First western rehandle

Here is my humble first attempt at a western rehandle.
My knife of choice was a misono carbon honesuki, maybe now it will get more use.
Stabilized maple burl- g10 black spacers.




I followed most of the guidelines from daves steps here Now I know to follow all of them. I did the birds beak portion first, when I should have done it after the initial shaping. That part gave me some trouble since I was running out of meterial.

My biggest mistake was cutting the pinstock too long. That left me with a bunch sticking out both ends. I took it down too fast on the sander and it left this burnt haze around all the pins, this one got it the worst. A mistake I will have forever. Good learning experience though.



Any thoughts or comments appreciated. Definitely hit with the bug. This kind of work is addicting! Can't wait to do another.

that came out very nice man

That's a good effort!

So pretty, I like it! :doublethumbsup:

I know most people who know what happened with the pins will think it's a defect, but from the pics it actually looks kinda cool.

wow, lucky that the burnt rings came out looking really good here!

Yeah I suppose so. I'll be sure to be more careful on my next go around

milkbaby said:

So pretty, I like it! :doublethumbsup:

I know most people who know what happened with the pins will think it's a defect, but from the pics it actually looks kinda cool.

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exactly, the burnt marks around the pins look cool IMO.

That's a REAL nice 1st handle Danzo! I too know the frustration of the burn rings but like the other guys noted it looks kinds nice here, I think it matches the liners actually.

yeah. The burn rings look like there were done on purpose. Nice.

Whoa thanks Dave! Couldn't have done it without your step by step. I'll be getting another western here soon, pics to come.

I'm glad that my blog helped some.

Yeah those pins heat up fast! I shorten them with a file and even then it gets so hot you can't touch it. I alternate filing between pins, take breaks and still worry about the glue getting too hot. Haven't got to burning wood though

Very impressive!

I'm sorry did I read mistake? I don't think so!

I forgot to mention one thing, when I use the belt grinder on metal, I always have a container of water to dunk the blade into. So for grinding pins, sometimes I dip my finger into the water and dab it on the pins to cool them faster. Not too much water though, especially if it's natural wood that's not stabilized.

Dave Martell said:

That's a REAL nice 1st handle Danzo! I too know the frustration of the burn rings but like the other guys noted it looks kinds nice here, I think it matches the liners actually.

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My thoughts exactly - if he told me it was stone-cold intentional to create the same effect I'd have believed him.

Well thanks a million fellas