Handle wrapping on a Boye Basic 3

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
26,901
Well I had a little sting ray skin left over and fitted the Basic 3 with the red sting ray and then took some shoe lace and did the Japanese handle wrap and epoxy soaked the wrap. I used a flat bed scanner to take the photo below, it's not as good as a photograph, but it's a quick way to get an image up!

basic3.jpg


The handle is very tactile now, which is a good thing, though I had to make another sheath for it, wouldn't fit in the original with the handle wrap....


G2

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When a fellow says, "it ain't the money but the principle of the thing,"
it's the money.
F. McKinney Hubbard

www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Cabin/7306/blades.html



[This message has been edited by Gary W. Graley (edited 06 May 1999).]
 
I really like the look of that. I'm experimenting with the handle wrap thing myself, and was wondering what type of epoxy you used. I tried some different kinds and don't like how they feel.
 
On this one I used a 30 minute epoxy by Devcon (I think), mixed thoughly on a piece of cardboard and brush it in so the lace soaks it up, not too much, RJ Martin suggested a 24hr type, he does the Best wrap that I've seen and he did a demonstration at Ashokan NY last year. It got me to thinking about the all steel handle on my Basic3. The hard part was drilling a larger hole in the end for the final wrap, since the end of the knife isn't round it looks funny, but now it is very secure in the hand.

Check out <A href="http://www.martinsite.com/">RJ Martin's</A> web site
G2

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When a fellow says, "it ain't the money but the principle of the thing,"
it's the money.
F. McKinney Hubbard
 
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Thanks! the leather is dyed with a mahogany dye, sort of burgundy, and as I stated above the knife seems more user friendly. Before when it was just the bare steel, get it wet or slippery and watch out, they are sharp!

G2
 
As the owner of each of Boye's 440 Basics, it looks like I'll have to start learning how to wrap handles. Beautiful job, Gary! Any tips for the beginner handle wrapper?

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Don LeHue

The pen is mightier than the sword...outside of arm's reach. Modify radius accordingly for rifle.


 
as a matter of fact I do, here is a thread over in another area that relates to this;

<A href="http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000442.html">Handle Wrap!</A>

On the Boye knives, take care when you enlarge that back hole, the steel is hard! you will need a carbide bit to get through it. The reason you need to enlarge it is for the ending of the lace, once you get to the end, thread it through the hole until the metal is covered pulling tightly, then snip off the end very close and tuck them down inside, the epoxy will make it so they don't spring up. Good Luck!

I set a heavy book on the blade as I did the wrap, it's hard to hold the lace in place while turning the knife over to do the other side. The sting ray is held in place with instant glue. Be careful! when turning the knife over it can slip and fall into your lap and give you a very personal greeting you're not likely to forget!

G2
 
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I'm incredibly impressed! That looks great. Is there a book somewhere that describes how to handle wrap like that?

Joe
jat@cup.hp.com
 
Really beautiful work, Gary! You've just inspired me to have a go at my Hobbit Fang. I checked out the handle wrap thread & think I'm pretty clear on the folds & wraps. However, I'd appreciate it if you could go over the final wrap at the end of the handle. TIA.

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Cheers,
--+Brian+--
 
The end, well as you work your way up to the hole, again the lace I use is black shoe lace, get the widest and longest ones 72" just to be sure, and make the points of the ends sharp like a needle.

When you get to the hole you'll have lace on either side, I sew one in the hole, then the other, working my way to the end of the knife, it will get pretty tight and I used my Swiss Army Tool pliers to pull the last lace through. Then take a very sharp knife or I used the scissors on my smaller SAK and nipped off the two laces where they came through the hole.

Hope this helps, it's best to get a block of wood or something similar shape as the knife your going to work on to practice the wrapping part.

G2
 
Try using some soft jaw vice grips on the sides of the knife to hold each wrap in place while you turn the knife over. It also keeps the wrap/lace pretty tight, plus you can set it down and come back to it later.

Nice job Gary!

Take care,
Tom
 
Cute! G2, guess you have some good japanese swordmakers blood running in your veins
smile.gif


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Tea drinker and hellraiser from Northern Sweden, above the arctic circle.

 
Looks great! And it's a great idea.

I've been thinking of trying something like this. There are many inexpensive skeletal FB's which perform very well like the Boye, all they need is a wrap to improve the grip.

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Regards,
Ron Knight

Yeah I'm crazy, but what do you want me to do about it
 
Ron,

I had been thinking of getting a Stiff Kiss (after posting and reading this I thought I'd better clarify, not a Kiss from Ron, a knife called the Stiff Kiss, but I'm sure you'all knew that
wink.gif
) and doing the same thing to that handle, they seem to be of fairly good quality and inexpensive.

The wrap works best on knives that have a straight handle and rounded end.

G2

[This message has been edited by Gary W. Graley (edited 07 May 1999).]
 
G2,
Great job. I think you're going to get much busier! You sir, are an Art-Teest!
smile.gif

K2
 
Thanks for the kind words, but I felt that the diamond pattern could have been a little better, I thought that others could get an idea or two from it so I posted it up. Take care when using that epoxy, it's heady stuff!

G2
 
Gary,
I was practicing the wrap earlier today and ran into difficulty with the folds. When I would tighten up the wrap, the neat folds illustrated in the other messgae thread turned into rather unsightly twists. Should the wrap be somewhat loose, relying on the epoxy to hold it in place, or does it seem like I'm missing something? Thanks again.

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Cheers,

--+Brian+--

 
The neat folds shown on the other thread are for demonstration purposes I think, you must keep the folds tight and try and center the twist in the middle, as you wrap around to the other side keep them tight, the suggestion about about the vise grips might be a great idea for this, haven't got one yet but can see how it would help. Again you need to keep the twist in the middle, it depends on how wide a handle you have as to how well the folds appear. Practice on a block of wood the same size as the handle a few times, it'll strengthen you grip after a while!
smile.gif


Gee, wish I was there to help! maybe I'll crop the section of the handle and post it up as well, I'll see how that works and let you know.
G2

------------------
When a fellow says, "it ain't the money but the principle of the thing,"
it's the money.
F. McKinney Hubbard
 
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