My first western rehandle

Finally after far too much research, consulting other members and waiting for wood to dry in my homemade kiln... I've finished my first handle.
Pretty happy with how it turned out its not quite perfect but it feels nice
It's wenge wood with red fiber spacers and stainless pins. Knife is Mac Pro bread knife
Any criticism or comments are welcome!
Apologies for dodgy phone pics :/

Congratulations. Must be quite satisfying to have done this.

I'll leave it to the more knowledgeable members (which basically is almost everyone else) to constructively comment on the work.

Looks great Geoff! Congrats on your 1st, looks a million times better than my 1st!

Looking good!

Nice work Geoff!

Congratulations, Geoff!

New handle looks pretty clean and must be much better then the stock one. How long does it took you to complete? Were there any failed attempts?
I've rehandled same Tojiro ITK last year, and now have another one waiting for new handle. My wife loves this knife.

Looking good mate. Ill send mine up soon...

Well done Geoff


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Very nice indeed, Geoff!

Nice job indeed. I was already wondering whether I should have new handle made for our MAC bread knife too. I am not sure though I would dare to do it myself.

Thanks for the positive words everyone !

Chris: the handles on the knives you sent mike are my inspiration as they are the only customs I've seen in real life looking forward to getting good enough to dare delving into some more expensive wood !

Anton : it took me a week from start to finish. I don't get a lot of time as I'm pretty darn busy . I also don't have a belt sander yet so it was shaped mostly by hand tools! That took some time. No failed attempts... I was well prepared thanks to KKF and everybody's sound advice.

That looks great! What a fantastic upgrade on a Mac. I usually feel the Mac's weakness is their handles...

Nailed it! - Love that wenge. Nice work mate, have to catch up soon!

Looks good, it kind of has that vintage euro look to it. I like the feel and look of grain on my knives. Also it looks rustic but not at all sloppy. You did a very nice job.

That looks great are you vacuum kiln drying your wood?

Nope...I've used an old dishwasher, extractor fan, digital temperature gauge and a light fitting with various lightbulbs. It took about a month to dry the wood I had.

Slow and steady wins the race. Perhaps you should try hickory wood. It was a common material on Forgewcraft and Old Hickory carbon knives. The wood is fairly inexpensive and I think it might be under appreciated.

I'll try any wood I can get my hands on but I think next time I'll splash out and get some nice burl, pre dried or stabilised

That looks nice the Mac bread knife deserves an upgrade. I ground the tang on mine down for a hankotsu style handle.

29palms said:

That looks nice the Mac bread knife deserves an upgrade. I ground the tang on mine down for a hankotsu style handle.

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Pics or it didn't happen

Can someone link a page going over how to do a re handle on a western? I have read Mikey's for a wa handle, but want to start with some of my cheap japanese knives which are all western?

Vesteroid said:

Can someone link a page going over how to do a re handle on a western? I have read Mikey's for a wa handle, but want to start with some of my cheap japanese knives which are all western?

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There is a very good one in YouTube done by one of the members here goes by nick name Theory , I guess it's called custom rehandle tutorial , I suggest you check that one out


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Geo87 said:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zMaGJl4YPOQ

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Thanks Geoff, I feel like you may have watched it once or twice

Geo87 said:

Pics or it didn't happen

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Looks great! Nice to see you went for smaller pins as well, good choice