Thread: Wester Bros Damascus "Japanese" Style

so about a year ago, i received a lot that had this wester bros damascus blade. looks like someone took it to a grinder, welded on it a bit, smacked it with a hammer, ran over it a few times, then sold it. as you see with the pics, half of the tang stamp is grinded/smoothed off. the damascus stamp is still there, but what good really is that since the rest of the tang looked so bad. somehow through all of this, the edge only had a couple very small nicks that came out in about 10 licks on a 325DMT.

so thanks to the inspiration that is this forum, i did the unthinkable. i created a nonfolder out of a folder just to cover the unsightlyness that is the tang. the wood is bubinga. i found a few blanks at rockler that were just beautiful. so here was the process.

tried to smooth tang and look pretty, realized quickly i would end up loosing 3/4 of the stamp and it would look like crap with all of the indentions. so i created a sandwich. the middle is the support to keep the blade from moving around. cut around the shape of the tang till it fit like a glove. hardly any movement, and i knew my adhesive for the next step would stop all movement. placed a 1/8 blank on either side and sandwhiched it all together with epoxy. i was going to use just plain old wood glue, but i wanted to be sure the blade was set in place.

took the wood and blade to the bandsaw and roughcut around the tang inside my sandwich. then went to smoothing the shape. when i got to a happy point, sanded to 800, i tried a wipe on epoxy finish. i think i could have mde it work, but i kept playing with it and screwed it up. let dry and sanded it all the way back off to the wood. got a smoother shape the 2nd time around and really happy with it. this time i used 7 coats of tung oil. pics do not do justice to the wood. i will try to get some better ones. these are really just to show the process.

took a great edge, now just need to shave. honing was easy, but the stropping is awkward. similar to a japanese straight, just a lot less to hold onto.

questions and comments appreciated.

vgod

NICE!


I had contemplated doing something along those lines with an old Wapi a while back, but never gave it a go. I wanted a symmetrical Japanese style razor (I ended up ordering a Baldridge custom....)


Nice work!

I love bubinga! It glows in the light.


How's the shave?

I like it! That one has a good tang detail for that grip

Have been meaning to do the same thing. I went with electrical tape;lol

The bad thing is you don't get the edge protection given by folding handle

yeah, i had convinced myself i was never going to put handles on a tang that ugly, so it worked out.

have not shaved with it, however i have 5 days of growth i plan on mowing down tonight so i will let you know tomorrow.

you are right about the edge protection. i currently have 3 non folders. one came in a beautiful box. the other one is sitting on top of the first box. this one is the 3rd and it sits next to them both. all locked up away from the kiddos. i gotta figure out something to do to protect(hmm, me or the edge??)

glad you all like. and yes, that bubinga is almost 3D. very cool.

vgod

Almost 3d?!?!? You mean someone pawned off that cheap 2d bubinga on you? I would go back and demand my third dimension.

Nice job although a bit longer handle might have made a more manageable shaver.

Originally Posted by vgod

yeah, i had convinced myself i was never going to put handles on a tang that ugly, so it worked out.

have not shaved with it, however i have 5 days of growth i plan on mowing down tonight so i will let you know tomorrow.

you are right about the edge protection. i currently have 3 non folders. one came in a beautiful box. the other one is sitting on top of the first box. this one is the 3rd and it sits next to them both. all locked up away from the kiddos. i gotta figure out something to do to protect(hmm, me or the edge??)

glad you all like. and yes, that bubinga is almost 3D. very cool.

vgod

Ha! I KNEW I wasn't the only one thinking of taking off the scales. I Think I've worked out a decent solution for the edge protection problem. I'll post when I'm finished.