Carl Kotte
Senior Member
No problem, I made the handle myself out of brittle bog oak.
Handles With All Hand Tools?
- Thread starter HumbleHomeCook
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Lemon grass
I really like what you did there, with the end of the handle.
Thanks! It was just a spontaneous idea while I was finishing up.
I might have to steal this idea, or something similar. I'm redoing the handle on that differentially hardened gyuto I'm making (for a couple reasons), and the piece of wood I'm using has a defect I'm going to need to work around, so I'm thinking I'll do something similar to this to remove it.
Bup bup bup bup bup....it's never defect removal, it's embellishment
In all seriousness though, it needs to be harder wood or something stabilized to cut small facets cleanly. A flat needle file is a huge help too.
Lol I'll remember that.Bup bup bup bup bup....it's never defect removal, it's embellishment
In all seriousness though, it needs to be harder wood or something stabilized to cut small facets cleanly. A flat needle file is a huge help too.
Ok. I'll see what I can do. I haven't decided if I'm going to go with the exact design, or if I'm going to try to just keep that as sort of the inspiration. I still need to put in the 45 degree angles on the piece, I'll decide what will look good with it after that.
Oh btw, so far with this handle it pretty much has been all hand tools. Mostly because its actually kinda easier it seems, at least with what I have. Obviously once the wood is getting attached and matched to the ferrule I'll be using a grinder, but for now it's just been a saw and a couple planes.
I bought the guide and it's excellent. But, I am having hard time picturing the shaping/tapering part by plane.
I believe he is advocating using the box plane to get the ~2mm back-to-front taper. I haven't used planes much and I'm trying to understand how I achieve that run (angle) and not just keep going flatter over the whole surface?
Is it better to cut close to this dimension, rasp it and then plane it smooth?
I've been torn between a western #3 and Japanese box plane. You folks have thoughts?
If I was going to put a taper in with a plane, I would take short cuts on one end, and gradually take longer cuts until I'm doing the whole length.
I'm partial to western planes, but that's just what I have experience with. Having a chip breaker is always nice though.
I'm partial to western planes, but that's just what I have experience with. Having a chip breaker is always nice though.
Yeah I guess that's what I'm seeing in my mind but still thinking that cutting to near-net seems like a better idea.
I think both ways could work. Doing it the plane only way could be fine. I would just recommend doing a practice run on a piece of scrap wood, and see how that goes.
I'm sure the more someone does something like that, the easier it becomes for them.
I'm sure the more someone does something like that, the easier it becomes for them.
No 4 would be my preference, followed by block plane.
Howdy KKF, any reason to not get "Turning Blanks" from like this:
https://barringtonhardwoods.com/collections/walnut-turning-blanks
I was thinking of getting some walnut and maple or maybe one of the variety packs as a means to get started.
https://barringtonhardwoods.com/collections/walnut-turning-blanks
I was thinking of getting some walnut and maple or maybe one of the variety packs as a means to get started.
None. Those are what I usually buy exotic woods as, unless I'm getting large blocks to stabilize. Make sure they're at least an inch square though, 1-1/4" is better. No telling how concentric your boring/broaching will be, and it really helps to have some room to play.
Walnut is fairly easy to work with, it's about the same density as pine/spruce. Maple on the other hand, well, you'll really come to appreciate the simplicity of sharpening planes and chisels over knives. Oh, and it loves to split, a lot like oak and ash, but not quite as bad. Elm, birch, cherry, and poplar are much easier to work with edged tools.
Awesome. Thanks Matt! Maybe I'll stick with walnut and cherry to get my feet wet.
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Unstabilized blanks are great and inexpensive. I'd recommend selecting kiln dried ones because if you instead use high MC% wood, you might get warping due to shrinkage as it dries. Also the cost difference is minimal if any between dry and non-dry
I actually like maple because you can get nicely figured pieces. Curly or birdseye look good to me. I don't do high volume work with wood, but at my newbie skill level, it was not particularly difficult to work with.
