Recommendation? How to determine the proper thickness of handles?

AVigil said:
In use of a knife you never hold it in a fist grip
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Never?

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Horsewright said:
Thinner at the front and thinner at the back. Thinner on the bottom side too. A quote from Kit Carson many years ago helped me: "an oval shaped rectangle or a rectangular oval."
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A year or so ago I was looking at a knife that you (Dave) did and thinking the handle was flatter on the sides than I "thought" it should be. So I tried to mimic that handle shape on the next knife I did. Felt really nice in my hand. I was definitely rounding things more than I should have at that point in my learning.
 
Randydb said:
A year or so ago I was looking at a knife that you (Dave) did and thinking the handle was flatter on the sides than I "thought" it should be. So I tried to mimic that handle shape on the next knife I did. Felt really nice in my hand. I was definitely rounding things more than I should have at that point in my learning.
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Good deal!
 
I find that 3/4" thick seems to be the sweet spot for most people buying my knives. Then again I did say "for most people", you can't satisfy them all but, you can satisfy the majority.
 
Randydb said:
A year or so ago I was looking at a knife that you (Dave) did and thinking the handle was flatter on the sides than I "thought" it should be. So I tried to mimic that handle shape on the next knife I did. Felt really nice in my hand. I was definitely rounding things more than I should have at that point in my learning.
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I'm going through that stage right now.
 
how do you guys round your edges ? someone on the first page mentioned a router. sounds dangerous. :( i do my profile all around the handle so its flush ith the metal, then i do a 45 degree angle all around the edge so there is a approx 1/8"-3/16 flat spot all around the edge. then lightly round the edges of those flat spots holding the file at a 22 degree ( half of a 45 angle )then i cut 1/4 wide strips of sandpaper and round those with the "shoeshine method". some people use slack/scalloped belts for this.
 
john april said:
how do you guys round your edges ? someone on the first page mentioned a router. sounds dangerous. :( i do my profile all around the handle so its flush ith the metal, then i do a 45 degree angle all around the edge so there is a approx 1/8"-3/16 flat spot all around the edge. then lightly round the edges of those flat spots holding the file at a 22 degree ( half of a 45 angle )then i cut 1/4 wide strips of sandpaper and round those with the "shoeshine method". some people use slack/scalloped belts for this.
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still pretty new to this, so take this with a grain of salt- I like a fully sculpted handle generally, so I'll do bulk removal with the machine and then fine tune with files. The I go back to the machine, then back to the files. Once the shape is 95% of the way there with the filed finish, I'll use a dowel wrapped in neoprene and start sanding away at it. I've seen some really good knife makers sketch out the main contours on their handles before getting started in order to ensure symmetry. I think that's a great idea, and hopefully will convince myself one day to do that. Until then, my handles only pretend to have symmetry
 
john april said:
how do you guys round your edges ? someone on the first page mentioned a router. sounds dangerous. :( i do my profile all around the handle so its flush ith the metal, then i do a 45 degree angle all around the edge so there is a approx 1/8"-3/16 flat spot all around the edge. then lightly round the edges of those flat spots holding the file at a 22 degree ( half of a 45 angle )then i cut 1/4 wide strips of sandpaper and round those with the "shoeshine method". some people use slack/scalloped belts for this.
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I do pretty close to what you say - sand flush to the edge of the tang all around, then still on the grinder sand a 45 degree flat around the edge of both sides of the tang, then I shift to slack belt with scalloped belts, and round the edges and refine the finish down to finer and finer grits (still using scalloped belts on the slack belt). things are a little different if I narrow the width front and back (like horsewright says) .... which seems especially needed when I have a bolster in place. There, I carefully sand the sides (flats) of the scales to achieve the tapers, and then I proceed with the flattening and rounding of the edges....
 
That's a fantastic question, John. I'm still figuring that out, too... sigh....

Here's my current project. I stopped grinding the handle to shape when I realized this was just not going to work. I think the tang is too long and I need to come up with a new plan before grinding away enough olive wood that it is too late.

I would LOVE anyone's ideas, pleeeeeeeeaaaaase!!!

(I started a thread on this, too: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/help-i-dont-know-what-to-do-with-this-handle.1818273/)
 

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john april said:
how do you guys round your edges ? someone on the first page mentioned a router. sounds dangerous. :( i do my profile all around the handle so its flush ith the metal, then i do a 45 degree angle all around the edge so there is a approx 1/8"-3/16 flat spot all around the edge. then lightly round the edges of those flat spots holding the file at a 22 degree ( half of a 45 angle )then i cut 1/4 wide strips of sandpaper and round those with the "shoeshine method". some people use slack/scalloped belts for this.
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John, I use a spindle sander to "break" the corners. I use it the whole length of the handle including the bolster if any. I've sanded previously (on the belt) up to 220 but in a square fashion. Each side and the top. is done up to 220. This pretty much leaves a square corner. I break this corner with the spindle sander and a 120 grit spindle. I then come back to the grinder and hit it with a 320 slack belt in an upward motion. That is I sand the flats of the handle and roll the top into the slack belt further rounding off the corner and smoothing it out from the 120 grit hope this makes sense. I'm holding the knife upside down and am working it up against the slack belt. I will often tip the point of the knife quite a bit up so as not to hit the blade any when doing the bolster as I've pulled the tape off the blade at this stage as I'm also going to start finishing the spine. Edit to add: I do the entire spine of the knife at 320 on the slack belt at 90 degrees to the spine. I do this first before starting to roll up over the corners. I'll do the top of the spine the back end and the bottom inside curves as much as I can before starting on the corners. As I'm doing the corners I'm gonna be contacting the spine anyhoo. I then go over to a 400 grit belt and hit the spine, in line, perpendicular to the 320 scratches after the corners are done. I then switch to a 600 grit belt just for the spine and the parts (top, back and some of the bottom) I can reach on an 8" wheel. This is also in line with the spine not perpendicular. Pretty much done with the machines and hand sand the handles after that starting at 330 and working up depending on the material.
 
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I do the rough work on a small wheel on my grinder and then sanding drums in a Foredom
 
Shinto saw rasp, blade clamped in a vice. Works great and fast enough for me. It does reasonably well on brass without dulling or breaking teeth. The fine side leaves a decent finish to start hand sanding.
 
I'm working on a prototype for a fella, and it doesn't need to be a real knife- just shaped like one. For this type of work I'll use soft materials that are easy and quick to work with- in this case aluminum and some untreated wood. It's all press fit together with brass tube. If you are looking to dial in your handle game, this is a really helpful approach. There's not much to lose, particularly your time, since it's fast work. Apart from profiling the aluminum template, there are no power tools required- just some files. My feeling is that once you can shape a handle with files, you can move to a machine to do the same thing faster and with harder materials, with better results since you have already made what you want. You just need to replicate and then remember how fast you can destroy your work once you get that motor running
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