Show us your sticks (finished handle projects)...

[Dhoff]

No. I didn't make a mistake. It's wabi sabi and that'll be two hundreds bucks!

Well, here it is. My first handle. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. I'd managed to overcome all the little glitches - a touch off center here, a bit out of square there and so on and everything was going pretty okay. And then there was a power sander incident while attempting to chamfer the corners.

So I went for the lemonade from lemons approach. What is it they say? Rustic. That's it.

I was thinking about tossing it into the test pile but the wife was having none of it. She loved it and insisted I install it. She said it is the most comfortable handle of any of the knives in the kitchen and she might even try the "giant" knife if it was on there.

Who am I to argue?

So, it's all glued up on a 210 Munetoshi. I gotta say, it is pretty darned comfy.

Black walnut and cherry wood.

Thanks again everyone for all the encouragement!

I think I'll try another.

It looks so comfortable Id love it for some of my own knives!

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

It looks so comfortable Id love it for some of my own knives!

Thank you.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Okay, this one turned out much better.



Pay no never mind to the blade, it's a work in progress but I was excited to see the handle mounted.

 

[tostadas]

Okay, this one turned out much better.



Pay no never mind to the blade, it's a work in progress but I was excited to see the handle mounted.

Wow really nice!

 

[deltaplex]

Handle number 4: A portion of a lightning strike oak shaped into a half octagonal, capped with a piece of deer antler. I filled the branch section on the bottom with CA, sanded it to 400 grit, and then finished with tung oil.

 

[tostadas]

My take on a burnt oak

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

My take on a burnt oakView attachment 209274View attachment 209275

Great symmetry.

 

[tostadas]

Great symmetry.

Thanks! I figured out a better way to mark off the blank prior to shaping that both sped up the process and increased consistency of measurements. Mainly due to my lack of good tools for measuring and squaring things up. Essentially created one flat plane on the block and using a pencil and popsicle stick as sorta like a ghetto scribe, was able to lay out the handle shape.

... Then after torching the handle, suddenly getting it precise to the 0.5mm doesn't even matter anymore.

 

[deltaplex]

My take on a burnt oakView attachment 209274View attachment 209275

Is it oiled after burning, or is the char the "environmental protection"?

 

[tostadas]

Is it oiled after burning, or is the char the "environmental protection"?

I apply hardwax oil after burning. This handle has 1 coat already, but I still need to apply 1 more tomorrow. I find it helps greatly with water resistance without taking away from the natural wood texture.

 

[Dc2123]

Not a knife.....but still a fun project. A while back I blinged up a spat for a KKF homey. It came out so cool that I wanted to make one for myself. This one is dyed stabilized maple burl with a red g10 liner. Briefly, I considered a mosaic center pin.....but I thought that might be over the top.


View attachment 186136View attachment 186137View attachment 186138

Now I find myself thinking about what other kitchen tools I can hook up

Where’s the matching saya ^_^

All cooks love a good spoon.. & spooning.
That’s the market.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Watanabe Pro 180.

Made another oval handle. Tall and thin. They really are quite comfortable. Not sure how I feel about this one though so it's just temp mounted while I ponder.

 

[tostadas]

Watanabe Pro 180.

Made another oval handle. Tall and thin. They really are quite comfortable. Not sure how I feel about this one though so it's just temp mounted while I ponder.

Nice one! What are the dimensions?

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Nice one! What are the dimensions?

Thank you.

~25mm down to 23mm and 19 down to 17.

I guess "tall" is relative in this case. Felt taller but still nice.

 

[tostadas]

My take on a burnt oak

Handle dry fit onto its new home, Wakui 240. Fits like a glove.

 

[1315]

So has anyone torched walnut burl, or have a scrap they could light up? I'm curious what the final would look like?

 

[jedy617]

Why would you torch something as beautiful as walnut burl? At least take something without figure.

 

[1315]

To each their own i guess. Straight walnut, no problem, but this particular handle reminds me of grandmas
China cabinet, and clashes with the blade. Gotta do something about it, short of changing the handle. I envision a deep brown-ish with black gloss accents, but I don't know.

 

[tostadas]

To each their own i guess. Straight walnut, no problem, but this particular handle reminds me of grandmas
China cabinet, and clashes with the blade. Gotta do something about it, short of changing the handle.