Thanks buddy. These ones look to be all kiln dried. I was careful to look for that.
If one chooses to use the blanks above for a handle instead of using stabilized wood, am I correct in saying the only drawbacks are that you may get some shrinkage/warping over time and you don't have the added weight?
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Here's one I made a while back with curly maple. It was like $5 for 12inch piece, so that portion of the handle only cost a couple bucks.
Oh wow. They're producing high mc type carbide wood now? Amazing what the future has brought us.
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
The shrinkage itself is not that big of an issue. I think it comes more into play when you start using more than one type of wood or material that expand/shrinks at different rate. Then you can end up with unevenness at the transition between two materials, and that really bothers me. Also, your point about weight is generally true that stabilization adds weight. However, note that some woods, such as ironwood and many rosewoods cannot be stabilized.
Do you have experience with stabilized stuff and hand planes?
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Sorry no experience with planes. With sanding though, I feel like stabilization does not have a whole lot of effect on workability. Given two examples of the same wood, one stabilized and one unstabilized, cutting feels about the same, sanding feels about the same.
Reality...
Well, it turns out, there are times when it kinda sucks.
So I bought a fair bit of stuff and have spent a good bit of time working on my Japanese plane (needs more but close enough for some testing) and I also did buy that No. 3 plane. Tonight I decided to do a test run and, skill curve aside, my thumb joints said, "Yeah, nah. We're not doing this right now."
So, unless and until I get this arthritis under control, this foray is tabled. I can pursue powered equipment and I might but space is limited and I'm not sure I want to coat that space in dust. I'll give it more thought.
All of that said, a genuine and humble heart felt thank you to the KKF community. I have received so many generous offers behind the scenes that it is really outstanding. From advice to materials, several members reached out to me with wonderful offers to help. You all rock and this is indeed an awesome bunch.
All good. I'll reconsider this all a bit later but after whining about it to my wife, she gave me the best advice possible. She said, "Well, I guess you just have to buy more knives then."
Amen sweetheart. Amen.
Well, it turns out, there are times when it kinda sucks.
So I bought a fair bit of stuff and have spent a good bit of time working on my Japanese plane (needs more but close enough for some testing) and I also did buy that No. 3 plane. Tonight I decided to do a test run and, skill curve aside, my thumb joints said, "Yeah, nah. We're not doing this right now."
So, unless and until I get this arthritis under control, this foray is tabled. I can pursue powered equipment and I might but space is limited and I'm not sure I want to coat that space in dust. I'll give it more thought.
All of that said, a genuine and humble heart felt thank you to the KKF community. I have received so many generous offers behind the scenes that it is really outstanding. From advice to materials, several members reached out to me with wonderful offers to help. You all rock and this is indeed an awesome bunch.
All good. I'll reconsider this all a bit later but after whining about it to my wife, she gave me the best advice possible. She said, "Well, I guess you just have to buy more knives then."
Amen sweetheart. Amen.
Last edited:
I was chatting with @MSicardCutlery in DM's and wanted to update this thread.
To anyone who may read this and gets this far, you can absolutely make a handle with all hand tools. You don't need anything fancy.
In my last post I said my hands weren't gonna let me pursue this. But, I got a message from our friend @MowgFace that said he hated the idea of me being held back like that. That nagged at me. Not in a bad way at all but precisely the opposite. It was motivation. I told myself to suck it up and go do something.
My thumbs present two problems:
1) They get sore and swell up. I can deal with that.
2) Lateral pressure that is just right creates a shooting pain and loss of grip. This one is a bit tougher to navigate.
It was the latter that was causing me a problem when I first tried this. The western plane is somewhat heavy and handling it would trigger that sharp pain. The Japanese box plane was perplexing to get set right so I just felt stuck and a bit deflated.
