Cutting Edge!

Here is something that kept me occupied the last few nights...Its a Wooden Samurai Paper Cutter!!

The whole thing is carved from a single thin branch of olive using an Opinel knife. The surface was sanded last to get some smoothness, that is i didn't use any sanding to get to this kind of thickness.

General dimensions are 9" length and 1/2" in diameter.Back face of blade is 1/8"(around 3mm)

It's not really much. I just wanted to keep it simple but elegant and keep the scale true to the original as much as possible. It can cut paper quite good.

That's a 60lbs/120gsm paper! It sure cuts paper better than most metal paper cutters you get on the market.
Of course mine has a hardened edge! The secret of wood hardening has been passed down to me from the grey monks of a secret sect in Tibet. I had to dance in the snow naked and chant the yeee-hiii-poooo to receive enlightment....Or.... I may have used a ceramic sharpening stick and a spoon along with warming to get an edge like this.....

 Can you see the diference in the edge? It is a good way to harden wood by polishing it with any metal surface...If you stick at it with a spoon or other hard and smooth surface you can get a result similar to plastic...The wood hardens and pores close...I am thinking of adding some detail to the hilt and i allready found the stick that will become the sheath! Mind you, olive is quite hard to work with. It is a very hard wood(not the hardest...) and at times it tends to twist as it grows, so you can't split it evenly. If you have any ideas or comments feel free to post any...