White Ceramic Santoku with Cholla and Red & Green Resin Handle

Another knife that came out of the shop during the recent flurry of knife-making. This one has a handle of cholla with red and green resin which was poured by a friend of mine in Texas in exchange for me sending him a box of cholla canes. Seems like a good trade to me.

The blade is a 6 inch white ceramic santoku which used to be sold by WoodCraft, but was discontinued a few years back (before we moved to New Mexico, so three or four years ago). When I saw the bright colors of the handle, I remembered I had the white blade and thought it would be a good-looking combination. There are also layers or red and brown micarta between the scales and the knife tang to build up the thickness a little. It feels pretty good in the hand to me.

The handle was rough-cut on the bandsaw, then shaped with rasps and files. It was hand sanded with 80, 120, 180, 220, and 400 grit sandpaper, and a coat of tung oil applied before buffing it with the Beall Wood Buffing system. I’m pretty pleased with this one, and think I’ll be giving it to a friend as an early Christmas present.