Ebony Handles from Knives & Stones

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childermass said:
Was boiling it necessary in the end? I’m thinking of replacing the handle on my Tanaka, I hate that the corian spacer starts to stick out due to the wood shrinking. I was wondering how to best get it off without doing too much unnecessary damage.
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100% it was needed. I boiled water first, then in a large cup, did nothing. Handle would NOT come off. the 2x4 piece just krushed.
I actually just put the knife in a kettle, with water to the top of the Ferrule, and boiled it while it was in. Then tried again, and it was able to come off perfectly. it was soo cool to have the knife with no handle. I did a quick polish up when it was all apart.
 
Bought two ebony handles with silver spacers from K&S. Good quality however the ebony wasn't as dark as I'd like. The wood may have shrunk a little during shipping from Australia to Canada.
 
Went from shiny black (that didn’t really look like wood to my eye) to this. Also rounded the top edge of ferrule
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2 pages in and no picture of the Ebony + Black Horn handle or the "$7 upgrade" Ebony + Blond/Marble horn handle??
 
I had a few Tanakas with the OG ebony handles with white spacer. The white was some form of paper, I assume as it quickly discolored. The ebony was a true black with a fine finish.

Newer ebony handles I have seen are using some other form other than traditional gaboon or macassar. I am guessing something Indain with more browns that is more grainy and presumably more brittle. This style may appease those who want more tactility, but it is also cheaper, for lack of a better term.

To counter the slickness and weight, I would assume an undersized octagonal handle would do the trick.

Ebony used to be a way to dress up a highly finished, rare knife. Now we put them on kurouchi knives.

And as far as metal spacers, I hate using them. Without some form of pin, the bond to wood is never super strong, and sanding them flush with wood is nearly impossible.
 
If you just want the horn to pop, you can work it with a 0000 steel wool. Then buff it. Best to refine the sanding with finer grits before the SW. Like to put 50/50 tung oil -- clear Bullseye shellac
After sanding & let dry then the steel wool. After buffer mounted on my drill press the horn looks great. Of the three burnt chestnut I have all polished jet blk. Horn.
 
I have handled only one knife with such a handle, and while I really liked the knife (a 270) and the figure of the wood as well as the balance, the metal spacer stood out as the wood had shrunken...
 
Anyone knows how to remove the handles on KnS knives without damaging them? I know they’re epoxied but I will want to reuse the handle after polishing some knives I have.
 
lemeneid said:
Anyone knows how to remove the handles on KnS knives without damaging them? I know they’re epoxied but I will want to reuse the handle after polishing some knives I have.
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Always thought that was basically impossible with epoxied handles. Will be listening in case someone smarter has a different take...
 
lemeneid said:
Anyone knows how to remove the handles on KnS knives without damaging them? I know they’re epoxied but I will want to reuse the handle after polishing some knives I have.
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I just successfully pulled the handle of my Mazaki. I tried a bunch of different stuff but what ended up working was literally boiling the handle. You could see after about 5 min in the water the "epoxy" began to release. Handle popped off no problem. Actually in the process of boiling, whatever was coated to the handle melted off too and what was left was a far more pleasant texture and IMO aesthetic too the wood.

Also, I've gotten mixed answers about how the handles are attached. The guys for the US store i talked to said they were epoxied on, but when i spoke with James, he said it was hot glue?
 
soigne_west said:
I just successfully pulled the handle of my Mazaki. I tried a bunch of different stuff but what ended up working was literally boiling the handle. You could see after about 5 min in the water the "epoxy" began to release. Handle popped off no problem. Actually in the process of boiling, whatever was coated to the handle melted off too and what was left was a far more pleasant texture and IMO aesthetic too the wood.

Also, I've gotten mixed answers about how the handles are attached. The guys for the US store i talked to said they were epoxied on, but when i spoke with James, he said it was hot glue?
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Hot glue? When I asked about my knife, James told me it was epoxied.

If yours was installed with hot glue, you could just use a hairdryer then followed by knocking off the handle
 
I tried the hair dryer, and tried pouring hot water on it.

Here are the two conflicting emails I got. I very well could have been hot glue. I know epoxy can be a SOB.
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If 5 min epoxy is used, it is more brittle and can sometimes be knocked off with force alone.

I will also use the boil technique, but if the handle construction uses the same epoxy as the installation, you may be compromising its build integrity. This is why I use 5 min for install and a longer set for the build.

Boiling also will leave the wood void of any natural oils, so a refinish will be necessary if you are to re use. A couple day soak in Danish oil, tung oil, or at the very least mineral oil.
 
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Look of second handle after refinish. Solved the step in the spacer problem as well. The ebony really doesn’t adsorb oil to any degree and looks pretty good after sanding/ buff with superfine steel wool. I prefer to heat the handle with a hair dyer then apply a light coat of Axe or Renaissance Wax. Then buff with microfiber. The resulting satin look and more natural feel is more pleasing. 240\320\600 grit progression on the handle then super fine steel wool buff. Finally a micromesh progression to clean up the area on the horn above the spacer then heat up Wax/buff.
 
Mine was either “melt glue” or some dollar store epoxy
 
I have also seen a putty used, like tan wood filler style. Super easy to break loose. Not on a K&S... just a side point.
 
Sanded down my KnS handle today and there was definitely some blackish violet stuff on it because it discolored the corian spacer until everything was gone.
The handle is still very dark but shows some nice grain under good lighting but is almost impossible to photograph.

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Not sure about the glue, a little something I would guess was some hot glue or silicone came off out of the cavity between handle and blade. Filled the spot with the same hard wood wax that I applied to the handle.
 
Heat softens epoxy resin and hot melt glue. It does not need to be boiled, boiling water damages most wood. Use dry heat, maybe a toaster oven. Different epoxy have different melting points, but around 200 degrees F or 90 degrees C should do it. The steel blade will conduct the heat into the handle quickly.
 
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