How thick do you guys make your folder handles?

[Matt Shade]

I've been looking through alot of pictures on here and have seen some really nice stuff. Alot of you guys are knocking out some really cool folders, and some of them seem to have really rounded/sculpted handle shapes. I've been wondering how thick you make the handle/scales when you do it that way. Seems like if you stayed with a slim handle and rounded things out that much you would end up kind of thin around the edges.

So far I've been making them around 3/8" thick. Gives me some room to work with but I've been thinking of trying some thicker stuff.

 

[Chuck Gedraitis Knives]

Matt,
It depends on the material that I am working with. I try to keep it around 1/8 because most of my bolster stock is 1/8. Working with pearl is easy, you can grind it and the bolster together. Mammoth ivory is another story, you have to be careful because you are paying for the color. You have to grind the bolster to match the natural radius of the ivory. This is sometimes difficult. If I have thin bolster stock I have handles that are 1/8 in the center and 1/16 or less around the edges, but the whole handle is nicely rounded.

 

[hank_rearden]

makers try to put ergos on the handle profile but there's a limit to that since it's supposed to hide the blade (at least the cutting edge).

my suggestion is a little swelling of the inserts in the middle part to nearly twice the thickness of the bolsters on either end. the ends of the inserts could then be gound to the same height as the bolsters. this will provide a slight palm swell that's secure since the bolsters are kept low and the hand will close around the swelling. filipino balisong makers often do this since a straight stab at a hard object with a bali is a scary proposition (and filipino makers don't seem to like integral hilts in their blades).

 

[Matt Shade]

Thanks guys
When I said I made them 3/8" I meant overall. I've been using 1/8" stock for scales.

Anyone else?

Mr. Mayo? What about those TNT's. I'm guessing its .125 Ti slabs on there, is it? Is the spine open, or do you put a backspacer in to avoid sharp edges on the scales?

Anyone else?

 

[Peter Atwood]

Matt, 1/8" is a good thickness for framelock handle slabs but you can go thinner. I use a lot of .100 for a slightly slimmer pocket "print". You could make the liners thinner if you were doing bolsters and overlays and in that case 1/8" material seems to be the most common.

The TNTs I've seen were out of 1/8" slabs as far as I can tell...