I think it will depend on your particular piece of burl, since by nature it's irregular. If there are soft spots, as are typical in burl wood, those would likely burn faster. Stuff like knots tend to burn slower. Walnut doesn't tend to have the same kind of pronounced grain after burning as say, chestnut or oak. So best case, you could end up with a darker piece, maybe some contrast in the grain, but I wouldn't expect texture to change all that much. Worst case, you might end up with holes in the handle where the softer wood is.

If you don't like the handle anyways, I say do it for science and let us know.

 

[brimmergj]

New handle for the Wife's Kyohei. She wanted bright and pink. I'd say, mission was a success.

 

[birdsfan]

I got this knife from @Andrei Markin a while back. He was kind enough to send it out handleless, at my request. His handle work is stellar, so I was determined to equip it with an outfit that is worthy of the blade he created for me. I finished this ages ago and have been using it at work. Just had it out to whip up some food for lunch and realized that I had never taken any pictures of it, so I snapped a few.

The handle is cypress burl, with a brass faceplate and white/red g10 spacers. I picked up the same theme in the saya......

 

[deltaplex]

I got this knife from @Andrei Markin a while back. He was kind enough to send it out handleless, at my request. His handle work is stellar, so I was determined to equip it with an outfit that is worthy of the blade he created for me. I finished this ages ago and have been using it at work. Just had it out to whip up some food for lunch and realized that I had never taken any pictures of it, so I snapped a few.

The handle is cypress burl, with a brass faceplate and white/red g10 spacers. I picked up the same theme in the saya......

View attachment 218353View attachment 218354

Looks great! Are the handle and saya all from the same piece of burl?

 

[birdsfan]

They are! Though I stabilized the piece that the handle is made from, hence the color difference.

 

[tostadas]

I got this knife from @Andrei Markin a while back. He was kind enough to send it out handleless, at my request. His handle work is stellar, so I was determined to equip it with an outfit that is worthy of the blade he created for me. I finished this ages ago and have been using it at work. Just had it out to whip up some food for lunch and realized that I had never taken any pictures of it, so I snapped a few.

The handle is cypress burl, with a brass faceplate and white/red g10 spacers. I picked up the same theme in the saya......

View attachment 218353View attachment 218354

That slight belly in the handle looks really comfy. I also like the detail in matching the angles of the spacer things in the handle and saya.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I got this knife from @Andrei Markin a while back. He was kind enough to send it out handleless, at my request. His handle work is stellar, so I was determined to equip it with an outfit that is worthy of the blade he created for me. I finished this ages ago and have been using it at work. Just had it out to whip up some food for lunch and realized that I had never taken any pictures of it, so I snapped a few.

The handle is cypress burl, with a brass faceplate and white/red g10 spacers. I picked up the same theme in the saya......

View attachment 218353View attachment 218354

Gorgeous!

 

[birdsfan]

Thanks friends! The one detail that I couldnt get a good pic of was the face plate. I hammered the revealed side, then polished it, so it has a dimpled look to it. I first saw that look on the first Spare MCX release, and really liked it compared to just a plain polished look. I will try to get some pictures that are in focus...

 

[MSicardCutlery]

Thanks friends! The one detail that I couldnt get a good pic of was the face plate. I hammered the revealed side, then polished it, so it has a dimpled look to it. I first saw that look on the first Spare MCX release, and really liked it compared to just a plain polished look. I will try to get some pictures that are in focus...

The dimpling makes it much easier to get a tight fit too, it peens things around.

Great work as always @birdsfan !

 

[birdsfan]

Thanks Matt! I just used the back of a balpeen hammer to do mine. Yours are much closer and fuller, if that makes sense. What did you use to texture yours?

 

[MSicardCutlery]

Thanks Matt! I just used the back of a balpeen hammer to do mine. Yours are much closer and fuller, if that makes sense. What did you use to texture yours?

A radiused piece of 2.5mm HSS in a GraverSmith. Could do the same by hand, but it goes a lot faster at 3500 strokes/min

 

[enchappo]

I got this knife from @Andrei Markin a while back. He was kind enough to send it out handleless, at my request. His handle work is stellar, so I was determined to equip it with an outfit that is worthy of the blade he created for me. I finished this ages ago and have been using it at work. Just had it out to whip up some food for lunch and realized that I had never taken any pictures of it, so I snapped a few.

The handle is cypress burl, with a brass faceplate and white/red g10 spacers. I picked up the same theme in the saya......

View attachment 218353View attachment 218354

Really lovely