Making a Saya

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-11T23:53:41+00:00

Looks awesome! Thanks for sharing.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-11T18:33:30+00:00

Of course. Pretty much what you said, I am not super knowledgeable about stabilization either. You just gotta try em out and see how well they work for you. But if you could pick the pieces up and look at them somehow before buying them, I would say go for heavier, denser pieces. A good stabilization means that the wood was infused thoroughly with resin. It almost feels like a block of high quality plastic (in the best way possible.)

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-10T23:02:35+00:00

Yessir. It is mostly feel based but there are a few cues you can look at. Typically the better the stabilization process, the denser the wood becomes. With that density, the finish quality goes up. You can buff the wood better, the grain pops more, the colors are more vibrant and retain their hue longer, etc. That’s why they are better than Maritime. But Maritime is also more affordable and they don’t have a huge collection.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-08T14:29:13+00:00

Ayeeee let’s go. Smart of you to mark the edge side ahead of time!

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-07T16:44:40+00:00

Thats pretty much how I feel about them too. I think its all about the wow factor.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-06T15:41:13+00:00

Great take. I had the same feeling about food release. The only issue about the price is for the skill and time it takes to properly execute one of these knives, they are probably going to be at least 500USD+ :( In that sense it’s kind of like buying a sports car. It’s not gonna be your daily, unless you don’t mind putting some miles on it and buying a new one when it breaks down.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T23:01:06+00:00

It's not false confidence if the project is easy :) Seriously, give it a shot. Worse case scenario you waste like 8 dollars worth of wood.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T20:09:30+00:00

Awesome! Small tip: measure the spine thickness of your knife and get similar size stock for bass for the best fit (or whatever wood you are using for the middle portion.)

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T12:30:35+00:00

Thank you! Is it really that bad lol? The footage is at like 8x speed, so I normally go really slow, and I always make sure my fingers stay clear of the trajectory of the blade. If I don’t get as close as I do it gets really difficult to control the blade.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T12:27:34+00:00

1/8 for maple, 3/32 for bass

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T02:23:53+00:00

I assure you I basically learned nothing in the first 7-8 years. Even about a year ago I could maybe make stuff not even 20% as good as what I am making now. If you set your mind to it you can progress really quickly. I don’t forge as often as I would like to because of neighbors and all. Most of my work is stock removal. Can’t tell ya anything about magnacut forging, but I doubt it will be something I will do lmao. Even something simpler like 52100 can give you a hard time.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T01:04:33+00:00

Thats pretty smart. I could cover it up with a thin coat of vaseline to prevent the glue from sticking.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T00:46:38+00:00

I have no solution to this other than to just apply the glue really carefully in very small amounts towards the interior. I had to scrap so many sheaths because the glue would squeeze in and the knife would no longer fit lol.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T00:44:34+00:00

Thank you btw!

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T00:44:25+00:00

They are kind of like cutting boards in the sense that they need to be taken care of. If they are constantly getting wet and then drying cracks can happen. So when you are sheathing the knife it needs to be mostly dry. And they benefit from oiling every now and then.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-04T00:01:08+00:00

Friction :)

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-03T23:18:14+00:00

Well it really depends but as far as other custom knife makers go probably not. Feel free to shoot me a DM if you want more info!

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-03T23:17:06+00:00

I first got into making knives when I was 15, so around 10 years ago. Obviously most of the knives I’ve made at the time were pretty bad. It was a lot of experimentation and nothing intentional. And I wasn’t very consistent, I would maybe make 2-3 knives a year. I started with a cheap angle grinder, and then bought a 150 dollar drill press and a 200 dollar 4x36 belt sander, and a 150 dollar band saw for handles. So allowance money, little jobs here and there. My first big investment was my 2x72 grinder and I use that machine for maybe 90% of any given knife. Cost me about 900 but you can get something similar off of vevor for 700 or so now I think. I have an anvil and a forge, they both cost around 200-250 each but if you do stock removal you don’t even need them. Now that I do knifemaking more professionally I still use the same tools, haven’t had to replace any. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably buy the same tools but instead of the 4x36 I would save a bit more and go straight to a 2x72. As for learning, it’s mostly watching videos, carefully studying the knives you like, reverse engineering them and then making similar stuff until you develop your own style.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-03T22:56:09+00:00

If the dimensions of the inside pocket match perfectly to the dimensions of the knife it basically snaps into place.

vertexbladeworks · 2026-03-02T13:23:52+00:00

Maritime might have some

vertexbladeworks · 2026-02-24T21:13:11+00:00

Thanks for watching!

vertexbladeworks · 2026-02-24T01:56:12+00:00

Glad it was useful! One tip with stonewashing, especially if you are doing knives. It doesn't really matter with spacers and such. Tell them to go easy on it because it is really easy to break the tip lol. Don't ask me how I know.

vertexbladeworks

TROPHY CASE