Handle Shaping

AntCaps

AntCaps

Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
928
Hello all you talented people
so im on my way to my first few knife projects and im a little confused about the handle shaping.
ill be using micarta or G10 how do you guys get everything symmetrical and how do you know what will be comfy?
oh and how do you guys fasten them i was thinking about doing it the same way as the esee junglas in case i decide i want to change them up later.
 
AntCaps said:
Hello all you talented people
so im on my way to my first few knife projects and im a little confused about the handle shaping.
ill be using micarta or G10 how do you guys get everything symmetrical and how do you know what will be comfy?
oh and how do you guys fasten them i was thinking about doing it the same way as the esee junglas in case i decide i want to change them up later.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you're making a full tang knife. After you have the handle profiled to match the tang hold it in your hand and any place that a corner is cutting into is a potential place to remove material. How thick is the material you will use? Thinner slabs don't allow for as much sculpting as thicker slabs would.

Do you have a a knife that feels comfortable in your hand that you can get some ideas from? Maybe you could try shaping a piece of wood like your knife handle shape and see what feels and looks good.

Keeping it symmetrical involves paying attention to what you're doing and looking at it from the top and bottom frequently while working on it to make sure you're doing the same thing to both sides.

You're going to want to shape the very front part of the scales BEFORE you attach them to the tang. If you don't then you will be trying to round down the corners and sand it smooth while attached to the blade and you will end up scratching the the ricasso.

Good luck,

- LonePine
Alias Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
Yes it will be a full tang knife, i will either be using 1/4 or 3/8 inch thick material to give me a good hand full to hold on to as well as give me a little room for error.
Thanks for the advice guys, how about tools to use i have files and sand paper but what other tools should i attempt to get a hold of or get time on?
Thanks again
 
A drill press is not absolutely necessary but really helps keep your pin holes square and true. You don't need a really expensive one, the little bench top model from Harbor Freight for $40 bucks works just fine. A knife vise or block of wood with a slot big enough to hold the blade and placed in a regular vice is very handy for holding the knife while finishing the handle.
 
I use a rasp for rough shaping. Don't go too far with the rasp though. Stop using it before you are where you think you should be. From this point on I use strips of 80 grit sand paper to take it closer. Then more sandpaper of finer and finer grit. Sometimes I use metal files, flat, half-round, round, as well as 1" sanding tube thingies that I use on my drill press. Whatever works. If I was a Jedi knight I'd use my light saber. (Maybe next year.)

- Obiwan LonePine
Alias Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
A belt grinder with contact wheel(s) is best, IMO at least in terms of efficiency and versatility. At any rate, when rough shaping and trying to be symmetrical I block out the shape first, profiling the scales to the tang, grinding the main hollows were they need to be and leaving the edges and angles of my rough cuts sharp. It's easier to compare the amount of material removed when the edges are not blended/rounded yet. Remove 90% of your material this way, then begin rounding corners. Always work incrementally, grind the corner to 45 on one side, then 45 the other opposing corner. Then go back and grind the corners of those with 22-1/2's, then blend them. Back and forth, each step. It's easier to maintain symmetry if you don't do one side completely, then turn to the other.

Lonepine is right, keep an eye on what you are doing. That's probably the most important thing. Also, not only shape but polish the front of your scales before installation. It's much harder to do after it's glued on.
 
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