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Just finished up 2 new mono handles. Thuya burl and bog oak.

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Stabilized spalted maple, streaky amber horn, and bog oak spacer. Specd out for a large okubo in half octo half oval shape. This one took me probably 3x as long as my typical handles to get it the way I wanted, but I think it was worth it.

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I just came in to say that I think this style/shape is 🔝 tier. I have this on my yanagiba and it feels so great to hold. Sometimes I don’t get the hype over octagonal handles, the super angular chamfers feels awkward to me. I hope this trend of handle picks up more, I’d like to see this on more knives!

Props on the work!!
 
Put a western myall handle on this beast - 300mm Morihei Hisamoto (TF) white 1.

First time working with a bolster. Was struggling to decide between pins or a clean look. Copper pins looked nice next to the wood, but with the bolster being steel it felt like too many different metals.
 

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I’m working on re-handling a knife with a round tang. I’d say that the knife isn’t finished with great detail at the tang and bolster, so had to make internal shoulders for the Rokkaku Honmaru bocote handle.

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@Uncle Danny sent me some bog oak before christmas just because they're a cool dude, and a surprise bit of camel bone. It ended up being lighter than I anticipated, so I had to find a new blade to use it on. Then I got lucky and snagged a Birggie, and put it one there. The first handle was a mono Bocote that put the balance too far back for me. Turned out great! I had a little bit of play and had to sand the tiniest sliver of wood to delicately place in the space.
This looks tremendous
 
Put a western myall handle on this beast - 300mm Morihei Hisamoto (TF) white 1.

First time working with a bolster. Was struggling to decide between pins or a clean look. Copper pins looked nice next to the wood, but with the bolster being steel it felt like too many different metals.

Great choice of liner here too, looks great!

How did you shape the wood to the handle shape here? Do you rough cut with a bandsaw and then hand-sand, or use a belt grinder? I'm attempting my first western handle but having a hard time getting the shape exactly what I want using my belt grinder alone.
 
So… had a piece of Ash that was split but didn’t want to throw it away. Decided to gift it to one of my regular customers.
So, burnt Ash and matching snake wood pin and brass details.
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Love the work!

This thread is inspiring me to get on board and have a go at making a handle.

Seeing as you're in the EU, I'm curious where you source your wood. I've seen some bits on Etsy but any tips would be appreciated.
 
Great choice of liner here too, looks great!

How did you shape the wood to the handle shape here? Do you rough cut with a bandsaw and then hand-sand, or use a belt grinder? I'm attempting my first western handle but having a hard time getting the shape exactly what I want using my belt grinder alone.

Thanks! I'll cut the blanks very roughly to size, but I have a 4x36 belt grinder to do almost all of my shaping. It can be tricky and slow going to work some of the angles. I use that front rotating drum area for the curved sections and when getting close to the heel of the blade (see pic). I like my handheld orbital sander as well, but the belt sander did 90% of the lifting. Only my second western so I'm sure there is room for process improvement 😅 (if anyone else has a great method i'm all ears!)
 

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Love the work!

This thread is inspiring me to get on board and have a go at making a handle.

Seeing as you're in the EU, I'm curious where you source your wood. I've seen some bits on Etsy but any tips would be appreciated.
A lot of it is sourced locally. Denmark has a lot of knife makers (especially hunting knives) some is from customers, Etsy, Edelholz and so on.
 
Finishing up on this one. Iron wood with faux ivory cap. Really great grain movement and depending on the angle of light you can see lighter sapwood peek through behind some of the darker sections. 130mm and 53 grams. Was originally heading towards a 180 petty, then tokushu dropped some 240 Shindos (without handles) and now it’s heading to the big leagues. Lighter handle will help keep the knife with a forward balance and I’m thinking they’ll make a nice match!
 

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Finishing up on this one. Iron wood with faux ivory cap. Really great grain movement and depending on the angle of light you can see lighter sapwood peek through behind some of the darker sections. 130mm and 53 grams. Was originally heading towards a 180 petty, then tokushu dropped some 240 Shindos (without handles) and now it’s heading to the big leagues. Lighter handle will help keep the knife with a forward balance and I’m thinking they’ll make a nice match!
looks great! I really like the grain in ironwood
 
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