Yesss I love long handles on long blades!
Show us your sticks (finished handle projects)...
- Thread starter cotedupy
- Start date
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Are there any Australian hobbyists (that is, not knife makers) on here into making handles?
Uncle Danny
Sorry about that pineapple pizza thing
Thanks mate, glad you like them
Yeah man, that monowood is sweet! Great wood and execution. I like that handle shape too.
Uncle Danny
Sorry about that pineapple pizza thing
Thanks. It tapers from 15-17 mm. Should have removed 5mm. From the length of the handle. It’s about 140 mm. and it could be a bit more suitable being 135 instead. But it moved the balance spot on, on the makers mark
Given my rather challenging work schedule and doing knife work for a lot of friends, I havent been able to work on my own knives recently, but here is a handle I did for a Tsubaya white#1 (TF) 270. Same handle wabi sabi as Fujiwara branded western. It is curly maple with white, red and black g10 liners. Once it was finished, I sent it out to District for a TF tune-up.
Nice first try and those materials are gorgeous!!!!!
I forgot to note that this is on a hinokuni white 1 jumbo santoku. The blade by itself weighs a whopping 230 plus grams and the package comes in all together at 303 g. This is something that I've had up for sale many times so I figured I would use it as a project knife and make it more appealing for later on. It seems to be a pretty underrated blade because of the lack of quality control at that Forge but this was one of the good ones. It was frustrating when I broke that wood because this was turning out to be one of my better handles but it still turned out pretty good and it feels really good in hand. It moved the balance back on the blade, and while it is still pretty blade-forward it gives that big blade some more agility than it had before.
I like to dabble (Sydney based)
Uncle Danny
Sorry about that pineapple pizza thing
Been out shopping for new handle materials today
Um, that's either a lot of handles or some big ones.
Reminds me of a neighbor I once had. He had converted a small barn into a workshop with three stage power. He had a band saw with a 36 inch wheel. He had three stage power and hey ubiquitous pressurized air system running throughout. He had been a woodworker for 40 years and had collected wood that long also and it had all been seasoned and waiting to be used. He was begging people to use it because he knew he never would before he passed away. I kicked myself for never taking him up on the offer as I moved away.
Uncle Danny
Sorry about that pineapple pizza thing
Could have been some interesting barn finds for sure.
If it came of, as the last picture was from my workshop, I apologise. Was from the local shop.
If it came of, as the last picture was from my workshop, I apologise. Was from the local shop.
Uncle Danny
Sorry about that pineapple pizza thing
I’m a sucker for bog oak. That looks excellent Danny!
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Uncle Danny
Sorry about that pineapple pizza thing
Thanks mate. Tried my best
Out of interest, which Osmo product do you guys mostly use? PolyX?
Sorry, I never replied here @enchappo, but yeah - we use Osmo polyx at work too.
Thanks!
This is a handle I finished yesterday for a Toyama belonging to @PeterL. I won't go into the specifics of how much of a nightmare this was to drill and fit, apart from posting the following two pictures, and noting that the tang was hardened:
Handle is a 'heart-shape', using an unusually beautiful bit of English Walnut, coupled with an equally unusually beautiful bit of cream ivory and red marbled horn.
Handle is a 'heart-shape', using an unusually beautiful bit of English Walnut, coupled with an equally unusually beautiful bit of cream ivory and red marbled horn.
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I have done 2 Toyama handles, both tangs had a bend in them. This is definitely a thing!
That IS some beautiful walnut. Great work.
Ah interesting.
This knife has made me completely convinced that I need to pick up a Toyama at some point. I was hoping the bent and hardened tang might be a one-off, but sounds like something I’ll have to negotiate again in the future…
@cotedupy stunning wood and horn combo!
Ta!
This particular tree, which my workplace got a decent amount of before Christmas, was really beautiful. Though unfortunately this was the last piece of it I have.
Peter had always liked a handle I’d made for one of my own knives - a Mazaki. And the goal was to try to emulate that kinda look. Maz handle is blonde and black mottled horn with a piece of Cypress burl (stabilized and given to me by my Philadelphian friend above
).
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Even though the tang bend seems to be a common condition (I think one of our US pharmacuetical companies has developed a treatment for that) Toyama makes a marvelous knife. Despite being stout in the spine, his grind allows a user to ghost through even some dense veg. Because I have had mine for a while, it doesnt get as much time in its rotation as it used to. Every time I put it in my work kit, the first few cuts make me love it all over again.
For future knives, it isn't challenging to anneal the tang and make it easier to deal with afterwards
That’s a fair point. Do you have to do anything special to stop heat going into the main part of the blade? Wrap it in a bit of damp cloth or something…?
I just did this recently, put the blade in a metal container of water with just the tang sticking out the top and went at it with a blow torch. Water warmed quite a lot but never boiled. I'm sure some portion just behind the heel of the blade isn't fully softened but it made it very easy to drill through after getting it red hot and letting it air cool.
Greenbriel
Senior Member
They really do cut supernaturally well, I have three (at least one is the Watanabe version of the same knife). Crap handles though!
I am tempted to try making a handle, can you recommend any starter resources? Cheers!
I plan to start making handles as well and am also interested in any recommended resources.
