Kiridashi style knives

[NatG]

Do any of you bushcrafters use jiridashi style knives? (i'll grab a link in a second) They're small, single beveled japanese wood knives, i thought that they might be very useful for crafts, marking, perhaps very fine detail carving, maybe even skinning? I know there's likely to be a few big fans opf scandi knives here, but does anyone use kirdashi?

cheers

Nathan

 

[NatG]

something a bit like this : http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Harima-Japanese-Kiridashi-Marking-Knife-19805.htm

 

[Shinken]

It says in the info that they are too hard to carve with. But i am sure you could get someone to make you one that could be used for that.

Might be a nice thing to carry with a proper knife in the same sheath

 

[NatG]

theres a few more examples here( rather nice ones too) http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57298

It says in the info that they are too hard to carve with. But i am sure you could get someone to make you one that could be used for that.

Might be a nice thing to carry with a proper knife in the same sheath

i think you're right about the axminster ones, but maybe a more bushcraft friendly one would be good, i might give making a few a go

 

[Dave Budd]

I use them lots fo carving leather and some wood (chip carving really), but mostly I use them for all the things that you could use a stanley knife for mostly cutting leather and paper I guess.

The ones axminster sell are hard because they aren't meant to cut only mark the wood, so durability isn't an issue. You could still use them for a lot of cutting without the edge chipping I suspect, as long as you weren't carving hard woods

Obviously, I tend to make mine

 

[C_Claycomb]

I have a couple of kiridashi style knives. The one that I use is still waiting for some form of handle to be fitted and is simply a piece of full hard (M2) reciprocating saw blade, about 2.8mm thick. It holds a very good edge, but is a bit of a pain to sharpen, M2 doesn't seem to like to lose the wire edge. I use it for leather work and other random chores around the workshop. I don't really find it a widely useful knife though. I have another piece of M2 mounted in a handle and ground to a sheep's foot pattern and find this to be a better utility tool. Not as elegant, but more useful.

The problems I have with the style are:
The edge is too short to slice, for rigidity the steel is too thick to cut deeply like a craft knife, the angle of the edge relative to the handle and the lack of curve make it poor for whittling and not as controleable under load as a Stanley knife for cutting on a flat surface. I cannot think of anything outside of my workshop that I would want to use it for, certainly not for working in the bush.

Obvioulsy its a very old style, and must work for some people, but it doesn't really work all that well for me.

 

[philaw]

Do any of you bushcrafters use jiridashi style knives? (i'll grab a link in a second) They're small, single beveled japanese wood knives, i thought that they might be very useful for crafts, marking, perhaps very fine detail carving, maybe even skinning? I know there's likely to be a few big fans opf scandi knives here, but does anyone use kirdashi?

cheers

Nathan

i thought you were going to be talking about higonokami knives. They're japanese penkiives that open one handed and don't lock, so they're okay in teh uk.

 

[NatG]

i thought you were going to be talking about higonokami knives. They're japanese penkiives that open one handed and don't lock, so they're okay in teh uk.

Most knives are ok in the uk, you just need a good reason for all except sub 3 inch bladed non locking folding knives.

i suppose the higonokami knives are pretty much the same, just folding?

 

[philaw]

Most knives are ok in the uk, you just need a good reason for all except sub 3 inch bladed non locking folding knives.

i suppose the higonokami knives are pretty much the same, just folding?

They look like this. I say they're okay for the UK because they're non-locking and you could get one with a sub-3 inch blade. They seem to have a thin blade, so it might be the japanese equivalent of the opinel as an everyday user.

 

[Jan Dox]

I have made these Friction folder kiridashi in the last 2 years:

a variant is the higonokami version:

I use mostly A2 tool steel, G10 or micarta(R) and stainless pivot and screws

A friend of mine in Scotland uses this variant every day :

enjoy


Jan

 

[Seoras]

A nice set Jan.

Thanks for sharing.

George

 

[plastic-ninja]

Very nice Jan.
For lovers of Kiridashi porn , Dave Budd was obviously too modest to mention the beautiful ones he has for sale on his thread.
I was lucky enough to get one just before Christmas and can heartily recommend them. As usual a thing of real beauty as well as
simple functionality.
Happy New Year , Simon