Belt sander, even a cheap one from Chrome Despot or Blowes will do.
Epoxy (if you want to go that way)
Some emory cloth. Comes in rolls, various grits, and can be found at your local hobby store or automotive supply house.
Drill of some sort. A drill press is the best, but a handheld battery powered one will work as well, you just have to be..........careful.
Here's how I do it, so, take it for what its worth.
Pick your knife. I have a few "dummy" knives that I use, because you will get into the metal to do it right. I cut slabs or buy slabs of micarta or G10, usually 3/8" for a full size handle.
Take your slabs, and clamp them together, if you don't have a clamp, use duct tape. Mark your outline of your handle onto the micarta/G10. Take your drill, and drill your holes, while they are clamped/taped together. There is where the care comes into play, if you are using a handheld drill. If you are off angle on your bit, your holes will be off angle.
Once you have the appropriate size hole all the way through, take your belt sander and grind away all of the excess material. A jigsaw or coping saw comes in handy for fast material removal, but the belt sander will take it off as well. Stop at the line, don't go any further.
Unclamp/tape them, put them on your dummy knife. Grab the belt sander, and take away any overage. If you are using a painted blade, if you see metal, you went to far. If you are using an uncoated blade, look for striations to begin where the belt is just barely touching the metal. Stop there.
Remove the handles, drill out your holes to accomodate your hardware heads and nuts. You can cut a perfect fit for the nut, but you'll need a 3/16" chisel and a soft blow hammer. Go slow, and don't over drill.
Finish taking the rest of the material from the front of the handles, the part that points to the blade. Now, what I do, is put the handles back on the blade, clamp it in a vise, take me about a 2' long piece of the emory cloth, and use the emory cloth like a wire saw on the handles. You'll see how fast you are taking the material away.
Once you get it where you want it, change up to some higher grit, and buff out the sanding marks.
You'll see what I mean.
That's how I do it, you will find your own way, of course, but that will get you moving.
Moose
