Making a handle (1st time)

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abepaniagua

abepaniagua

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Sooooo, a friend of mine that loves woodworking saw my knife and said it needed a new handle and he wanted us to make one (cuz he loves challenges!).

So he took me to a wood shop and we bought pink ivory and zircote (not sure if they are stabilized...but they are covered in wax), 220, 400 and 1000 grit sandpaper and some oil/wax. He has epoxy and wood glue.

What the heck do we do now? He got me all excited and now we are looking around the internet to learn how to make it haha. We didn't plan for a spacer...just 2 pieces of wood stuck together, cut the tang hole, attach both with epoxy/glue, then make it octagonal and then sand/oil/wax up?

IMG_20180716_155539.jpg
 
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One popular method is to drill out for the tang. Insert a cut dowel in that space, glue it up, then make the tang hole. I would suggest the first 1 or 3 be sacrificial. There are several step by step methods online.
 
Absolutely!! Get some cheap practice wood first. There can be a learning curve to these. My first couple hit the burn pile.

But you'll get it.
 
Bensbites said:
One popular method is to drill out for the tang. Insert a cut dowel in that space, glue it up, then make the tang hole. I would suggest the first 1 or 3 be sacrificial. There are several step by step methods online.
Click to expand...
 
Ok ok . Now what would look awesome: pink ivory then zircote or viceversa? Decisions decisions
 
Matus said:
Those two woods are not stabilized , just coated in wax.

I have started with hobby knifemaking few years back and started a blog in parallel - maybe you will find something useful there:
http://matuskalisky.blogspot.com/?m=1
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I've seen your blog for a while now. I like it. You use a dowel inside...we were thinking about doing it without it. Is it possible to do it without it?
 
You can most certainly do the handle without the dowel, in that case you probably should to glue the handle directly on the tang and shape it afterwards. Usually I glue the dowel inside of the handle when I assamble the parts (i.e. before shaping) and so the dowel supports the handle mechanically. Once the handle is glued on the tang later on, there is little need for the dowel as it is the tang of the blade that supports the handle. Those who asamble & glue the handle directly on the tang sometimes use two metal pins for alignment of the components of the handle. I have not tried that approach yet.
 
I would be a little worried about wood fully covered in wax. They may not be fully dry or equilibrated to your local relative humidity. If they aren't dry, they'll continue drying and shrink but the metal tang of your knife won't shrink which could lead to cracked wood. The different woods also may shrink and move at different rates which can cause gaps to appear.

For wood turning, it can be easier to turn wood that's not as dry, so some woods sold for that purpose may not be as good a choice as drier wood or kiln dried wood in the case of making handles. Not a big deal though, if it doesn't work well, you just make another handle. :)
 
as said, if coated in wax, probably not fully dry. i have found stores locally that have "Exotic" wood in thin section(1/4 to 1/2 in thickness), 1" or 2" wide that are dried and ready to use. might be a better option
 
If waxed it's definitely not dry. Scrape the wax off and put it in a paper bag with slightly moist shavings in it. It'll dry slowly without cracking and be ready a few months down the road for another project.
 
Is that the reason why somebody's waxed it before drying, to stop it from cracking?
Is it a normal thing to do?
 
Pretty much. I've heard it 2 ways. 1 that way they can sell a product right after milling without having it crack shortly after milling. Otherwise they would have to dry it and lose volume cutting off cracked wood.

2 it is sealed so the customer can dry it his/her own way.

I have my opinion which it is but........
 
Kippington said:
Is that the reason why somebody's waxed it before drying, to stop it from cracking?
Is it a normal thing to do?
Click to expand...

It's relatively normal for turning blanks as far as I can tell. Whether it's green/wet, air dried, or kiln dried, the wood can still undergo changes in moisture content just from being shipped from one location to another. The differences in tangential, radial, and volumetric shrinkage/swelling can cause cracks and checking especially since moisture is lost through the end grain much faster than the faces (and the exposed sides faster than the central interior).

It's important to slow down the changes in moisture content, so they often wax the wood. Also, for wood turning, it's easier to cut wood that isn't bone dry. But that risks cracks appearing in your finished work as it dries. A strategy to avoid this is to rough turn a piece then let it dry further to avoid cracks showing up in the finished piece, then finish the work after it's dried further.
 
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