Is this a bad idea for first knife?

Get a sawzall blade and grind away all but the last 5 teeth at the end.

Very often someone who does construction has one in carbide that has the top teeth worn or damaged, but the tip is virtually untouched. They will be glad to give you one ... or a handful.

Dunk in water often when grinding to prevent ruining the temper. When the tang is slightly smaller than the width of the teeth and the broach is about 7" long (as in the photo) epoxy it in a wooden handle so about 4" sticks out. No need for rivets. A plain 1" dowel or broomstick will work fine or make one from a piece of nice handle wood that has a small imperfection.
 
Great! I'll keep an eye on them. I ordered a compass saw with replaceable blades which is, sort of, the closest thing I could find.
 
Ok, updates:
- Opened the cavity a bit with a small chisel and a small file, plus some drill action.
- Chopped off 1/2 inch of the tang with a hacksaw.
- Filed and sanded a brass bolster.
- Ensuring that the blade fitted was tricky! I hammered the proto handle into the tang and it was so tight I had to hammer delicately out again.
- Made the epoxy mix. The 40m epoxy I have was a lot runnier than 5m epoxy. I tilted the "handle" to hammer it in the tang and quite a bit ran out.
- Hammered handle into tang with bolster. It's pretty close but slightly tilted to one side. There's enough wood to play with to get the handle straight by removing material. Note: the fit is so tight that it's impossible to displace in any direction. Almost makes you wonder if you need epoxy.
 
Lately I have been avoiding making a cavity almost entirely, by drilling a hole and using a split dowel. I find it faster, less tool intensive and less likely to ruin a nice piece of handle material if you happen to mess up.

You mention that epoxy might not even be needed - you might be right, I have made a handle that is not glued (hammered on, then I couldn't get it off, so I finished it) and has been going strong for two years in a professional kitchen.

Mark
 
Mark van Elteren said:
You mention that epoxy might not even be needed - you might be right, I have made a handle that is not glued (hammered on, then I couldn't get it off, so I finished it) and has been going strong for two years in a professional kitchen.

Mark
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I might try that at some point on purpose. Half hammer the handle in, add some some thin slices of wood, and hammer the rest of the way in. Worst case scenario it splits the handle.
 
J-T-K said:
I might try that at some point on purpose. Half hammer the handle in, add some some thin slices of wood, and hammer the rest of the way in. Worst case scenario it splits the handle.
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I'd recommend you try it with a piece with interlocked grain, something straight will quite likely split immediately or later down the road.
 
In the meantime a random selection of wood arrived from an online vendor. It's in somewhat random sized blocks that have been treated and have waxed ends. The smallest blocks would do a handle, and the largest definitely at least two.

Selection has: sweet chestnut, yew, English oak, lime, cherry, tulipwood, idigbo, iroku and meranti. I'm quite excited about the yew, and the meranti has interesting colour and pattern.

Welcome to the addiction! Man, I love yew. In the states I use yew from Pacific NW whereas I assume you are using English yew. Both are gorgeous. I've heard yew called "the cognac of woods". It's pretty soft though so I stabilize mine.
 
Hardest softwood, they say! Much harder than many hardwoods. It's been used for so many hundreds of years like beech, birch and oak have, that I'd expect it to be a decent performer. Looks and smells amazing.
 
J-T-K said:
I might try that at some point on purpose. Half hammer the handle in, add some some thin slices of wood, and hammer the rest of the way in. Worst case scenario it splits the handle.
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Most of the Japanese WA handles are just friction fit or traditionally burnt in. Close fit and as some forum members advice wax to seal it off.
 
Walt Edwards said:
I I'm quite excited about the yew, and the meranti has interesting colour and pattern.

Welcome to the addiction! Man, I love yew. In the states I use yew from Pacific NW whereas I assume you are using English yew. Both are gorgeous. I've heard yew called "the cognac of woods". It's pretty soft though so I stabilize mine.
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Me too ...:) I will try to find picture of one other knife /hunter/ with Yew handle ...madness
RH1AMhE.jpg

ER7ewJb.jpg
 
J-T-K said:
Hardest softwood, they say! Much harder than many hardwoods. It's been used for so many hundreds of years like beech, birch and oak have, that I'd expect it to be a decent performer. Looks and smells amazing.
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Read this .................https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata

Due to all parts of the yew and its volatile oils being poisonous and cardiotoxic, a mask should be worn if one comes in contact with sawdust from the wood.
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N Natlek Pacific Yew may be a less toxic alternative?

https://www.drugs.com/npp/yew.html
Taxus brevifolia, the Pacific yew, contains lower levels of taxine and tends to be less poisonous.
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https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/taxbre/all.html
Pacific yew is reportedly toxic to domestic livestock [65,77], but
conclusive evidence of toxicity is lacking [15,37]. The closely related
English yew (Taxus baccata) is poisonous to cattle, horses, sheep,
rabbits, and man [66]. Some researchers report that Pacific yew is
similarly toxic, particularly when cut, piled, and allowed to rot [32].
However, in many areas livestock appear to browse branches "with
impunity" [70]. Livestock use is generally limited to the winter months
or periods of food scarcity [15].
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https://bighornbotanicals.com/toxicity
European yews (Taxus baccata) and Japanese yews (Taxus cuspidata) are poisonous because they contain toxic amounts of the cardiotoxic alkalodial fraction named 'taxine'.

Taxus brevifolia got a bad rap due to guilt-by-association and that is why many websites, encyclopedias and botanical publications list Taxus brevifolia as poisonous.

There are no documented instances of poisoning in humans or animals with Taxus brevifolia.

"The cardiotoxic alkaloidal fraction 'taxine' is relatively abundant in Taxus baccata (European Yew) and even more so in Taxus cuspidata (Japanese Yew), which are the most frequent causes of stock poisonings by yew, but the taxine fraction is almost absent in Taxus brevifolia, and Pacific Yew is indeed a frequent browse of moose, elk and deer." (Suffness (1995), Taxol Science and Applications, page 8).
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