Glestain Full Spa Treatment

Glestain knives are said to work fairly well in releasing food due to the large kullens ground into the outside face of the blade yet they're thick, clunky, have rough fit 'n finish, and are very handle heavy. The owner of this knife tasked me to fix all of the problems as best as possible and to make some changes. This project started out small and grew to a full on spa treatment.

The blade has been thinned from both the front and back sides to reduce wedging yet the kullens still remain and the blade has been polished. The choil has been reshaped with additional curving cut into the profile for comfort. The front bolster has been reduced in length (front to back) and rounded/smoothed over. The rear bolster has been ground away and the full tang (which was very thick) was reduced to a hidden tang style to reduce ass end weight. Stock pakkawood scales were replaced with stabilized premium quality two-toned amboyna burl accented with G10 spacers and a single mosaic pin. The handle shape was inspired from a combination of Glestain/Nenox/Hattori, sort of a mix up, definitely something different for me.

This represents one of the greatest transformations I've seen in a factory knife. It went from being a fat ass'd clunker to sleek race car. I really like the weight distribution now, it's forward of the handle as it should be and the handle feels perfect in many positions. The customer has waited a long time to get this knife back, he's been patient and helpful, I just hope he's as happy with it as I am.

Glestain Full Spa Treatment.....

 

Looks great Dave! Any idea of just how much weight was removed?

 

Awesome job Dave. Great piece of wood and I like what you did with the choil. I always liked Glestains, this one is something else!

 

I didn't think to weigh it beforehand. It sure would've been nice to know what was removed but oh well.

Thanks Mike

 

Dave, that's beautiful!

 

Another save by Dave!
Looks great.