Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 12,554
As I see it, one of the biggest problems with the modern Americanized Japanese-style blades is the handle.
Popularized by Phill Hartsfield, and later James Piorek as well as countless others, we are talking about cord or preferably rayskin(samegawa) wrapped around the tang, and some sort of cord(shoelace cord in Hartsfield's case) braided over the top. If there is a menuki(handle charm) included as in the case of Wally Hayes, R.J. Martin or Mike Snody, this is a pleasant surprise.
Hayes, Martin and Snody are all people that I am really friendly with....and this is not to denigrate the style necessarily, but I do consider this handle style to be somewhat lacking.
The habaki(blade collar) of a Japanese style blade represents the foundation of the assembled blade....it keeps the scabbard(saya) from touching the blade(ha) and allows the wooden handle core of the handle assembly(tsuka) to be "pre-tensioned" to the rest of the blade with the habaki acting as a shock absorber strut...in other words, shock is transmitted through the knife assembly, with the habaki sort of driving the physics.
The Japanese were and are really smart at adapting design. The wooden core, samegawa overlay, menuki and cord braiding all serve peerless purpose. The wooden core houses the tang(nakago), and can be removed by pulling out the mekugi(handle pin). That wood, most often a type of cypress in Japan called honoki is anti-bacterial, and compresses slightly with the samegawa application and overbraiding. In the US, most handle artisans use poplar or alder, alder being the slightly harder and less compressible.
Positioned correctly and reversed from current traditions, the menuki act as palm swells.
There is a LOT of work involved in doing a proper Japanese style tsuka, but imo, it is worth it.
Here is a recent re-do of a tsuka on a J.D. Smith tanto with damascus blade. The handle artisan is Joshua Marlan of Mills River, NC. He does exactly what I want, and that is important for the knifemaker, the handle artisan and the collector to know, all in equality. It requires that all involved by educated as to what is available, what is historical and what is desired. I wanted premium samegawa, and a pleasing re-wrap, and the wooden core was cracked, so this required a complete re-do.....Josh's skill and prices are in concert in such a way that I have never seen a tsuka maki(handle wrapping) practitioner at this level this affordable before.
Dr. David Darom has a photograph taken by Eric Eggly of Point7 of the original handle configuration completed by Christian Griesi....the samegawa was not nearly as pretty....and see the attractive curve moving from the front of the handle towards the butt? That is not easy to do cleanly, it takes a lot of work. The diamond "windows" to the samegawa formed in the braiding should be consistent and crisp....Josh did a solid job of this, I have seen not as good on handle work costing in the thousands.
I have long debated having the seppa (the disk separating the handle metal and habaki from the guard) gold plated....they are now raw copper, what do you think about this?
Here is a Howard Clark tanto that I got from Joe Paranee for same cost as the J.D. Smith blade, but it was in full polish already with a habaki, and the Smith blade was missing this(about a $200-300 difference).
This first pic shows the disaster of choosing the wrong person to work on your handles....while told this was a full wrap of samegawa, the "artist" used panels and cut it with a dremel or similar to simulate the "seam" that is desirable in Japanese handle wrapping(this seam is the "money shot" showing without question that it is a full wrap....right! The handle core was also too long by 1/2"
Here is the handle completed:
Here is my crappy phone pic of the complete knife:
Hope this helps create some discussion that is positive for the community.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
Popularized by Phill Hartsfield, and later James Piorek as well as countless others, we are talking about cord or preferably rayskin(samegawa) wrapped around the tang, and some sort of cord(shoelace cord in Hartsfield's case) braided over the top. If there is a menuki(handle charm) included as in the case of Wally Hayes, R.J. Martin or Mike Snody, this is a pleasant surprise.
Hayes, Martin and Snody are all people that I am really friendly with....and this is not to denigrate the style necessarily, but I do consider this handle style to be somewhat lacking.
The habaki(blade collar) of a Japanese style blade represents the foundation of the assembled blade....it keeps the scabbard(saya) from touching the blade(ha) and allows the wooden handle core of the handle assembly(tsuka) to be "pre-tensioned" to the rest of the blade with the habaki acting as a shock absorber strut...in other words, shock is transmitted through the knife assembly, with the habaki sort of driving the physics.
The Japanese were and are really smart at adapting design. The wooden core, samegawa overlay, menuki and cord braiding all serve peerless purpose. The wooden core houses the tang(nakago), and can be removed by pulling out the mekugi(handle pin). That wood, most often a type of cypress in Japan called honoki is anti-bacterial, and compresses slightly with the samegawa application and overbraiding. In the US, most handle artisans use poplar or alder, alder being the slightly harder and less compressible.
Positioned correctly and reversed from current traditions, the menuki act as palm swells.
There is a LOT of work involved in doing a proper Japanese style tsuka, but imo, it is worth it.
Here is a recent re-do of a tsuka on a J.D. Smith tanto with damascus blade. The handle artisan is Joshua Marlan of Mills River, NC. He does exactly what I want, and that is important for the knifemaker, the handle artisan and the collector to know, all in equality. It requires that all involved by educated as to what is available, what is historical and what is desired. I wanted premium samegawa, and a pleasing re-wrap, and the wooden core was cracked, so this required a complete re-do.....Josh's skill and prices are in concert in such a way that I have never seen a tsuka maki(handle wrapping) practitioner at this level this affordable before.
Dr. David Darom has a photograph taken by Eric Eggly of Point7 of the original handle configuration completed by Christian Griesi....the samegawa was not nearly as pretty....and see the attractive curve moving from the front of the handle towards the butt? That is not easy to do cleanly, it takes a lot of work. The diamond "windows" to the samegawa formed in the braiding should be consistent and crisp....Josh did a solid job of this, I have seen not as good on handle work costing in the thousands.
I have long debated having the seppa (the disk separating the handle metal and habaki from the guard) gold plated....they are now raw copper, what do you think about this?
Here is a Howard Clark tanto that I got from Joe Paranee for same cost as the J.D. Smith blade, but it was in full polish already with a habaki, and the Smith blade was missing this(about a $200-300 difference).
This first pic shows the disaster of choosing the wrong person to work on your handles....while told this was a full wrap of samegawa, the "artist" used panels and cut it with a dremel or similar to simulate the "seam" that is desirable in Japanese handle wrapping(this seam is the "money shot" showing without question that it is a full wrap....right! The handle core was also too long by 1/2"
Here is the handle completed:
Here is my crappy phone pic of the complete knife:
Hope this helps create some discussion that is positive for the community.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
Last edited:
