My First Rehandle!!

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ThEoRy

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Finally took a crack at rehandling my Tojiro ITK bread knife and I'm pretty happy with the results. Dave, Stefan, Marko and Mike etc... you guys need to charge more. :laugh: Maybe it's just because it was my first one and I wanted to take special care not to ruin anything but I suspect you guys take the same precautions.


Anyway I didn't take pics all the way through but I can explain my process.

1: Drill off old scales.

2: Grind the tang clean and leave it rough.

3: Drill tang holes 1/4"

4: Trace scales on new wood then rough shape them on belt grinder.

5: Sand scales flat on diamond plate wrapped with sandpaper.

6: Rough cut liner material.

7: Prep liner material and scales by roughing up then cleaning with alcohol.

8: Prepare devcon 2 ton 30 min epoxy and spread on inside of scales then apply to liner material and clamp.

9: Wait

10: Shape, round and polish the front of the scale since this would be much harder once attached.

11: Prepare the tand and scale with roughing and cleaning with alcohol.

12: Prepare epoxy and apply to tang and scale then fit up the scale and clamp.

13: Wait.

14: Drill from the tang side through the scale completely.

15: Prepare other scale, epoxy, clamp.

16: Wait.

17: Drill back from the first scale through the second.

18: Cut mosaic bar into three appropriately sized pieces with a hack saw.

19: Rough up the pins, chamfer the edges and clean with alcohol.

20: Clean the inside of the scale/tang holes with alcohol until cotton swab comes out clean.

21: Prepare epoxy and line the holes with it and coat the pins as well then tap pins through the holes.

22: With a plier, twist pins until they are all facing straight up.

23: Wait.

24: Final rough shaping on belt sander until scales meet the tang smoothly, including grinding off excess pin material until flush.

25: Grind in rough angles all around edges on both sides.

26: Hand shaping and sanding from 100 grit up to 12,000 grit.

27: Mineral oil hand buffing.

28: Pics.......

IMG_20130410_003015.jpgIMG_20130410_003616.jpgIMG_20130410_003559.jpgIMG_20130410_003022.jpgIMG_20130410_002825.jpgIMG_20130410_002833.jpgIMG_20130410_002842.jpgIMG_20130410_002849.jpgIMG_20130410_002857.jpgIMG_20130410_002902.jpgIMG_20130410_002908.jpgIMG_20130410_002926.jpgIMG_20130410_002940.jpgIMG_20130410_003420.jpg

29: Forget what wood it is..

There's some checks that appeared after sanding so I'm thinking ca glue then re sand a bit. But in any case, I'm happy with it for my first try. What do you guys think?
 

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Rick, you should be VERY happy with yourself, that's a really nice first handle for sure. :doublethumbsup:


PS - #29 made me laugh - so true :D
 
Super smooth. Fit and finish is pretty good. Very flush feeling, no pins or ridges sticking up high or low.
 
I think it was G 10, not sure. Lemme look at my jantz order.
 
Dam man that looks like you have been doing it for years. Can't wait to see what else you come up with.
 
Ok, It just says Fiber spacer. So it's not G 10 for sure because they have a whole different section for that.
 
Thanks guys! Now I just hope this thing stays together!! :scared1: What's up next? Wa handle. And then I have something else planned.
 
Outstanding Rick. If this was your first one, you must have been thinking this through for a while. Home run.
 
Great job Rick. The more I do it, the more I realize how bad I suck and I appreciate how good the pros really are.
You're screwed now, I'm sure you're hooked. You'll be rehandling everything from spatulas to toilet plungers next!
 
Great job Rick. The more I do it, the more I realize how bad I suck and I appreciate how good the pros really are.
You're screwed now, I'm sure you're hooked. You'll be rehandling everything from spatulas to toilet plungers next!

Bwahahaha!! I've been collecting wood from Craig Stevens, Arizona Ironwood and our own Burl Source for well over a year now. It's about time I start producing something. Hankotsu next? After that, Wa handle, then something special.
 
Nice job, how exactly did u remove the old scales?
 
Drill press with a 3/16 " bit or possibly the next size down.
 
For your next trick, try doing without getting any epoxy on your hands . . .
 
LOL, Thanks for the laugh and welcome to the club. We meet every Thursday and Sunday. at 7:00 pm :D Hello, my name is Randy. Im a Burl Junky and cross addicted to musk ox horn and mammoth ivory. I got my last fix about a hour ago when I purchased some maple burl from Burl source and some ironwood from Arizona Ironwood. The funny part is the last comment is TRUE!


I can see it now. You have entered the twilight zone.

1. You started collecting woods.. Which is the first step in the addiction. :D

2. You start to see everything as a possible Handle material. from a tree to well. your grandma's dining room set and everything in between and your thinking " Hmmm I bet that would make a cool knife handle"

3. You start buying knives .. Just to rehandle them..

4. Your realize your gona need more tools. so you start another collection. TOOLS

5. Your addiction grows and when ya see a large burl on a neighbors tree. And you have to fight the urge to break out the chainsaw and bring it home..

6. You start to stockpile more woods and material. and convince yourself to add on a room to the house or designate a large area of your home for your NEW work space for your obsession not to mention all the new tools :) and all that burl.

7. You realize knife making is not a hobby but a addiction that can quickly take over your world.

8. Replete these steps. and continue having a blast, making cool stuff and lovin it! :spin chair:

Thats as far as I have come so I cant say for sure where this ends.. I sure hope not!! lol Yep Im a addict.
Have fun and be safe..

By the way. Your first looks WAY better then mine did.. :cool2: Great job, And fun play by play.

Blessings
Randy
 
I can see it now..... another addiction, just as Randy says.

=D
 
this page is now bookmarked (not just buy me alone I'm sure) as I'm also attempting this. My tools all just came in the mail last night, so here I go! Thanks for the step by step for scales, Rick. I'm very, very excited to give this a shot.
Anybody have suggestions on knocking out the existing pins? I'm thinking a clamp, nail tap/finisher and lightly knock em out?
 
Rick that looks great man, nice job.
That's funny you forgot the wood :)
 
Anybody have suggestions on knocking out the existing pins? I'm thinking a clamp, nail tap/finisher and lightly knock em out?
Depending on the knife, that's probably not going to work in most cases. There's usually nothing "light" about getting the rivets out.
Drill baby, drill!
Either that or some people use a grinder.
 
Great job Rick. I hope you really get hooked on making handles and need a lot more wood.:biggrin:
 
Great looking handle Rick - and yeah Randy pretty much summed it up.
 
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