Handle thickness

E

Enkrig

Joined
Dec 17, 2015
Messages
258
Hi everyone,

I have a general knife handle design question. I'm a beginner knife maker, so please forgive if this is a silly question.

Are there general rules of thumb or recommendations on how thick should a knife handle be? To be more specific, suppose that you make a knife with 5/32" thick steel, how thick would be the micarta or G10 handle slabs that you would use to then shape the handles?

I recently came across 1/8" thick slabs and got me wondering if that would ever be enough.
 
1/8" would be too thin, I use a lot of 1/4" on 1/8" thick blades. You could always go to 3/8" and just keep removing till it feels right. You can allway take some off,real PITA to add back on.
 
I start almost all my handles with 3/8" or 5/16" thick scales and then shape and contour till it looks and feels nice in the hand.

I will occasionally use 1/8" for a thick liner but not the scale only.
 
Not a silly question at all. If you want to do any comtoring that would be to thin there are places you could still use it in a handle but not nearly as often as 1/4"+
 
The minimum you will often see is 1/4. 3/8s is standard in scales. When I sell blocks I often sell blocks a little over and inch thick. When you are doing a very contoured handle your want the extra wood. The thing to be aware of that a lot of new makers forget is the waste you will have. People buy 3/4 material and expect to get 2 3/8th scales out of it. A bandsaw has an effective kerf of about 1/16 of an inch if you are good, wider if you're not. Remember, even after the wood is cut you have to sand it flat
 
Its more about proportion than thickness. Think about a knife in miniature then think of the same knife made for a giant. If the proportion is correct, they both will look correct.

Enjoy the work, Fred
 
Big Chris said:
I start almost all my handles with 3/8" or 5/16" thick scales and then shape and contour till it looks and feels nice in the hand.

I will occasionally use 1/8" for a thick liner but not the scale only.
Click to expand...

+1 for this... start thick; remove material to the point it feels good and stop before you go too far. i suggest carving and shaping a few out of wood or play with a few knives that you like, then when you are happy with the thickness, just measure and do the math on what's left after blade and liner thickness and that should help you narrow it down.

good luck
 
For wood working you will see a benefit from thicker, more contoured handles than you will for game prep or kitchen duty. I won't use less than 3/8 scales as a start because I do a lot of shaping of the handle. I aim for 1" thickness mid handle and 3/4" at the ends if I can get it, irrespective of the steel thickness.

Thing to watch out for as a beginner, if you use thicker material, you have to round it smoothly, not just knock the corners off, otherwise it will look and feel really blocky.
 
Another thought. 1/8 Micarta, paired with 1/8 steel allows you to make a lighter hidden tang knife using the Micarta as a filler piece between scales. Sort of frame handle.

IMG_5746.jpg
 
Last edited:
3/8" to 1/2" is also my go to scale thickness. When doing kitchen and fillet knives I use a lot of rubber in the 3/8" range. Gives me nice rounded handle with small indexing flats on each side. Flat areas on the sides are not bad as long as you radius the edges to become tangent to the flats. Make sure everything is blended and smooth. Stay away from blocky and square. Also the use of a knife will determine how thick the scales should be. A big hard use chopper needs a big meaty handle where a fine fillet knife can have a slimmer handle as it needs the mobility. But it was said correct above, fit till it fits good.
 
I like using 1/8" scales on small neck knives and have done a few small sharp fingers in 1/8" but for larger knives like others have said 3/8" works pretty good.


This is 3/32" steel with 1/8" g10 necker


These where 3/8" scales on just over 1/8" steel
 
I prefer using .500" scales if possible. Other than in a few designs, I can't stand flat handles. It's better to have excess and get things just right.
 
I think the ideal handle should not be more than a 1" high , 3/4" wide oval .Sharp corners or small radius and flat sides should be avoided.
Scales too thin? Then use spacers.
 
Justin Presson said:
I like using 1/8" scales on small neck knives and have done a few small sharp fingers in 1/8" but for larger knives like others have said 3/8" works pretty good.


This is 3/32" steel with 1/8" g10 necker
Click to expand...

Thank you for the comment on the neck knives. That was exactly one of the potential uses for the 1/8" slabs because one wants a very slim profile in those cases.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top