I like the spalted maple 👍 

Very nice. Thanks for sharing the photos of your projects. Are the wooden handles 2-piece? Are the wooden handles pinned to the spacer/bolster for alignment? Are there pin(s) securing the handle to the tang?

How thin do you grind the edge of this design before HT? After HT, and before the secondary edge, how thin do you grind the edge?

I find the rough finished spine attractive on the walnut-handled tool, but I have no experience with the technique. I assume the complete cutting facet should be smooth finished for cleaning purposes. Can you share any considerations for when a rough finish is acceptable. Do you have a sense of the attitude of the buying public about the rough finish? If you sell your knives, it must feel pretty good to have extra inventory five weeks before Christmas. 

Thanks, again. Happy holidays to all. Deer hunting season opens in PA this weekend - extending the Thanksgiving holiday to several weeks.

Jesse,

The handles are partial or hidden tang construction. The tang goes through the horh, spacer and into a hole bored into a solid block of wood. 

The pieces are held together with two blind pins. The handles are shaped entirely off of the blade.

How thin do you grind the edge of this design before HT? After HT, and before the secondary edge, how thin do you grind the edge?

The simple answer to all of them is "as thin as I dare".  I have stopped measuring at these stages and just go to the next step when "it looks right". I know that's not helpful in any great way, so I will try and quantify it. Forge the edge down to about the thickness of a nickel. Grind the edge down to 120 grit and probably no thinner than a dime before HT. By the time I finish hand sanding, my kitchen knives are already able to cut. Not extremely sharp by any means, but they will cut. I often have to run the edge across a 220 grit belt at 20% speed to dull them a little so I don't loose a finger along the way.

As for the forged finish, I have a confession to make. I really don't like it all that much and haven't done many of them. This may actually be the first one I ever took all the way to putting a handle on...... I understand that some people really like it, and let's face it the "Brute de Forge" look has become popular, when done right. I just think there are very few who can "do it well".

Continued thanks for sharing your work and details of progress of three recent kitchen knives, Joshua. From what I can see, there are no pins providing a means, secondary to epoxy and tang geometry (holes in the tang and sawtooth edges), of securing the pre-assembled handle to the blade tang. Have you experienced any failures you can attribute to omitting the pin(s)?

Jesse, 

Attached is a photo of my personal sheath knife. This was the first finished knife I ever made and it was in a classroom setting under the tutelage of MS Tim Hancock in 2005. The steel is 52100 and the handle is Cocobolo (a particularly waxy wood). You will note there is no pin in the handle. This knife has been through everything with me in the last 16 years, including multiple hunts, hikes, building projects, and general daily use in the field. It has been stowed in my truck during Phoenix summers, through rain and snow, and never has the epoxy failed. This was not some fancy or high tech epoxy either. This was generic 30-minute set two-part epoxy, that Tim had purchased at the local hardware store.

I'm going to say something that may cause some heated debate. I understand that many people will disagree with me, and I respect their opinions and reasoning, but that doesn't change my mind. I think that much of the concern over epoxy failures and the "necessity" of using a retention pin, is much ado about nothing. For me, the use of that single pin is really an aesthetic choice, not something that adds any real structural integrity. It is a backup, in case of a glue failure. 

Any commercially available two-part epoxy available today is going to be very strong and durable, when used correctly. I think that most epoxy failures are because of two things:

1. Improper mixing  and 2. Impropoer surface preparation.

Mixing properly means using the correct proportions of the two parts, and following the mixing instructions. If the instructions say "mix for 60 seconds or more", don't disregard that. Get a timer and use it. The manufacturer wants you to actively mix that stuff for a specific period of time. So do it. Keep a small amount of epoxy on the bench and check it after the instruction's quoted set time. If it hasn't set up, take it apart, clean it, and do it again.

Epoxies, and most glues in general, do not work well when applied to smooth surfaces, surfaces that are dusty, or have loose particles clinging to them. So make sure your mating surfaces are clean, roughed up, notched, drilled for epoxy rivets, or whatever, to get good purchase and you shouldn't have any failures.

There are pieces in museums that still have the handles securely attached to blades that are hundreds of years old. These were attached with cutler's resin, which is little more than pine tar mixed with beeswax and sand.

You answered my question perfectly. Thanks, Joshua! No more questions from me on this thread.

My latest chef knife in high carbon 1095 tool steel with 8-3/4 inches (216 mm) of cutting edge, 1-11/16 inches (43 mm) tall at the heel. Blade has beautiful cloudy Hamon with petroglyphs burned in during hardening. Edge is approximately 61 HRC. Handle is dyed and stabilized Russian Linden burl with buffalo horn bolster and stainless steel spacer. Comes with a handsome red oak display board for countertop storage. there is a video showing the Hamon on my ETSY page.

The other side

A partial close up of the Hamon

Sweet. Why did you chose 1095 for this blade? I've been learning on 1075 and 1084 with no problems I attribute to alloy selection, but I wonder if I should be getting accustomed to 1095, hence my question about your selection for this knife. Secondly - petroglyphs burned in during hardening! What? WHo knew? Very appealing to my eye. How did you make the petroglyphs? - thanks for sharing your work.

I finally finished a Xmas project. The blade was removed from 1075 stock, the bolster is macassar ebony, the handle is stabilized, ambrosia curly maple. I wasn't able to get a good photo of the hamon, but in the right light, it is apparent. I used a thin film of Brownell's anti-oxidation coating and wonder if a different clay would make a more pronounced hamon.

I have three primary blade steels I like and have dialed in the HT. They are O-1, 1095, and W-2. My secondary steels are W-1 and 15N20, the latter being my counterpart to 1095 in pattern welding. I also have a couple of stainless steels, 440C and CM154 that I keep on hand for special orders. I have never used 1070, but I know a lot of folks like it, especially for large blades (sword length). My experience with 1080/1084 was many years ago. I switched to 1095 because I could source it more easily.

Of my three primary steels, 1095 and W-2 are the most suitable for this type of blade. As this was an experimental operation, I chose the less expensive one, which also happened to be the one that required less work. I have 1095 in flat bar. My W-2 is all in large chunks that need to be forged down, and I don't have any more stock in that condition.

The petroglyphs were made simply by removing the clay with a pointed stylus. I simply scratched them into the clay. The result is less than I hoped for, and I have to make some adjustments to develop the effect I am shooting for. After HT, the blade looked like the one on the bottom of the attached photo.

Nice looking Santuko blade. I know almost nothing of Japanese blades, so I cannot comment on the form. The handle appears a little kinked upward relative to the lines of the blade to me, but as I said, what do I know?

Thanks for the petroglyph intro. Very interesting.

You're right the handle is canted high. In this instance, I did it on purpose, following another's design. The knife is for a family member who enjoys food prep. I hope to get some real world feedback on the ergonomics and usefulness of the upturned handle.