I usually start a knife by picking the blade that I want
to use. Unless
I have a design in mind, I will often surf the Nordic knife makers sites to get ideas.
I then pick a handle block that compliments the blade.
For this knife, I am going to use a Bjorkman blade, 24x80
mm, stainless San12c27, with a bead blasted side. I picked
a traditional Curly Birch handle block. The design will consist
of a nickel silver guard and a Moose antler spacer with black fibre
spacers and thin nickel silver spacers on either side of the antler.
The first step is to cut the guard and fibre and nickel
silver spacers to size. I use the end of the handle block
to lay out the spacer fodimensionsr cutting. Because I am going
to put the Moose antler spacer back from the guard about an inch, I
also cut the handle block at this time.
The next step is to find the centers of the handle
block and spacers. I think the most important step in getting
a good looking knife is the tang hole through the guard. It
must tightly fit the tang where it meets the blade. I take
pains to lay out the tang width and height dimensions accurately on
the guard using a caliper.
The third step is to drill the handle block, guard, antler,
fibre spacers, and nickel silver spacers for the tang. An advantage
of placing the antler spacer back an inch from the guard is that
you don't need as long a drill bit as you would otherwise. It
also makes it easier to keep the holes running straight. I have
found that the relatively long and small diameter drill bits (usually an
1/8" diameter or smaller) you use have a tendency to wander off center.
I center punch the guard where the holes will be drilled
to prevent the bit from wandering and improve accuracy. I
don't worry too much about the holes drilled in the handle block and
spacers. Because I glue the parts together, I will often oversize
these holes to give the glue a little more something to grab on to.
The fourth step is to file the holes that you drilled
to fit the tang. Here again, the most important piece is the
guard and it is the piece that I start with. If you value your fingers,
now is a good time to tape the blade. Not only does this protect
your fingers, it also protects the blade from accidental scratches during
the assembly process.
Getting the tang to fit the guard accurately requires a
lot of trial and error. A set of needle files is indispensable
for this step. I fit the pieces to the tang in the order that
they will be assembled. I also polish the guard at this time.
It is much easier to do it now than after it has been mounted
to the blade.
Also, you may find that your antler spacer has a porous area running
down the core. After drilling, I saturate this porous area with
Crazy Glue. The antler will soak it up like a sponge. This
helps ensure the strength of the antler once you start sanding it down
to its finished size, and if you run into this area while sanding, it will
look just like the antler rather than leaving you with grooves running the
length of the spacer.
Once you are satisfied with how all the pieces fit together,
it is time to start gluing.
The fifth step is to glue up the knife. I use a
polyurethane glue. I like the way that it expands to fill gaps
and grabs on to anything that it touches. The good old standby
is epoxy glue. I usually do the glue up in two or more stages.
I start with the guard and the piece behind it. Limiting the
first stage to these two pieces makes it easier to ensure that they are
square to the blade. Once the glue from this stage has set up,
you can usually glue the rest of the pieces together. To assist in
gluing up the knife, I made a gluing jig from mild steel and threaded
rod.
The sixth step is to shape the handle after the glue
has set up. If you have a good idea of how you want your
handle to look, you can use a coping saw to cut it to rough shape.
Because I like to let my handle shape evolve as I make it,
I use a belt sander with 80 grit paper. My method is messy (creates
a lot of dust!) so wear a dust mask. Once you are satisfied
with the rough shape of your handle: how does it look with the blade?;
how does it fit the hand?; you can start finishing the handle.
The seventh step, finishing the handle, consists of finish
sanding and applying a wood finish. I start with a 100 grit
sandpaper and work up to a 1500 grit sandpaper.
For a
wood finish, I use either tung oil or CCL Knife Handle Oil. The CCL Knife Handle Oil is a
two part finish, consisting of a sanding sealer and a finishing oil.
It has become my finish of choice.
This handle is it's natural color. You can experiment
with staining the handle. Leather stain works well. You start
with a dark color and then sand most of it off. You then apply subsequently
lighter colors, sanding between each.
The most important knife making instruction is to have fun!
