favorite handle shapes/styles for kitchen knives?

[Jeeeen!]

I like wooden octagonal handles, especially in any dark or black wood.

 

[ace]

I use pinch grip almost exclusively in chef knives, I also don’t rock chop, so I prefer blade forward balance in pinch and the handle that doesn’t interfere with cutting. In pinch grip the handle is there mostly as a counterweight and the best handles disappear and are not noticed in use. I prefer handles that taper down toward the blade and that don’t have sharp edges or ridges. Doesn’t really matter if the handle is western or Japanese style, either can be good.

Smaller knives such as paring, butchers, petties, fillet, etc are different. For these I prefer western or hybrid handles since the grip is different when using these.

 

[Dennis Towns]

Visual would be nice as some of us (me) have no clue what names fit what style. Thanks in advance

 

[Taz]

Western may or may not have a metal bolster on the blade before the handle. It is the classic shape you see on Henckels/Wustoff/Victorinox, etc and often is a full tang, which means the metal tang is showing all around the handle and there are 2 scales attached. It is often tapered towards the front/bolster area and sometimes has a coke bottle shape to it overall. There are also many hidden tang westerns out there as well with or without the bolster. It refers to the general handle shape.

Wa/Japanese style handles come in a wide variety. A normal octagon wa handle looks like an octagon when viewed from either end. 4 flats and 4 angles facets on the handle. An Oval is taller than it is wide and rounded out; no sharp facets. A D shape is just that. One side, usually the right, bows out, often in the upper third of the handle height, so it may not always be centered. Octoval is a combo of the octagon facets at the top of the handle, straight sides and rounded bottom.

Top is a classic Western handle shape and bottom is an octagon Wa handle:

Poor Paint drawing of the end view of popular Japanese/Wa style handles: