word "Furuki" cut in Kanji. The handle was patinated and sealed with urushi lacquer. The blade is 52100 with a satin finish. Questions and comments welcome.

Hi guys. I finished this little "pocket nihonto" today. The handle measurements (95.6mm x 14.3mm) are the measurements used for the making of a "kozuka" , the handle of a katana's companion knife. The blade is 1070, the handle is hand carved wrought iron. Questions and comments welcome!

Those who know me personally knows my opinion on tactical folders. So, when a client nagged me for months to make him a tactical I could not say no. The problem was to get a tactical look while still doing what I do. I think the result is quite pleasing: Mild steel handle, Differentially hardened "Saben silver steel" blade, bronze pin, brass washers / bushing. Blade width: 35mm, open length: 210mm Edit: "Saben silver steel" is made by Bohler Uddeholm, a close match to W2.

"What if?" has lead me into more trouble than I care to remember, but it such a fun game: "What if Thor had a folding knife?" has lead to this: 13" open, pattern welded blade consisting of a W2 edge, four twisted bars, tripple braid and a spine. Inlayed copper fittings and blackwood. I started carving the first bolster this morning: I am still in two minds about the pommel end, should I add a cap?

I finished this little knife today, an order from a 76 year old lady who grew up on a farm where arum lilies flourished. Blade: 1070 Handle: Patinated mild steel with sterling silver raised inlay and sterling silver pinning. Questions and comments welcome.

Finished this some time last week. I encountered a few problems, but it was easier than I thought and will be making more fiction folders. Its my new personal edc. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this knife making thing Materials are curly oak I was given by Dave DellaGardelle, 1075, and unrolled copper plumbing pipe. Pretty useful little knife. The tail I forged a little too thick, so it has to wedge tightly between the liners. I was somewhat annoyed with it at first, but I actually find it quite useful now because it locks the blade in place pretty securely when open. I took a bunch of pictures from multiple angles as usual because I feel it gives a better impression of the knife.