Henry Rifle Forums

FYI, this site has some high end damascus 5" Santoku's but they're pretty pricey.
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/cu ... &isx=0.0.0

I've had my Zelite Infinity Santoku for a couple of years now and have been quite happy with it, holds it's edge very well, it is due for a good stone sharpening but I mostly just have to give it a quick touch-up with my ceramic rod. I acually use my Damascus paring knife more than the Santoku.

https://zelite.com/product/executive-pl ... oku-knife/

https://zelite.com/product/executive-pl ... ing-knife/

Ran across this one when I was looking and it looks interesting, may have to order one, it's not terribly expensive.

https://zelite.com/product/alpha-royal- ... uki-knife/

Looking forward to seeing your completed Santoku.

clovishound wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 22, 2020 2:49 pm

Now I have to decided whether to use the two piece rivets that come with the kit, or buy some brass rod and use that. I think I like the looks of the brass pins better, and they are perhaps a little less finicky to prep than the rivets.

I use a lot of brass pins. When properly prepped , fit and epoxied I have never had a failure.
Rivets can want to go wonkey sideways.

Do you use a taper ream to put a slight taper in the holes and then peen them to get a good mechanical lock, or just epoxy them in as is?

Here it is. I thought about taking some pictures while I was going through the process, but got caught up in putting it together. It was a lot more work than I thought. They make it look so easy on the vids. I had to do a lot of fiddling in the fitting. That was mainly because I had such a small blank. If I were working with larger scale blanks, it would have gone quicker. A stationary belt sander would have made the process much quicker as well. I ended up using scrapers and a very sharp chisel, besides a lot of sandpaper.

I may make another one or two. I really like the knife, and would love to see one made with bloodwood. I really love that wood for a lot of smaller stuf and accents.

clovishound wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 26, 2020 1:27 pm

Here it is.

Beautiful work. I love the wood grain and stain. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Woodcraft sells some really cool mosaic pins for the knives... I might break down and order some. I have seen them in a couple finished knives, they look sharp if you choose wisely.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/mosa ... -x-4-23-32

Of course they come in various designs and thicknesses.

I thought about getting some of the mosaic pins. I decided I would rather have something I could peen. I even got a taper ream so I could enlarge the opening to the bores to give a dovetail effect to the peened pins.

Sorry, did a quote instead of an edit and a duplicate was posted. Now it won't let me delete it.

Well, I'm going to do one of these in the chef knife for my buddy. That is if I can ever get the kit delivered. I've decided to use some wenge I had forgotten I had, and then found in the shop while I was looking for the bocote I knew I had. I eventually found the bocote as well, but it may be a little on the short side, unless I decide to use it with the grain running side to side rather than in line with the blade.

I actually think the wenge should look great. I am experimenting with doing a quick and dirty stabilization, even though this wood shouldn't really need it. I'm soaking the blanks in wood hardener then letting them dry prior to mounting and working them. I tried it out on a small piece and I think it will really improve the water resistance of the wood.

Will post a pic with the results once I finally get the blank in.

Edited to add, I got the blank in today and got started on it. Will probably take a few days to complete. I have to wait for glue to cure, and time is at a premium right now. I should be able to get it done before Christmas, if I don't run into any snags.

Well, I finished the knife for my buddy just in time. I will give it to him tomorrow.

Had some issues, and it's not perfect, but I don't have the time or patience right now to deal with them. I really messed up on the first one I did, but the second blank came in Sat, so I just started from scratch on the new blank. The imperfactions on this one are rather minor, and I can fix them later, if I can get my buddy to give it back to me for a day or so. I'll fix the knife I made the first go round at my leisure. I messed up the brass pins, and will either have to try and drill them out and replace with a larger size, or skin it and start from scratch. Unfortunately, I used the last of the wenge for this one.
I did a quick sharpen on my buddy's knife and tested it out on a tomato, WOW, falls right through it. It is a much stiffer blade and a lot heavier than the knife I use most of the time, but I think I will really like it. Yes, the second blank is for me.