Knife handle wood blanks - size?

Something clicked while I was skimming these forums. I used to turn bowls and sell them in the early 80s. Some of my favorite woods were burls - mostly maple. Anyway, I may have some small pieces of burl in storage, along with a fairly large piece of cherry crotch with a very nice flame pattern. I think there might be some very nice knife handles hiding with the unfinished bowls.

OK - I realize handle size depends on the knife you are making, but I am curious if there is a generally accepted minimum size for handle blanks.

Thanx,

Ron

It depends on the maker. Around here in sweden typical size is 120x30x40 mm. I usually cut my own blanks to 25-28x25x160 and fit ferrule on the lathe.

Personally I like them slightly ( close to final sanding tolerances ) to a finished handle. Closer to finished sized blanks keep my fingers away from finger cutting off thingys like table saws.

Thanx for the info. I'm thinking I might want to have a knife made with the flame cherry. It seems to me, that with a highly figured wood, bookmatched sides would be ideal. However, I'm thinking that the piece of cherry I have is only ~ 1". Hmmm - I'll have to hunt for that chunk o' cherry...

RonB said:

Thanx for the info. I'm thinking I might want to have a knife made with the flame cherry. It seems to me, that with a highly figured wood, bookmatched sides would be ideal. However, I'm thinking that the piece of cherry I have is only ~ 1". Hmmm - I'll have to hunt for that chunk o' cherry...

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RDalman and nevrknow were giving sizes for wa-handles. I just measured a few sets of bookmatched scales I have and they measure 5½" to 6" long, 1¾" to 2" wide and ¾" to ⅞" thick. Taking the kerf into consideration, I think your ~ 1" piece should work out.

Pensacola Tiger said:

RDalman and nevrknow were giving sizes for wa-handles. I just measured a few sets of bookmatched scales I have and they measure 5½" to 6" long, 1¾" to 2" wide and ¾" to ⅞" thick. Taking the kerf into consideration, I think your ~ 1" piece should work out.

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I have still been thinking about this, (and it didn't hurt too much ). I could have a spacer added between the tang and the scales. And I'm glad you used the word scales - that's what I was thinking I used to call them, but I wasn't sure.

AND personally I like spacers on handles. Some handles. The options are only limited by your imagination.

Are you talking wa or yo handles? For my wa handles I like wood to be 1.25-1.5 inches square.