NHD: Boogwa/Bamboog Rosewood Handle

Finally rehandled my Sakai Takayuki (Hokiyama) ginsan santoku. I've posted before about thinning this knife, and the new handle is the end of the project (at least for now). While I had the handle off, I polished the spine and choil (the spine had weird irregular shape that meant to give it a rustic, handmade appearance but was mostly just weird and slightly uncomfortable).

I'm very happy with the handle from Boogwa (ordered on Etsy, where the seller is listed as Bamboog). It's a beautifully polished rosewood handle with white marbled buffalo horn ferrule. I messaged the seller specifically asking for a dark, more marbled ferrule, and they delivered. Rather than a standard 135mm handle, I went with 140mm to help move the balance point back (my preference). The new handle weighs 62g, which is much more substantial than the 41g zelkova wood handle that came with the knife (purchased from Cutlery and More). I much prefer the heft and feel of the new handle.

The final pic is the choil shot after considerable thinning. For anyone looking at the Hokiyama ginsan knives sold under brand names like Tsunehisa, Sakai Takayuki, and as in-house brands, I can say that while I enjoyed the knife out of the box, it benefits considerably from thinning. Originally, it wasn't terribly thin behind the edge (very similar to Miyabi), with the edge bevel being nearly 1mm wide (I know that doesn't tell you anything directly, but it's an indication that it's not a laser). Nonetheless, the steel is great, taking and retaining a screaming sharp edge. I've come to love this knife, though that may be largely due to all of the hours I've put into it!