Fine Wood Saya Makers Profit from High-end Culinary Trend
Click on the image to open

Photo By A black ebony saya by Wabocho

Click on the image to open
Click on the image to open
Click on the image to open
Click on the image to open
Click on the image to open
Click on the image to open
Click on the image to open
Spalted tamarind saya from Isaiah Schroeder Knifeworks.
Click on the image to open
Black, blue and light grey stabilized curly maple with copper spacers and saya pin from Isaiah Schroeder Knifeworks.
Click on the image to open
Isaiah Schroeder Knifeworks bulk shipment of poplar saya heading to Chefknivestogo.com.
Celebrity cooks and professional chefs are adapting a fine woodcraft tradition that originated in Japan: the saya. The term "saya" derives from the Japanese word for a scabbard, specifically refering to the scabbard for a sword or knife.
 
The saya in Japan are traditionally manufactured from very lightweight wood, with a coat of lacquer on the exterior. The saya sheath extends beyond the blade toward the handle, so a pin can be drop in to lock the saya in place. 
 

SHOW US YOUR SHOP

Rocking K Creations, Buffalo, Wyoming

Keith Hahn, Rocking K Creation, shares a view of his woodshop. See his and other woodshops in the Show Us Your Shop Channel. 

 

Craftsmen around the world are making saya, frequently as part of a knife forging businesses, but also including some U.S. woodshops that are developing the craft, and extending it to fine wood handles for knife collections of celebrity and serious amateur chefs - as well as collectors.

One such business is WaBocho, operated by Greg (below), a cook and knife collector from Poland to the United Kingdom in 2005, where he began making sharpening and repairing blades and making handles and saya. Greg works in dyed maple, stabilized buckeye burl, spalted maple, and koa, among other species. 
 
Isaiah Schroeder Knifeworks is a small shop where quality is taken seriously. Isaiah Schroeder and Alton Janelle say they have a reputation for being fanatical about the details. Their woodwork in handles and saya is clearly up to the demands of the knives they produce and service.
 
Working in poplar and veneers, or in solid wood such as bubinga, curly ash, walnut and sapele, IS Knifeworks operates a full-outfitted woodshop in Madison, WI, to support its business producing handles and saya. Here's Isaiah Schroeder (below).  
 

Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Profile picture for user billesler
About the author
Bill Esler | ConfSenior Editor

Bill wrote for WoodworkingNetwork.com, FDMC and Closets & Organized Storage magazines. 

Bill's background includes more than 10 years in print manufacturing management, followed by more than 30 years in business reporting on industrial manufacturing in the forest products industries, including printing and packaging at American Printer (Features Editor) and Graphic Arts Monthly (Editor in Chief) magazines; and in secondary wood manufacturing for WoodworkingNetwork.com.

Bill was deeply involved with the launches of the Woodworking Network Leadership Forum, and the 40 Under 40 Awards programs. He currently reports on technology and business trends and develops conference programs.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Bill supports efforts to expand and improve educational opportunities in the manufacturing sectors, including 10 years on the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation; six years with the U.S. WoodLinks; and currently on the Woodwork Career Alliance Education Committee. He is also supports the Greater West Town Training Partnership Woodworking Program, which has trained more than 950 adults for industrial wood manufacturing careers. 

Bill volunteers for Foinse Research Station, a biological field station staddling the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, one of more than 200 members of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.