DIY knife rehandle ????

myright · May 30, 2009

Hey fellas - I've got some old knives from my grandfather's butchers shop from a long time ago and would love to get them rehandled. At first I was thinking about sending them out and getting it done, but I'd like to try it myself.

Obviously I'd start with a junker and then move on from there.

My question is = How feasible is it to think that I can rehandle a knife without having to buy a bunch of specialized equipment? Are there any tutorials out there I can look at for help?

I'm going to use a type of wood, not sure of the wood yet. Right now there are brass pins in the handles.

James_Terrio · May 30, 2009

If the knife is a full tang, the procedure is fairly simple. Even if it's a hidden tang, it's certainly doable. You can get by with a hand drill, file or rasp and sandpaper. A drill press and a Dremel tool would be nice.

Sometimes getting one apart is the hard step; I recently disassembled a knife for a customer and the rivets broke free when I tried to drill them. Apparently the cutting oil I was using to cool my bit just ate right through whatever cheapo epoxy or glue was in there. They just spun in the handle and I nearly broke a good bit getting it back out.

Luckily he didn't want or need the old scales because I had to break them off and cut the rivets.

Check out the newbies sticky in the maker's forum, lots of good info there.

myright · May 31, 2009

James - It's a full tang knife with two wooden slabs as the handles. My main concern, more than looks at this point, would be getting a nice tight fit so the handles don't wiggle around.

Thanks very much for the input and the links - I'll read through them and come back with any questions.

James_Terrio · May 31, 2009

Have fun! The main thing is be sure the tang and the insides of the scales are nice and flat. And fully finish the fronts of the scales before epoxying/gluing them to the tang. Everything else is fairly self-explanatory.

firebert · Jun 1, 2009

I recently learned a technique to hollow-grind the tang. This leaves a pocket for the epoxy to go. It also helps make the flattening easier. I just go at it with the drive wheel of my 4x36, it doesn't have to be pretty.

Phillip

p.s. Send me a message if you're still looking for wood. I might have some in exchange for photos of the finished product.

Bill DeShivs · Jun 1, 2009

If the pins are about 1/4" in diameter, they are "cutler's rivets." These are two part rivets that you drive together. Many outfits used them on kitchen cutlery. It is likely the handles were originally kingwood. Both the wood and rivets are available from Jantz Supply. Epoxy alone doesn't work well on kitchen cutlery with wood handles.

myright · Jun 1, 2009

Firebert - I very well may take you up on that offer once I get that handle stripped down and removed. Thanks a lot!

Bill - yep they are just a bit larger than 1/4" and are brass. I wish I had some more info than that but I don't know much about the handle.

Here are some of the knives I am looking to rehandle.

I going to start on one of the smaller boning knives, I think. My thought is that if I mess one of those up it won't be as bad since I have a few of them.

Ideally I'd like to complete this one myself and have it look nice and be of quality work.

Some other pictures of them.

Sparljo · Jun 2, 2009

just my opinion, but some of those are pretty awesome as is.

Bill DeShivs · Jun 2, 2009

Those are cutler's rivets. The big knives have kingwood scales. I believe you can do a good sanding job on them and have them looking really good without rehandling. Sand them to 400 grit, and then buff with 0000 steel wool. Finish with paste wax or neutral shoe polish.

Bernoulli · Jun 2, 2009

Old wood handles tend to warp and pull away from the tang. They are no longer legal in the trade because the spaces are havens for bacteria. I have some similar knives. I plan to use home made micarta.

myright · Jun 2, 2009

Bill DeShivs said:
Those are cutler's rivets. The big knives have kingwood scales. I believe you can do a good sanding job on them and have them looking really good without rehandling. Sand them to 400 grit, and then buff with 0000 steel wool. Finish with paste wax or neutral shoe polish.

Good idea, Bill.

I'll try this out before I go think about rehandling the bigger ones. The handles on the bigger knives seem to be in pretty good shape. There is one, not pictured, that I use quite often in the kitchen that a pretty bad looking handle so I'll try a rehandle on it and some others that have damaged handles.

If I were to finish it with shoe polish or past wax how long will it take to soak into the wood and dry before I should start thinking about using it again?

myright · Jul 18, 2009

OK fellas - I've got some time tonight and am going to try and sand one of the boning knives and see how it turns out.

The only thing I have on hand is mineral oil and as mentioned above, some shoe polish. I'm a little hesitant to rub show polish all over a kitchen knive handle though.

Will mineral oil work? If so, how often should I re-treat it ?

Bill DeShivs · Jul 18, 2009

Paste shoe polish is just wax. It will protect the wood from moisture. Reapply as necessary.
Mineral oil will soak into the wood and soften it.