Saya nomi--any tips?

[Matt Lau]

Dear Creek,

I've been trying to avoid this place as it tempts me to buy more cool tools.

Most recently, I've started restoring a Deba knife for my sushi knife friend...along with a custom saya.

I've gotten obsessed with saya nomi--scabbard chisels. These are Japanese paring chisels with a longish bent neck, bullnose blade, and slight curve on the bearing surface. These chisels are designed to delicately remove wood, and have a bit of flex.

They are also $150-$175 a chisel!

I'm too broke to buy one, as my money is going to my business and staff.

I'm thinking of:
1. Buying a usu-nomi from Stu, grinding a bullnose tip, bending the blade.
2. Buying a cheap western chisel, bending it, and grinding a bullnose.
3. Making one out of o1 steel stock...grinding the steel on my water cooled carborundum grinder, bending it, heating it with a gold-melting torch, and quenching it.

Any tips?

I'm limited in a weird way because all my metal shaping tools are in my dental office, or my friend's office.

[Brian Holcombe]

Just buy them....:p

Or, ask Stu if Koyamaichi or Ouchi make saya nomi. I would not be surprised to find out that they do.

[lowell holmes]

I bet there are not many dentists here the creek.

My dentist would like to be a wood worker, but will not because he fears debilitating injury. I thought he should be able to work around it.

[Matt Lau]

I bet there are not many dentists here the creek.

My dentist would like to be a wood worker, but will not because he fears debilitating injury. I thought he should be able to work around it.

Tell him to be a Neanderthal. It's far safer than power tools. Festool, sawstop, and predimensioned lumber is his friend.

I know two other dentist luthiers--one in Colorado, another in Monterey, CA. Up in Sacramento, there's an award winning decor carver prosthedontist.


Re: Stu. I emailed him a month ago with no reply. I assume that he was inundated with stuff.

[Brian Holcombe]

Worth also trying So Yamashita (Japan-Tool), Tomohito Iida(Japan Tool Iida), Sayuri Suzuki (Suzuki Tool) and our own Stanley Covington.

[Stanley Covington]

A very rare tool designed specifically for making sword scabbards. Not a lot of those being made nowadays. I have never seen one for sale, and the ones I have seen were all in the hands of scabbard makers. I suspect they are custom made.

Two varieties as I understand it: with or without a handle. Not intended to be struck. This website lists them, but I don't know the tools or the retailer at all.

http://www.namikawa-ltd.co.jp/product/129 Caveat emptor.

Here are a couple of links to pages of guys making a scabbard. http://www1.rcn.ne.jp/~m-ikeda/newpage8.html http://www.city.setouchi.lg.jp/token/nihontonitsuite/1419498554112.html



Stan

[Glenn Kiso]

I'm guessing it's more common nowadays to use Saya nomi for making saya's for kitchen knives than for swords due to sales volume. The higher end kitchen knives with honyaki or kitaeji finishes are often used along side a custom fit saya for protection.

japanesenaturalstones.com had some saya nomi's (not cheap). It's mostly kitchen knives store, but they have some woodworking tools as well.

[Matt Lau]

Thanks for suggestions, gentlemen.

I'd checked out Japanesenaturalstones.com, iida tools, and japan woodworker. I've also been looking on various bladesmithing and iado forums.
I'd made a friction fitted basswood saya in the traditional katana manner (both sides inletted to fit a blade)...and it was quite good, but one of the corners blew out thanks to my standard oire nomi biting in the wrong way.

Stean, I didn't know that you sold tools! <edit> I just saw your response to my other thread, kiridashi.

Anyways, I just got an email from Stu. He'll be asking Mr. Koyama sometime how much/if he'll make some.

My patient today was super gracious, and allowed me the time (2.5 hours!) to deliver my very best dentistry (hand-casted, burnished, precision indexed gold crown). I'm thinking of making a pair of these, so that I can give him one.

I have some of the greatest patients in the world.

[Matt Lau]

I just got an email from Stu. He'll be looking into the cost or a commission.

In the meanwhile, I'm thinking of making some from W1 steel, just to make something useful and pretty...and keep somewhat sane with all the long hours.
I was looking around my lab area and realized that I have almost everything that I need: watercooled model trimmer for profiling steel, hacksaw behind staff fridge, bunsen torch (my friend has a forced air casting torch too). I could probably profile the edge with my micromotor and some stone grinding wheels (for ceramic adjustments). I was going to profile the tip, establish the bevel, bend it, heat tip to cherry red, quench in water, temper at 325 F, stick a handle on it. Call it chisel.

I'm just not sure about how to make the blade springy.

George Wilson, and tips!?

[Brian Holcombe]

Now you just need an air hammer, blue steel and plane tickets for Akio Tasai :p

Glad to hear that Stu got back to you, I had confidence that he would.

[Matt Lau]

I wish! How do you like your Tasai chisels?

Stu and I are both beset by our petty tax officers in respective nations.
At least his seem a big more civilised, if equally inept.

-Matt

[Matt Lau]

Ps. Is the air hammer like an air guitar?
Most serious forgers I see eventually get huge power hammers.
Blue steel can be gotten from Dick's of Germany or Blue 2 from Aldo the Steel Baron in Jersey.

[Brian Holcombe]

Lol. Still waiting on them, I expect it'll be another 2 months or so.

Indeed, all the videos I have seen are those guys forge welding with a huge power hammer.