Higonokami's

[captain spaulding]

I just received my Higonokami's. They got a bath and are getting a little oven treatment to make sure all the water is out of the pivot. After they cool I will take some pics and give you guys some first impressions.

[captain spaulding]

Oh. The large one already drew blood. 

[enki_ck]

Oh. The large one already drew blood. 

Business as usual at casa de , ha?

[captain spaulding]

Oh. The large one already drew blood. 

Business as usual at casa de , ha?

I know, right. 

[AimlessWanderer]

 

[zoidberg]

Oh. The large one already drew blood. 

Business as usual at casa de , ha?

I know, right. 

That didn't take long capt. 

[captain spaulding]

Oh. The large one already drew blood. 

Business as usual at casa de , ha?

I know, right. 

That didn't take long capt. 

All of about 5 minutes.

[zoidberg]

Oh. The large one already drew blood. 

Business as usual at casa de , ha?

I know, right. 

That didn't take long capt. 

All of about 5 minutes.

Well now that's out of the way you can take pics right. 

[captain spaulding]

Oh. The large one already drew blood. 

Business as usual at casa de , ha?

I know, right. 

That didn't take long capt. 

All of about 5 minutes.

Well now that's out of the way you can take pics right. 

I just took them out of the oven and am waiting for them to cool.

[zoidberg]

 

[jzmtl]

Which brand did you get? The one with a samurai on the other side or without?

[captain spaulding]

I will give some of my first impression about the knives throughout the post. First off I have to say. I ordered these under the impression that they are...... well "crudely" made. It is a design that has been around for a long time. The fit and finish on these is not great. Not even good to be honest, but again I knew this before hand and expected this. From my purchases and through reading it appears every knife is "unique" in what ways the quality might be lacking. Anyways I just wanted to say that before anything. Now on to the pictures and my thoughts on the knife. These pictures are after the initial clean up.

Nothing  much to say here. Just a few shots of the knives closed.







Half open.







Full open size comparison. I ordered a medium and a large. They are smaller than they appear in the pictures. First picture is lined up from the tang. Second picture is lined up from the end of the handle.








A few pictures of the blade. The grind on these are interesting. It has 3 different grinds.










Here is the spine of the blades. These are very roughly finished. Quite frankly not finished at all.









Just a shot of the tang from below.








Both are rough around the pivot on the handles.








Centering. Both are up against the same side. Not just rubbing, but pressing quite firmly against the handle. When closing you can see the handle flex out because of this.







On one of the knives the inside of the handle where the cutout is the blade rubs the cutout and is very rough towards the inside of the handle. Notice the right side of the handle in the cutout compared to the left side. It is much more crude and not smooth. It also causes damage to the blade when closing and deploying because that is the side the blade is rubbing on.












These are just my first impressions and some pictures to give you guys a general idea of what I received. Again, I knew the knife would have some quality issues before ordering, but I cannot help but think if the maker spent just a tiny bit of time looking and addressing the simplest things these knives would feel much, much better. With all the quality "issues" I do like the knives for the history and I can see using them as beaters. I will most likely make one a fishing knife as it is easy to clean and was inexpensive. I bought mine for $9.00 each. I see these things go for $9.00 all the way up to $45.00 and beyond. Average is about $15.00 - $25.00 and I assume this is because of a lot of different reasons. One reason is materials. It seems they go up a little in price if you get the brass handles. Their is also different makers of these knives which affects pricing. I am alright in the $9.00 range, but if I am going to spend a little more than that I would much rather spend the money on a Svord Peasant or Mini Peasant. I am glad I bought these for the history as well as getting use out of them, but I highly doubt I will be buying any more in the future.

The only way I would buy another is if I got it to see what this knife could be. I was thinking and if I had not moved into a apartment I would be interested in seeing how nice I could actually make one of these. Grind anything smooth that needs it. Finish the spine and polish the blade. Fix the centering and possibly drilling out the pivot for something adjustable or just re working it to be centered. Basically giving it a overhaul and making it as nice as possible.

  If anyone feels the same (and has the ability and wants a project) and wants to do one for me I might be interested in ordering two and have them sent to you. One for me and one for you. All I would ask is you do all you can to make mine top notch. You can do whatever you want with yours.

Anyways. That is my opinions on these so far. 

[captain spaulding]

Which brand did you get? The one with a samurai on the other side or without?

Without. I actually like the one with the Samurai more as it does not have the cutout on the handle (which i'm not to fond of) and it seems that brand has better quality from what I have read.

[zoidberg]

Wow, what an epic post!   

[captain spaulding]

Wow, what an epic post! 

