Adventures in handle and saya contruction by hand

[AnxiousCowboy]

Need to add a chisel to my tool list and make a friend with a drill press to fit the tang in, I would cry if I tried drilling by hand and ****ed it up....

Sooo who in nyc has a drill press

 

[Marko Tsourkan]

Looking at your pictures, there are two parts to your handle. Are they halves? I am in Westchester.

 

[AnxiousCowboy]

Those are just two different handles... Each handle is one piece of wood. I'm sure you would be disgusted at my amateur wood working skills if you saw them; but this is a project I've been wanting to do by myself for awhile... Do you do your woodwork full time?

I am going to have to stabilize my saya blanks before chiseling, this spalted maple is too ******* delicate... I have two of the handles stabilizing right now before I fit the end cap and bolster and finish by hand sanding. It's really nice to be able to shape the handle and feel it in my hand as I go. The main reason I wanted to do this myself; make myself and the knife one. Thanks for all of your help so far guys!

 

[Marko Tsourkan]

Those are just two different handles... Each handle is one piece of wood. I'm sure you would be disgusted at my amateur wood working skills if you saw them; but this is a project I've been wanting to do by myself for awhile... Do you do your woodwork full time?

I am going to have to stabilize my saya blanks before chiseling, this spalted maple is too ******* delicate... I have two of the handles stabilizing right now before I fit the end cap and bolster and finish by hand sanding. It's really nice to be able to shape the handle and feel it in my hand as I go. The main reason I wanted to do this myself; make myself and the knife one. Thanks for all of your help so far guys!

I don't do this full time, but I rent a space for a working shop as well as a metalworking shop. I live in an apartment, so this is the only way for me to be able to work with metal and wood.

Have you considered splitting the handles and mill out the tang hole rather than drill in? If done properly, you won't see the glue line. Drilling in for that long tang can be very tricky at best, particularly in woods that are brittle by nature.

 

[AnxiousCowboy]

Haven't considered it... What would you use, a scroll saw? Right now I only have a ryoba and I would not trust myself cutting a perfectly straight line by hand.

 

[Marko Tsourkan]

Haven't considered it... What would you use, a scroll saw? Right now I only have a ryoba and I would not trust myself cutting a perfectly straight line by hand.

I use a band saw. Ideally I would split a rectangular block, mill/rout out a recess, fine sand it and to glue it together before giving it a handle shape. in that is not an option, I can resaw the contoured block and do the tang hole too. it's just going to be a little more work.

M

 

[Andrew H]

Nice thread Anxious, can't wait to see the final product. I've been wanting to make myself a handle for awhile now, what do you absolutely need to make one?

 

[JohnnyChance]

Tom, why would you need such a big belt sander? 6x48 is perfectly adequate for all I do. That big sander if probably less flat on sanding surface than mine. I have 6x48" Shopsmith. Fantastic sander. I also have 11" Shopsmith bandsaw. Fantastic too.


M

I have a Shopsmith from the mid 1950's that was my grandfathers. Kinda a multipurpose lathe, disc sander, drill press type of deal. Still works great.

 

[rockbox]

Tom, why would you need such a big belt sander? 6x48 is perfectly adequate for all I do. That big sander if probably less flat on sanding surface than mine. I have 6x48" Shopsmith. Fantastic sander. I also have 11" Shopsmith bandsaw. Fantastic too.


M

Because its a power tool and I love them. LOL.

 

[SpikeC]

My ShopSmith is a 1963 10 year anniversary model. Rebuilt with new quill and bearings, a very handy unit! I'm using the belt sander to grind my knives, and other accessories for other odds and ends. The horizontal boring setup works well for drilling into handle blanks, too!

 

[Marko Tsourkan]

I never used a multi-tool Shopsmith, but can attest that their stand-alone belt sander and bandsaw are excellent. In fact, I have two belt sanders, one as a backup, but I don't think the first one will fail any time soon. If you plan on making sayas or other small objects that need wider than 2" sanding, 6x48 if perfectly adequate. US made and very well built. You might be able to find one locally with a powerbase for under 200.

 

[JohnnyChance]

I never used a multi-tool Shopsmith, but can attest that their stand-alone belt sander and bandsaw are excellent. In fact, I have two belt sanders, one as a backup, but I don't think the first one will fail any time soon. If you plan on making sayas or other small objects that need wider than 2" sanding, 6x48 if perfectly adequate. US made and very well built. You might be able to find one locally with a powerbase for under 200.

Just checked my local craigslist to see whats out there.

Grizzly Dual Sander (6" Belt / 9" Disc) - 3/4 HP motor ~ $75/b.r.o.

Geez, same thing as this!?
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combination-Sander-6-x-48-Belt-9-Disc-Z-Series/G1014Z