But, like I said, I rucked up and, going back to prior discussions with Matt, I picked up some course sandpaper, pulled out an old rasp, a square, the micrometer, the Japanese saws, and the mechanical pencil and gave it a go. I just did a little each night after work. My hands would get sore but none of these tools caused the sharp pain so all good.
I was working with walnut and cherry.
I was using 2"x2" blanks so that meant I'd have a lot of material to hog off but also gave me plenty of room for error.
Now, I did use a battery-powered hand drill and the number one thing I would say to anyone wanting to pursue this is to get brad-point drill bits. Your regular carpentry bits will wander. I know, because mine did and so all my holes were decidedly off center in each piece. The second thing I'd advise is to make shallow drill holes in a block and then cut the spacers versus cutting the spacers and then drilling the hole. My cherry spacer was fine but my first walnut spacer snapped.
Anyway, I got things glued up and then rough sawed close to net shape. From there it was back to the rasp and paper. I had everything real close to final dimensions and started working on the back to front tapering.
I was even using my Japanese box plane to some effect, albeit limited. It was all coming together.
I was damn near done with the tapering when I realized... #$%@&*(*&^%$#@%^**@!!!!!!
Somewhere along the line of cutting and sanding, I'd mismarked the block. I'd basically rotated it 90 degrees so the blade slot now aligned with the fat side instead of the skinny side. 
So, that ended that. I don't have a pic of the mistake as I just used the piece to play around with and experiment.
But, it did show me that you can do it and it really isn't that bad. Just check things often and measure a gillion times as you go.
I 1000% agree with @JoBone's recommendation to purchase Colton's guide that can be found here:
https://coltonhandcrafted.com/
I'd buy it even if you plan to use all power tools. Very well-done guide.
All that said, I did buy a little 1x30 belt sander to help me out. We'll see if I can manage to not screw up another one.
To anyone who may read this and gets this far, you can absolutely make a handle with all hand tools. You don't need anything fancy.
In my last post I said my hands weren't gonna let me pursue this. But, I got a message from our friend @MowgFace that said he hated the idea of me being held back like that. That nagged at me. Not in a bad way at all but precisely the opposite. It was motivation. I told myself to suck it up and go do something.
My thumbs present two problems:
1) They get sore and swell up. I can deal with that.
2) Lateral pressure that is just right creates a shooting pain and loss of grip. This one is a bit tougher to navigate.
It was the latter that was causing me a problem when I first tried this. The western plane is somewhat heavy and handling it would trigger that sharp pain. The Japanese box plane was perplexing to get set right so I just felt stuck and a bit deflated.
But, like I said, I rucked up and, going back to prior discussions with Matt, I picked up some course sandpaper, pulled out an old rasp, a square, the micrometer, the Japanese saws, and the mechanical pencil and gave it a go. I just did a little each night after work. My hands would get sore but none of these tools caused the sharp pain so all good.
I was working with walnut and cherry.
I was using 2"x2" blanks so that meant I'd have a lot of material to hog off but also gave me plenty of room for error.
Now, I did use a battery-powered hand drill and the number one thing I would say to anyone wanting to pursue this is to get brad-point drill bits. Your regular carpentry bits will wander. I know, because mine did and so all my holes were decidedly off center in each piece. The second thing I'd advise is to make shallow drill holes in a block and then cut the spacers versus cutting the spacers and then drilling the hole. My cherry spacer was fine but my first walnut spacer snapped.
Anyway, I got things glued up and then rough sawed close to net shape. From there it was back to the rasp and paper. I had everything real close to final dimensions and started working on the back to front tapering.
I was even using my Japanese box plane to some effect, albeit limited. It was all coming together.
I was damn near done with the tapering when I realized... #$%@&*(*&^%$#@%^**@!!!!!!
Somewhere along the line of cutting and sanding, I'd mismarked the block. I'd basically rotated it 90 degrees so the blade slot now aligned with the fat side instead of the skinny side.