Well i'm glad you approve. 

[zoidberg]

Wow, what an epic post! 

Well i'm glad you approve. 

It would take me a morning to write something like that up. So yeah, I am impressed. 

[jerseydevil]

Nice write up Cap'n.    I knew that they were rather crude knives, but seeing the pictures I was surprised they were THAT crude.  My Mercator's F&F is stellar compared to those......

[captain spaulding]

Nice write up Cap'n.    I knew that they were rather crude knives, but seeing the pictures I was surprised they were THAT crude.  My Mercator's F&F is stellar compared to those......

Thanks. It is what it is and maybe the higher priced (different maker) ones are better, but I will not be one to find out.

[captain spaulding]

I will be at a friends house tomorrow and might take these to mess with. If I do I will definitely be using the dremel to take off material from the cutouts so it does not damage the blade as much. I might also give the spine of the blade a go and try to finish it a bit. Not sure what I will use to do it though. Any suggestions? If all goes well I might try to polish the blade as well. I would love to be able to fix the blade centering if possible. Any suggestions on that? Thanks everyone.

[captain spaulding]

Daddy like. 

Modern day Higo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op6G8OvrjdU

[zoidberg]

I will be at a friends house tomorrow and might take these to mess with. If I do I will definitely be using the dremel to take off material from the cutouts so it does not damage the blade as much. I might also give the spine of the blade a go and try to finish it a bit. Not sure what I will use to do it though. Any suggestions? If all goes well I might try to polish the blade as well. I would love to be able to fix the blade centering if possible. Any suggestions on that? Thanks everyone.

Any metal file, diamond file or sandpaper should do. I imagine you could bend the handle easily enough but is it possible it rubs on purpose to keep it from randomly opening?

[captain spaulding]

I will be at a friends house tomorrow and might take these to mess with. If I do I will definitely be using the dremel to take off material from the cutouts so it does not damage the blade as much. I might also give the spine of the blade a go and try to finish it a bit. Not sure what I will use to do it though. Any suggestions? If all goes well I might try to polish the blade as well. I would love to be able to fix the blade centering if possible. Any suggestions on that? Thanks everyone.

Any metal file, diamond file or sandpaper should do. I imagine you could bend the handle easily enough but is it possible it rubs on purpose to keep it from randomly opening?

Great. Thanks. You are probably right about it rubbing to keep it from opening up on its own. The rubbing is something I can live with. I just want to clean up the jagged edge the blade is rubbing on right now and possibly finish the spine a bit. If all that goes well I might give polishing a go.

[Etherealicer]

Thanks for the detailed review. Now I have a better idea what I have to look for

[comis]

Cap't, thank you for the great writeup.  I can imagine this folder must be very popular in its golden days, where many school boys would have one on each them, like a pair of pants. 

[zoidberg]

Daddy like. 

Modern day Higo.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op6G8OvrjdU

I'll pass on that one.

[jzmtl]

Which brand did you get? The one with a samurai on the other side or without?

Without. I actually like the one with the Samurai more as it does not have the cutout on the handle (which i'm not to fond of) and it seems that brand has better quality from what I have read.

That's what I heard too, but I don't plan to find out as it's something I'll never use. I have the same brand with the same quality finish, but with brass handle. The edge smack into handle so I put a cotton string inside with oil to keep th edge fresh.

It's a neat conversation piece, but that's about it.

[jzmtl]

Cap't, thank you for the great writeup.  I can imagine this folder must be very popular in its golden days, where many school boys would have one on each them, like a pair of pants.

You must remember the pencil knife we had in elementary school, or was that not in HK?

[captain spaulding]

Which brand did you get? The one with a samurai on the other side or without?

Without. I actually like the one with the Samurai more as it does not have the cutout on the handle (which i'm not to fond of) and it seems that brand has better quality from what I have read.

That's what I heard too, but I don't plan to find out as it's something I'll never use. I have the same brand with the same quality finish, but with brass handle. The edge smack into handle so I put a cotton string inside with oil to keep th edge fresh.

It's a neat conversation piece, but that's about it.

I am using mine around the house and plan on carrying it as well if I can figure out a safe way to carry it. I am thinking some sort of leather slip for it. I personally think it is much more than a conversation piece.

[jzmtl]

I suppose you could use it if you are determined, but I've tried it and many others, always come back to Vic Climber after a while. 

[captain spaulding]

I suppose you could use it if you are determined, but I've tried it and many others, always come back to Vic Climber after a while. 

I am in no way saying it is the best option, but it is actually useful for most cutting tasks.

On a separate note I did not get a chance to give them a "face lift" when I was at my friends house.