Crafting some handles...could use your advice

[Tenn3802]

Hello friends. This is my first post here. At the beginning of the pandemic I've started working with wood. I first bought some knives - now I'll build some custom handles for some blanks
From a box full of rusted knives stored for ~15 years, these two haven't rusted a bit so I thought they'd make good material for me to practice. The idea is to first practice making the handle, then practice sharpening them without the fear of making mistakes(removing too much metal, damaging the edge...).
The Mora is just for reference/scale. Its so amazing I've been using it for months without sharpening - a few passes on a strop and it cuts wood like butter.

I want to make something similar as the Mora with the middle blade. It comes from an old butterfly knife, probably chinese, stainless steel. Surprisingly it was the only blade in the box which was shining like new after such a long time. As you can see it's not a full tang. Assuming I use a very dense Ivorywood for the handle, would the 3 rivets make the blade stable? Any advice on a good design that could make it firm?

The one on the right puzzles me. What is the purpose of the hole in the spine? I've searched a lot but couldn't find any clue of its usage. Looks like a beer opener, which sounds absurd to me. Was in a leather sheath with a figure of a deer in it and a broken, thin plastic handle.
Thanks in advance

 

[J. Doyle]

Hello friends. This is my first post here. At the beginning of the pandemic I've started working with wood. I first bought some knives - now I'll build some custom handles for some blanks
From a box full of rusted knives stored for ~15 years, these two haven't rusted a bit so I thought they'd make good material for me to practice. The idea is to first practice making the handle, then practice sharpening them without the fear of making mistakes(removing too much metal, damaging the edge...).
The Mora is just for reference/scale. Its so amazing I've been using it for months without sharpening - a few passes on a strop and it cuts wood like butter.

I want to make something similar as the Mora with the middle blade. It comes from an old butterfly knife, probably chinese, stainless steel. Surprisingly it was the only blade in the box which was shining like new after such a long time. As you can see it's not a full tang. Assuming I use a very dense Ivorywood for the handle, would the 3 rivets make the blade stable? Any advice on a good design that could make it firm?

The one on the right puzzles me. What is the purpose of the hole in the spine? I've searched a lot but couldn't find any clue of its usage. Looks like a beer opener, which sounds absurd to me. Was in a leather sheath with a figure of a deer in it and a broken, thin plastic handle.
Thanks in advance

I'm not sure I personally would waste time trying to make a fixed blade knife out of the middle blade. I don't think it would be very sturdy. It would be difficult (maybe not impossible) to find a handle design that looked and felt right, even IF you could make it sturdy. If you were dead set on trying it anyway, I'd look to g-10, or possibly micarta for handle material.

As for the knife on the right.......you are correct TWICE......it is indeed a bottle opener and it is indeed absurd.

 

[Tenn3802]

Im baffled. The right one has a nice false edge so I thought it would make good material. I don't need and don't want a bottle opener on a knife, and even if I made a handle covering it, it would still be fragile, right?

As for the middle blade: Its as thick as the Moras, which is very nice. Its stainless steel and seems to be superior compared to others.
Problem is - I live in Brazil and everything is a tad more expensive than USA. I didn't want to break the bank on this 'project'. This one would serve as a sharpening practice blade, kind of disposable. All I can find cheap here were carbon blanks that require heat treatment, which I can't perform.

My taste for blades comes from woodworking so using other materials kind of defeat the purpose (I'm 100% sure that your advice for G10/Micarta is sound and you have far more experience than me). I was thinking of making the handle in a single block, for better stability, instead of using 2 glued scales, with the Ivorywood mentioned above, which has a Janka hardness of about 1750 lbf, as I often sculpt this wood and have it already. Takes detail very well. Wood is very, very cheap here, and there are some insanely hard options around which I could use. Would it be possible to design a solid block wooden handle that holds it well? Maybe using screws instead of rivets?

 

[Lorien]

don't waste your time with that shit.