1/4" Wa handle

T

Triple Stripe Knives

Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
81
Hi,
I'm making a Ryodeb (still), and the guy wants a wa handle. Everyone I've seen uses half inch dowel, but they also have sub 0.100" bladestock. I have 0.26" bladestock, and when I tried 1/2" dowel, it left the edges too thin. What size of dowel do you guys recommend?

Thanks,
Johnathan
 
You don t need to use that size dowel . ..............
rrxhRQU.jpg
 
Do you have a carbide file guide? If you do, you can clamp it to the tang and grind shoulders in the tang in both directions and make the whole tang a good bit thinner. As a bonus, you don't have to make the hole in the handle as precise because the shoulders will cover any minor mistakes.
 
Natlek said:
I have make at least ten like this one on picture in different shape and thickness......
VXuwYNY.jpg

Easy way ..............
l5egEuz.png
Click to expand...
I might try making some of those, I've been using a jig saw trying to make the ferrule, but doing it manually would likely help with precision.

Hubert S. said:
Do you have a carbide file guide? If you do, you can clamp it to the tang and grind shoulders in the tang in both directions and make the whole tang a good bit thinner. As a bonus, you don't have to make the hole in the handle as precise because the shoulders will cover any minor mistakes.
Click to expand...
I've got a file guide I made out of mild steel, but my grinder's tracking is funky and I've neve had it give me exact precision. But certainly making the tang thinner would help.
 
What’s a Ryodeb?

if you are ok with a 2 pc handle... you can split the wood, chisel it out for the tang, glue the two halves together and then then burn it in for final fit

I’ve been doing that alot lately

Nwef1a4.jpg
 
Ryo-deba is a deba knife with a "western" double sided bevel. Since your stock is so thick the best bet is probably to skip the dovel completely and just drill/file/brooch the sloat to size. Have a nice fit on the ferrule and a rough fit on the down part of the handle. Bed with epoxy, square the block to size, grind handle and then the final glue up and finishing.
 
HSC /// said:
What’s a Ryodeb?

if you are ok with a 2 pc handle... you can split the wood, chisel it out for the tang, glue the two halves together and then then burn it in for final fit

I’ve been doing that alot lately

Nwef1a4.jpg
Click to expand...
I've been thinking I might do that, I have access to milling machine at school, so I could split the wood and do that.
 
Could I just drill a 1/2" hole and then burn the tang in? I'd then fill it with epoxy. The only thing I'm worried about is that I'm using dymondwood, which might not burn easily.
 
Is this a single piece handle? In your first post, you wrote that you are concerned with a 1/2" hole leaving the edges too thin. Did you mean the edges of the dowel, or the edges in the handle around the dowel?

Assuming it is a two piece handle, I would use the half inch dowel. Try to get a nice fit up on the ferrule, and glue it on with a dowel. You can either slot it before glue up, or drill and broach after. With the thickness of your tang, it should be easy enough to find long enough drill bits. If you want to burn in the tang and are concerned about the dymondwood, just use a different wood for the dowel.
 
I used to work with thousands of square feet and miles of dowels of Rutland’s Dymondwood. Don’t burn Dymondwood. The fumes are horrible, noxious and phenolic resin does not burn well. Getting it too hot will cause cracking. Hard buffing will even cause fine cracks. Drill it, rake it out, file it and let the epoxy/pin do the work.
 
Hubert S. said:
Is this a single piece handle? In your first post, you wrote that you are concerned with a 1/2" hole leaving the edges too thin. Did you mean the edges of the dowel, or the edges in the handle around the dowel?

Assuming it is a two piece handle, I would use the half inch dowel. Try to get a nice fit up on the ferrule, and glue it on with a dowel. You can either slot it before glue up, or drill and broach after. With the thickness of your tang, it should be easy enough to find long enough drill bits. If you want to burn in the tang and are concerned about the dymondwood, just use a different wood for the dowel.
Click to expand...
I meant the edges of the dowel, they just seemed prone to breakage.
I'm not sure I understand the second half of your post, it's a two piece handle in that it has a big block of wood, and the ferrule, but the majority of the handle is one piece. I'm not fussed about burning in the tang, it just seemed like the easiest way to do it, and the most forgiving about the size of the hole.
 
SS369 said:
I used to work with thousands of square feet and miles of dowels of Rutland’s Dymondwood. Don’t burn Dymondwood. The fumes are horrible, noxious and phenolic resin does not burn well. Getting it too hot will cause cracking. Hard buffing will even cause fine cracks. Drill it, rake it out, file it and let the epoxy/pin do the work.
Click to expand...
Ok, that's good to know about the heat and buffing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top