First Wa style handle

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birdsfan

birdsfan

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Have been tinkering off and on with this handle for a few weeks. The handle body is katalox, very dense dark wood. The spacers are aluminum and g10, and the ferrule is horn. It was an interesting project. Trying to both size it to my hand and to try and maintain the balance point where I like it to be. Generally speaking, it is a decent 1st attempt.

Now I just have to fix the blade, which needs considerable work as well.

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billyO said:
I'll agree also. Well done. Can't wait to see your 1st attempt at a forged pattern welded blade....;)
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It is a bit out of my wheel house now, but coincidentally I was just looking at YouTube videos about making a home made forge. Pretty interesting stuff! and not as expensive as I thought it would be. Just have to get over that fear of burning down my garage.
 
For those who have done some Wa handles, are there any size conventions for specific kind of knives? This one fits my hand perfectly and puts the balance point right at the choil, but it is bigger than the original handle. I probably should have sought this advice before setting the handle but ….everything is clearer in hindsight.
 
birdsfan said:
For those who have done some Wa handles, are there any size conventions for specific kind of knives? This one fits my hand perfectly and puts the balance point right at the choil, but it is bigger than the original handle. I probably should have sought this advice before setting the handle but ….everything is clearer in hindsight.
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For big Yanagiba or Deba knives most time i made it ~25*20*150mm. For mid size Yanagiba (up to 240mm) i made it ~22x18x130mm. If you have a Unagisaki the lenght is only ~100mm.

Big Handle:


Small Handle:

Unagisaki Handle:
 
birdsfan said:
Thanks for the insights Da_MIch! This one is definitely big then for this size yanagiba by those standards.
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But the size depends on your hand size. If you have a Belt Sander you can simple shape some fake handles out of a single pice of wood. Then you can compare it with your hand size.
Did you saw my restoration thread? Maybe it helps you to create handles. Scroll down to bottom, today i posted a youtube video "Misono ミソノ UX10 Restoration with Hilti WFO 280 !!!Volume Warning!!!"

Link:
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/before-after-restauration.43032/
With the same method you can finish your WA-Handles. After the belt sander shaping (most time max. 600 grit) you can use this method to finish the handle. The wood,metal and horn shine like a mirror after ~2000 grit.


and sorry for my english, its not the best. I hope you can understand it
 
I appreciate the video link. I had never considered using an oscillating sander like that. Very cool Idea. I stopped on this handle at 300 grit, mostly because I liked the grip of it. The blade however could benefit from that sort of grit progression. Thank you!
 
Size really does depend on the user and the blade.
Some knife shapes require a stronger taper to the handle and some less....(of course that is my Personal opinion.)

For general purposes on a 210mm-240mm Gyuto I usually go with:

150mm Long
(Rear) 24mm tall x 20mm wide
(Front) 22mm tall x 18mm wide

Nakiri/Bunka/Santoku I usually go with:

135mm Long
(Rear) 24mm tall x 20mm wide
(Front) 20mm tall x 16mm wide
 
birdsfan said:
It is a bit out of my wheel house now, but coincidentally I was just looking at YouTube videos about making a home made forge. Pretty interesting stuff! and not as expensive as I thought it would be. Just have to get over that fear of burning down my garage.
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Nice looking handle, I really like the band combination you used.

I built a forge from watching YouTube videos and found this one. It was very easy to build and there’s no welding which I don’t do yet. I also built the burner from watching videos on those but this is before I installed it.
 

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Thanks Tim! your post also seems to confirm that this handle is a little big for a 240 yanagiba. It is more gyuto sized. It feels good to me, but then again, my knife rotation is heavily gyuto represented. I just started a 210 Tanaka yanagiba, and I will go smaller on that one and see how it feels.
 
I think I watched the same video you did, because that design looks pretty familiar. I preferred the ones made with bricks rather than the tanks with the fire blanket. Excited to see some of your work!
 
birdsfan said:
I think I watched the same video you did, because that design looks pretty familiar. I preferred the ones made with bricks rather than the tanks with the fire blanket. Excited to see some of your work!
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I saw the tanks as well but they looked too messy for my taste. This design is pretty straight forward to build. I changed mine slightly but it’s pretty much the same as the video I watched.
 
None of those materials are the easiest to work with, making your success that much more awesome!

I usually measure the handle I am replacing. Study it on the knife before I remove it; deciding if I wish it were 5mm longer, or 2mm thinner, or 2mm thicker, etc...

I will use the knock off handle to compare as I progress. Trying to make a wa handle to exact specs can be difficult. Mostly, I do it by eye.
 
Thank you NO ChoP!

After getting so much insight, I am thinking that I will take it down a few millimeters just to be more consistent with convention. This is definitely more 210 gyuto sized. Do you all just eye-ball the 45 degree edges or do you use some sort of jig?
 
birdsfan said:
Do you all just eye-ball the 45 degree edges or do you use some sort of jig?
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The most common way is to measure a few millimetres in from the edge and make a pencil mark, do this on all sides, connect to make a line, transfer those on the ends to show the angle and then grind to those lines...finish up by hand.
 
I use 12" disc grinders that have table adjustments. I keep one set to 45° and check it often to make sure it's true.

I chamfer by eye.
 
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NO ChoP! said:
I use 12" disc grinders that have table adjustments. I keep one set to 45° and check it often to make sure it's true.

I chamfer by eye.
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I haven’t made a wa handle yet but I also use multiple sanders to do my handle work. I too chamfer by eye because it ended up being faster than using a jig. I do draw lines on the end of the handle to sand to to get my angle right. I have three 6x48 sanders set up in a row with different grit paper on each. I guess when making wa handles you’d use the same grit and change one of the tables to a 45* angle.

how do you guys cut the slot in the end of the handle?
 
gregfisk said:
I haven’t made a wa handle yet but I also use multiple sanders to do my handle work. I too chamfer by eye because it ended up being faster than using a jig. I do draw lines on the end of the handle to sand to to get my angle right. I have three 6x48 sanders set up in a row with different grit paper on each. I guess when making wa handles you’d use the same grit and change one of the tables to a 45* angle.

how do you guys cut the slot in the end of the handle?
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That depends on if you are doing the dowel method or not.
If doing a multi-piece handle the dowel method is probably the most popular/preferred method.
If doing a single piece, drilling and then slotting with a handle broach, then needle files/rasps.

BTW for setting the initial chamfer I use a router table then go to my 2x72.
I also don't do 45 deg. I use a 37.5deg bit as I prefer the feel opposed to the 45deg.
One of these days I will make a video or photo diary of my process start to finish.
 
birdsfan said:
Thank you NO ChoP!

After getting so much insight, I am thinking that I will take it down a few millimeters just to be more consistent with convention. This is definitely more 210 gyuto sized. Do you all just eye-ball the 45 degree edges or do you use some sort of jig?
Click to expand...

I use a simple jig made out of a L-steel. For mark out the grinding line i use a height marker! Booth things are very important to make precise handles.

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da_mich* said:
i drill a small hole in the middle, heat up the tang with a induction heater and burn it in.

Ps: It works only with horn. But all my handles are with horn.
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You mean like an induction forge?
 
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