DIY Honesuki Kitchen Knife With Wa Handle

It happens in some form or another; you have a hobby, you veer off course, and something brings you back in.

For me, that was cooking and not just making recipes since I do that everyday. I am referring to experimenting, viewing/trying other culture's dishes, exploring new techniques. The spark was binging old episodes of No Reservations (R.I.P. Bourdain). Seeing the detail, precision, and attitude of 'shokunin,' coupled with my current drive to make my own knives/blades, I knew I had to make a honesuki.

This blade is designed with poultry in mind; deboning, skinning, and general butchery. Scouring the internet for proper dimensions, I got my sawblade, made a template, and got to work.

Metal stock

Cutting tools

Marking tools

(optional) Cardboard/paper template

Grinder/Sandpaper of various grit

Oil / Oven for quenching / tempering

Torch, or other heat source

Drill and bits

Dowel

Wood for handle

Accents for Wa handle, I used copper / polypropylene scraps but professional use other wood species/delrin

Clamps / Vise

Something to sharpen your blade

Chisels / Files for shaping handle

Epoxy or other adhesive

Check out how an amateur accomplished this fete!

I started out with the blade by securing it and cutting the shape with an angle grinder (pic 1-2).

Afterwards, (and this is optional) I decided to add some texture by peening the spine (pic 3-4). This looked cool but added a curve I failed to anticipate. Heating & bending by hand wasn't correcting the problem but pounding the other side did [Thankfully]!

I used my handheld belt grinder to shape the blade blank and remove the rough edges (pic 5-6). This was followed by marking the edge to 14mm and hogging out the excess material (pic 7-12). I then took it to my benchtop belt grinder, set at 12-degress, to dial in that bevel (pic 13-17). I am going with a single bevel here so if you decide to go double bevel, the angle will change.

You'll notice in pic 14 I had clamps to help keep my blade flat against the surface. This obviously got in the way and not wanting to grind my clamps down, I used washer/screws (pic 15-16).

Once the rough edge was done, I heated it to cherry red. I tested the magnetism and once ready, I quenched it in my oil (pic 17-18). This was rough for me not having a proper oven for a blade this big so this took a long time, proper positioning of the flame, and (my lease favorite) patience.

I let the metal relax at 375F for 3 hours in my shop toaster oven (pic 20).

A proper honesuki, deserved a proper Wa handle, I thought. I went to the wood carcass store and, this is going to sound cliché, waited for the right wooden blank to pop out to me. That wood was Bocote (pic 1). The fact that it had nice grain and the label said 'Mexican,' I was sold. Plus the price was right in my budget.

With no experience making a Wa handle, I had seen a ton of videos on Wa construction. Making notes as to the most user, and let's be honest, amateur friendly tips & tricks, I started off with the dowel trick.

The dowel is glued inside the Bocote to ensure alignment with the blade and other handle accents. I made a quick jig to ensure this was cut down the middle of my 1/2-inch dowel (pic 3). On the right side of pic 3, you'll notice a teeny tiny chisel. I made this to cut a groove (pic 4-6) so the dowel, once inserted, doesn't hydraulically lock up on you when you are in the epoxy stage.

Having the Mexican Bocote, I wanted some other accents in the handle that were uniquely me. I went with copper and blue plastic from a junction box (pic 7-8). I am part Mexican, I work with copper all the time, and my favorite color is blue. It seemed a perfect match!

I drilled out a 1/2-inch hole for the pieces and smoothed out the scrap copper to ensure it was flat (pic 7-16).

The next tip was the smaller piece of wood on the blade side. I need to ensure this maintains alignment with the rectangular hole the blade will protrude from so it doesn't skew to one side. I started by drilling the 1/2-inch hole (pic 16), ensuring I don't go all the way through with a drill stop. This was followed by measuring, marking, and drilling three 1/8-inch holes for the blade width (pic 17-21) using the 1/2-inch drill point as a guide to help the smaller 1/8th bit not wander.

This was followed by cleaning up the circular holes to the final rectangular shape with a little file (pic 22) and a dry fit (pic 23).

Glue up was next so I modified a 6-inch clamp with a recess for the blade to protrude through (pic 24-26). I don't really understand why the blade needs to be removed once every piece of the handle is clamped/secured, but a lot of knife makers did this, so I did too. Hey, they are smarter than me in this subject so why not?

I scuffed up all the pieces (pic 27), applied petroleum jelly to the honesuki handle to ensure the epoxy wouldn't adhere to it (pic 28), glued (pic 29), clamped (pic 30), and secured in the vise for blade removal (pic 31). I let the epoxy work for almost a week since this was done on a Sunday.

With the blade ready for sharpening, I took it to my diamond set. I started with 400 grit, followed by 600 & 1000 (pic 1). I used the 12-degree angle as a guide and locked my wrist to start the sharpening. I also tried the 3 penny trick to keep that angle locked and that worked better for the water stones than the diamond grit since the water stones are longer.

Then took it to my Japanese water stones and went up to 6000 grit. This was followed by my homemade strop (pic 2). Doing the obligatory paper test (pic 3-4), I'd say, "Sharpening complete."

The wood, off the shelf, had wax all over it, so I had to remove that first.

Once the epoxy had cured, I shaped out the handle to equal dimensions (pic 1-3). I had a 'Duh' moment when the copper was burning my fingers during shaping. Copper can conduct a LOT of heat soooooo...maybe not the best choice. I was concerned with the heat disturbing my adhesive, so I kept a little squirt bottle of water next to me to keep the copper cool. This actually worked well and I had no issues. I may not have but I worked so hard so far, I didn't want to ruin the cure.

Pic 4 shows the guidelines I used to get that octagonal shape (pic 5). If you do the dowel method for the handle, just be cognizant of your grinding. You don't want to go to far and expose the inner dowel. That would not look good...

I finished sanding by hand, only going to 220 grit. My homemade grinder came next with a scotch brite wheel (pic 6) and I mean, Look at that shine in pic 7!! The copper looks great, the Bocote is so beautiful, and that pop of blue <chef's kiss>.

Pun always intended!

Blade Ready! Wa Ready! Time to mar the handle (pic 1-2), heat it up slightly (pic 3), insert it and set with my large mallet (pic 4).

I am Super satisfied getting to hold this finished product in pic 5. Pic 6 for glamour!

I wound up taking off about an inch off of the bottom of the Bocote since this was little long for my hands. I did keep in mind the dowel inside again, however. I was intending to take off closer to 2 inches but I got nervous.

I am so proud of this build. Having had some practice under my belt like this DIY razor or these EDC blades.

Thanks for your time and I hope to see you on the next one! Perhaps I will make torigara...we'll see.