Leather Handles

E

eskrimaworks

Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
24
To begin with, I've been saving several pics of your leather handles in a folder on Instagram. It's a great tool for viewing your work, and it's given me a few additional questions to ask.

I've noticed that sometimes the leather appears to be smooth like an Estwing or Randall, while other pics appear to be rougher. Is this on purpose/by request, or did this get smoother as the smiths gained experience shaping these handles?

Additionally, will a leather handle lighten a finished knife over a wood handle with an identical tang?

Aside from this, will treating the handle with oil or leather conditioner weaken the epoxy holding the washers together?

On a different note, it seems to me that the metal spacers would serve to give structure to the handle as the epoxy cures. Is this their purpose, or are they decorative?

My last question was going to be about the relative softness/hardness of the finished handle. Fortunately, I found a post that described their handle as unexpectedly hard or tough. I see this as a positive attribute rivaling the feel of a wood handle, but having superior toughness (if accidentally dropped).

The project I have in mind will prioritize lightness and speed over power. Tapered tang, stick tang and performance grinds are definitely what I have in mind. Trying to get a better idea on which handle materials will be best for what I intend.

Respectfully,
E.
 
Last edited:
I’ve had the best luck with stacked leather by epoxying them with GFlex at glue up and then sealing the edges with CA. Works for me.
 
Scotchmon said:
I’ve had the best luck with stacked leather by epoxying them with GFlex at glue up and then sealing the edges with CA. Works for me.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply. Although I do appreciate your input, the project I'm referring to will be for Kailash Blades to build. Please, accept my apologies. In reading my initial post, I can see that it may give a different impression than I meant it to.

Respectfully,
E.
 
Last edited:
eskrimaworks said:
Thank you for your reply. Although I do appreciate your input, the project I'm referring to will be for Kailash Blades to build. Please, accept my apologies. In reading my ininial post, I can see that it may give a different impression than I meant it to.

Respectfully,
E.
Click to expand...
And I probably didn’t read it thoroughly. Good luck on your build!
 
Hey there!
- Smoothness of the handle is dictated by the smoothness of the blade finish selected. We're currently experimenting with fully sealed CyanoAcrolyte finishes on our polished handles as mentioned by Scotchmon Scotchmon . Such handles will be very glossy, hard and not particuarly grippy.
-Stacked leather handles will save weight versus a identical rosewood version of the same handle. It will be even lighter if you choose to omit the handle ring and the metal spacers.
- Not in our experience, no
-The handle spacers are purely decorative. From a functional perspective, we actually prefer a handle with no spacers. They are lighter, do not freeze the hand in subzero temps and they also glue up better due tot he porous nature of the leather vs the smooth impermeable metal.
-Our stacked leather handles are harder than some other ones on the market. This is mostly due to the buffalo leather that we use. It's a lot more rigid and is also more stable when exposed to water. It is softer and grippier than wood. However, it's closer to wood than say a rubber handle.

The stacked leather handle should be a great choice for the type of blade that you're describing. It will save weight, feel good in the hand, and in satin finish particular will give a lovely passive grip.
 
Last edited:
The more I look at it the more I see how the light and dark browns compliment each other in a way that's more pleasing to my eye than black and grey. I think this is more about individual preference, though. Functionally speaking, I would think that it's the same quality and type of leather.

Do you have any more pics of brown buffalo leather handles?

Respectfully,
E.
 
Hey there- None of these examples show a CA finish.
All but the brown pensioner are polished finish blades and so have corresponding polished finish handles. It shows up more in some photos than others depending on lighting.
We do not have brown as an option for stacked leather handles. With the current leather we have available the colour difference is very minor between brown leather and black leather. The black and grey banding shown in the leuku photo is a result of a specific batch of leather we had four years ago. It is not indicative of current handle colouration. We struggle to find consistent material colours here in Nepal even for things as simple as fabric.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top