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Rehandle Gallery

Discussion in 'JapaneseKnifeSharpening / Dave Martell Knives' started by Dave Martell, Mar 1, 2014.

  1. Lucretia

    Lucretia Founding Member

    You are getting some amazing finishes on your wood these days Dave!
     
  2. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member


    It's nice that you noticed. :)

    I've been working on finishes for a couple of years now and I can say that until recently I've been just experimenting all this time. This is a very complex topic that I could write a short novel on, so many variables, it's crazy.

    Anyway, thanks for the nice comment, I appreciate it a lot.
     
  3. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Here we have 2 (previously wa) Shigefusa knives converted to western handles (without ass end hooks!).

    Both used wood from the same blocks, Redheart Oregon Maple & Kingwood with copper accents.


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  4. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    This is a teeny-tiny Asai paring knife that's been converted from a MASSIVE wa handle to a more fitting sized western (without ass end hook!).

    The handle is made from amboyna burl & buffalo horn.


    *Please excuse the dust seen in the pictures. [​IMG]

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  5. The wood on that parer is stunning, love how you used the two tones over the whole length of the handle.
     
  6. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Vintage Forgecraft


    *Click on the picture below to see many more...
    [​IMG]
     
  7. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Thank you! :)
     
  8. Lucretia

    Lucretia Founding Member

    Beautiful work once again, Dave!
     
  9. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member


    It's your vision on these handles Lucretia, I'm merely the means to the end. :)
     
  10. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Baddest Dragon in all of Canada!

    Here's a MONSTER 360mm Misono Dragon Gyuto with it's new exhibition grade koa handle with copper pins....

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  11. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Takamura western gyuto converted to a hybrid western/wa octagonal hidden tang handle! [​IMG]

    These knives may not look like anything special in regards to rehandling them but I'm here to testify that they're SUPER challenging. The bolsters are angled, not square, and the tangs are whacked. Unless you want a crap fit up you pretty much have to go to hidden tang but that brings it's challenges too as the rear of the bolsters need to be flattened - ugh! I will be charging extra for these knives in the future. [​IMG]

    I've got two more to do for this set but I finished this one through to completion to make sure that I had it dialed in. What do you think of it?

    The wood used here is stabilized Norfolk Pine.

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  12. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Here's the rest of the set of wa hybrid rehandled Takamuras....



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  13. MattS

    MattS Founding Member

    Oh man....you knocked those out of the park. Love the transition from the oval bolster to the octagon rear.
     
  14. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

  15. that suji tickles me


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  16. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Here's a Ryusen 110mm pairing/petty knife with a new handle made out of green dyed box elder burl. [​IMG]

    The knife came with a really extra tiny little handle that I felt would have been hard to hold onto and keep from rolling in the hand. The tang was only a partial so instead of going hokey I went with a hidden tang conversion. I then swelled the body of the new handle out a bit to alleviate this small handle issue some. I played around with the feel until I felt it to be comfortable where the bolster is pinched and the handle disappears in the hand. It's still a small handle but it feels less so now.

    The customer wanted a crazy green burl and I think this fills that requirement. [​IMG]

    He's been waiting on this since October '16 (rehandle coupon) - I hope he's happy after all this time.


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  17. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    I just finished this job up, and what a job it was. I was tasked to fix any wrongs with the blades which meant hand sanding many of them, then sharpen, and finally to rehandle them all!

    The handles were to match, the configuration selected by the customer. He went with exhibition grade koa and black buffalo horn with no spacers, classy.

    The koa was a chore to acquire in this premium level and quantity but in the end we got it all from one single slab & had it stabilized.. The customer spared no expense on the wood and trust me it shows. [​IMG]

    I was asked to make handles that fit the knives, no broomsticks allowed. Each handle was cut, drilled, and shaped specifically to each individual knife. A slower process than doing batch work but again the results say it was worth it. These handles actually came out so nice that I'm surprised that I did them. [​IMG]

    The customer's got himself quite a collection, doesn't he? I hope that his new handles suit him well and thank him for the opportunity to work on such a large project. [​IMG]


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  18. MattS

    MattS Founding Member

    After seeing these I started saving for a Watanabe...now I will have to save more to get you to do a handle for it. Beautiful work. The simplicity of the handle really makes the koa pop.
     
  19. Jim

    Jim Old Curmudgeon Founding Member

  20. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

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