So, that ended that. I don't have a pic of the mistake as I just used the piece to play around with and experiment.
But, it did show me that you can do it and it really isn't that bad. Just check things often and measure a gillion times as you go.
I 1000% agree with @JoBone's recommendation to purchase Colton's guide that can be found here:
https://coltonhandcrafted.com/
I'd buy it even if you plan to use all power tools. Very well-done guide.
All that said, I did buy a little 1x30 belt sander to help me out. We'll see if I can manage to not screw up another one.
Last edited:
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
That color scheme looks really niceI was chatting with @MSicardCutlery in DM's and wanted to update this thread.
To anyone who may read this and gets this far, you can absolutely make a handle with all hand tools. You don't need anything fancy.
In my last post I said my hands weren't gonna let me pursue this. But, I got a message from our friend @MowgFace that said he hated the idea of me being held back like that. That nagged at me. Not in a bad way at all but precisely the opposite. It was motivation. I told myself to suck it up and go do something.
My thumbs present two problems:
1) They get sore and swell up. I can deal with that.
2) Lateral pressure that is just right creates a shooting pain and loss of grip. This one is a bit tougher to navigate.
It was the latter that was causing me a problem when I first tried this. The western plane is somewhat heavy and handling it would trigger that sharp pain. The Japanese box plane was perplexing to get set right so I just felt stuck and a bit deflated.
But, like I said, I rucked up and, going back to prior discussions with Matt, I picked up some course sandpaper, pulled out an old rasp, a square, the micrometer, the Japanese saws, and the mechanical pencil and gave it a go. I just did a little each night after work. My hands would get sore but none of these tools caused the sharp pain so all good.
I was working with walnut and cherry.
I was using 2"x2" blanks so that meant I'd have a lot of material to hog off but also gave me plenty of room for error.
Now, I did use a battery-powered hand drill and the number one thing I would say to anyone wanting to pursue this is to get brad-point drill bits. Your regular carpentry bits will wander. I know, because mine did and so all my holes were decidedly off center in each piece. The second thing I'd advise is to make shallow drill holes in a block and then cut the spacers versus cutting the spacers and then drilling the hole. My cherry spacer was fine but my first walnut spacer snapped.
Anyway, I got things glued up and then rough sawed close to net shape. From there it was back to the rasp and paper. I had everything real close to final dimensions and started working on the back to front tapering.
I was even using my Japanese box plane to some effect, albeit limited. It was all coming together.
I was damn near done with the tapering when I realized... #$%@&*(*&^%$#@%^**@!!!!!!
Somewhere along the line of cutting and sanding, I'd mismarked the block. I'd basically rotated it 90 degrees so the blade slot now aligned with the fat side instead of the skinny side.
So, that ended that. I don't have a pic of the mistake as I just used the piece to play around with and experiment.
But, it did show me that you can do it and it really isn't that bad. Just check things often and measure a gillion times as you go.
I 1000% agree with @JoBone's recommendation to purchase Colton's guide that can be found here:
https://coltonhandcrafted.com/
I'd buy it even if you plan to use all power tools. Very well-done guide.
All that said, I did buy a little 1x30 belt sander to help me out. We'll see if I can manage to not screw up another one.
Carl Kotte
Senior Member
And the shape! THE SHAPE!!!
Super nice. Btw, I also ordered from Barrington a while back. Pretty good prices, good product.
Not to hijack the thread, but I'm thinking started to rehandle some old western knives with all hand tools if that's possible. The Morihei Hisamoto leaves me drooling but I really don't want to start doing this on a $300 knife. Is this a good idea? Which tools would I need? I'm interested in old forge craft and Dexter stuff on ebay, but some cheap Taiwan made aus10 knife blank on Amazon seems like ok deal too.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCMMV26?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_GZBW1PKVV3PCG8G5H160
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCMMV26?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_GZBW1PKVV3PCG8G5H160
