Thread: Made my first knives, Kiridashi style

This Kiridashi knife project was my first attempt at knife making.
These knives were all made from rusty old files, and I'm really quite pleased with how they turned out.
The bevel area was sanded and polished to a near mirror finish, which I think contrasts nicely with the rest of the knife.
Now I just have to learn how to make sheaths, and sharpen knives.
If anyone has any tips on sharpening please feel free to chime in.
I know zero about sharpening anything other than razors.





Grant

Nice! I like them, especially the contrast you mention. That is what I like in kamisoris as well.

As for sharpening, I never sharpened kiridashi myself, but have some experience sharpening various other knives and blades. I'm not sure, but from the picture it looks like there is no bevel set, yet? Unless done with a belt sander or so, I think you'll easily spend an hour per knife on a DMT 325 or comparable to get a bevel.

I would start out with a steep angle, somewhere around 15 degrees (per side). If you find that the steel does not hold up the edge well, you can easily make a microbevel around 20 degrees, or 30 if you intend it for rough work.

You'll be needing much more pressure than on a razor. Use the burr formation as a guide: very thin bevels will easily fold over and require less pressure, whereas something as thick as these knives appear to be, can handle much more pressure. This mainly counts in the bevel setting phase, after that, it's basically scratch removal and polishing, which requires only a bit of pressure.

Good luck!

Very nice,what are blades like that used for?

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Very nice,what are blades like that used for?

Kiridashi means " to carve out" but mainly used as an utility knife, traditionally as a woodwork and leather knife.

Grant great job! and a video on how to sharpen Kiridashi.

Awesome stuff Grant. Well done. For what it's worth I sharpen my knives "clean" . Including the kiridashi I have made. In this context "clean" means no secondary bevel. Just polished all the way from shoulder to edge. Flat ground I use water stones down to 8000 grit. If convex, I use a belt grinder then a buffing wheel. Edges done this way seem to cut better, maybe just me, but definitely stay sharper longer. Adam

Baldy,

I like them. You could probably sell them as marking knives to woodworkers. If choose to do that, be sure to run a stone along the top curve AFTER setting the bevel and sharpening. The ww types was a very very sharp, pointing, and distinct point on the their marking knives.