easiest way to put a heavy handle on a diet

I'm repurposing an old knife for a friend and it is handle heavy. It is only getting worse as I grind off more metal. Is there anything wrong with grinding the handle down to size too? I'd like to keep the knife intact as much as possible. Thanks!

I imagine you could shorten the handle from the butt end with significant results in balance.

Drill it out and inject helium?

The fastest safe way to do this is with a big flat file. You can take off what you want relatively quickly without it being too fast. I would say you can reshape(or lighten it) in an hour or less and then some 400 grit sandpaper will clean up the scratches from there.
Del

lol.... "the fastest safe way" :goodevil:

Delbert Ealy said:

The fastest safe way to do this is with a big flat file. You can take off what you want relatively quickly without it being too fast. I would say you can reshape(or lighten it) in an hour or less and then some 400 grit sandpaper will clean up the scratches from there.
Del

Click to expand...

Thanks, Del. ...and I appreciate you looking out for my safety and that of anyone that happens to read this. I take it the unsafe way to to take a belt grinder to it?

Does the handle have any fat that can be trimmed? Lots of stock handles are already too thin to begin with.

tk59 said:

Thanks, Del. ...and I appreciate you looking out for my safety and that of anyone that happens to read this. I take it the unsafe way to to take a belt grinder to it?

Click to expand...

Sometimes belt grinders remove alot more material than one might wish, and the difference between perfect and OH F&%$!! can be a matter of a second or two. Fresh belts are real eaters and dull belts are burners.
Del

wenus2 said:

lol.... "the fastest safe way" :goodevil:

Click to expand...

I will readily admit that I am the sort of guy that should have a shop assistant named Igor.
Del

Delbert Ealy said:

Sometimes belt grinders remove alot more material than one might wish, and the difference between perfect and OH F&%$!! can be a matter of a second or two. Fresh belts are real eaters and dull belts are burners.
Del

Click to expand...

also there is a LOT more dust to deal with and that adds respiratory protection to the equation

Dave Martell said:

Does the handle have any fat that can be trimmed? Lots of stock handles are already too thin to begin with.

Click to expand...

I guess at the back of most yo-handles there is enough that can be removed to correct a displaced balance, wouldn't you think? One or 2mm will mostly do.

To keep the balance the similar when I re-handle (stabilized wood is generally heavier than the pakawood)., usually grind the tang beneath the last rivet, right where your pinky would rest...then I usually carve out some of the wood around the side of the scales right above where I just ground the tang. It generally looks pretty natural.

With a Herder I did it by removing some steel and natural wood at the end - or beginning - of the handle, shortening some of the curve. Very little was just enough. Wat's about pakka vs. stabilized??

Well, I ground off a few mm of the end of the handle and reshaped it with a little belt grinder. I'll spend some time hand-sanding it down this weekend and see what happens. Thanks for the input!