Rehandle a Mora in the Bush

J

JMAN86

Joined
Sep 7, 2009
Messages
303
Saw this video by ungnaturkraft and thought you Mora users would enjoy it. I'm thinking about cutting a handle off or buying a blank just to try this!

[youtube]UJWkU-QQbqA[/youtube]
 
Loved watching that. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
The fire crackling, sitting out there, in that wonderful weather, making a handle for his Mora. Good to know. Thanks for sharing that.
 
Great idea. And hearing the campfire cracking in the background really made me wish I were there.
 
No offense, but that's clearly a knife blank. What are the chances of a partial tang knife with a molded plastic handle breaking off so perfectly under use? With a mora, if the handle breaks somehow, the chances of the tang being intact (let alone the entirety of it) is VERY slim.

I mean it's a great video on handling a knife, but I wouldn't call it a rehandling video.
 
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killa_concept said:
No offense, but that's clearly a knife blank. What are the chances of a partial tang knife with a molded plastic handle breaking off so perfectly under use? With a mora, if the handle breaks somehow, the chances of the tang (let alone the entirety of it) being intact is VERY slim.

I mean it's a great video on handling a knife, but I wouldn't call it a rehandling video.
Click to expand...


I'm sure the maker of this video didn't sit around the woods with a camera waiting for the perfect handle failure. It was a demonstration.
 
That was great.
I'm going to do some birch bark handling this week, but this is very tempting.
On a side note, for anyone looking at blade blanks for something like this, I just got the oft-overlooked Helle Tollkniven laminated carbon blade any its possibly the best blank you can get with a stick tang... check out the specs at Ragnar's...
 
killa_concept said:
No offense, but that's clearly a knife blank. What are the chances of a partial tang knife with a molded plastic handle breaking off so perfectly under use? With a mora, if the handle breaks somehow, the chances of the tang being intact (let alone the entirety of it) is VERY slim.

I mean it's a great video on handling a knife, but I wouldn't call it a rehandling video.
Click to expand...

So you figure he took the time to buy a blank and bring a spare sheath out for deception purposes?
Come on.
No need to snark what was obviously a great post.
 
Coyja said:
That was great.
I'm going to do some birch bark handling this week, but this is very tempting.
On a side note, for anyone looking at blade blanks for something like this, I just got the oft-overlooked Helle Tollkniven laminated carbon blade any its possibly the best blank you can get with a stick tang... check out the specs at Ragnar's...
Click to expand...


I've been looking at Helle for a while and I can't wait to buy and use one. I'm stuck between the Eggen and Fjellkniven but I'm sure any of their products will be a great choice.
 
JMAN86 said:
I've been looking at Helle for a while and I can't wait to buy and use one. I'm stuck between the Eggen and Fjellkniven but I'm sure any of their products will be a great choice.
Click to expand...

But you could do exactly what was done in this video for less than $20, for nearly ANY Helle blade.
For the price of ONE of those knives you mentioned, you could handle THREE.
I paid $10 for enough precut Birch bark slabs to do TWO knife handles.
I'll have a post up with pics in a week or so.

In all seriousness, Helle knives are fantastic.
Both of those you mentioned are top notch.
A Helle blade that you handled yourself is even better...
 
Coyja said:
So you figure he took the time to buy a blank and bring a spare sheath out for deception purposes?
Come on.
No need to snark what was obviously a great post.
Click to expand...

First, I said it was a great video and you're the one who's using the term deception - I would go more for misrepresentation or unrealistic demonstration. And yes, I'm 95% sure that's a blank - they're actually quite affordable and neat projects if you prefer wood handled scandis and want the satisfaction of making it yourself.

All I'm saying is that the chances of needing to (I guess I should say getting to) rehandle a plastic molded knife is quite slim. A wooden handled one might crack and require replacement sure - but a plastic-molded one is probably not going to break unless it's catastrophic failure of the tang, in which case you're SoL.
 
Coyja said:
But you could do exactly what was done in this video for less than $20, for nearly ANY Helle blade.
For the price of ONE of those knives you mentioned, you could handle THREE.
I paid $10 for enough precut Birch bark slabs to do TWO knife handles.
I'll have a post up with pics in a week or so.

In all seriousness, Helle knives are fantastic.
Both of those you mentioned are top notch.
A Helle blade that you handled yourself is even better...
Click to expand...

I would love to see some pictures of that. Do you think the blade will stay pretty solid in place after some time passes? I've never put my own handles on.
 
JMAN86 said:
I would love to see some pictures of that. Do you think the blade will stay pretty solid in place after some time passes? I've never put my own handles on.
Click to expand...

If you're handling the knife at home, you're much better off drilling a hole for the tang and using epoxy... holds better and less chance of the wood cracking.
 
JMAN86 said:
I would love to see some pictures of that. Do you think the blade will stay pretty solid in place after some time passes? I've never put my own handles on.
Click to expand...

If you're talking birch bark, then I'm saying yes, based on some vintage bark handled knives I've seen. Plus, the process requires no glue, and very few tools. A vice is the biggest tool required. So, if it does fail, its like $5 for more bark (free if you harvest it yourself) to make a new one... (or you can follow the vid above).

I bought a Viking blank for myself (laminated carbon), and a Tollkniv blade (lam carbon) for my buddy, and we're going to work on these together on Friday as an Xmas thing... I wanted the smaller blade of the Viking, but the Tollkniv is seriously beafy for a stick tang blade.
There are actually birches in my buddy's yard. After I show him this vid, he may go another direction with his handle!

The Tollkniv from Helle with handle has a bit of an awkward look, but the blade itself is TOUGH.
Check it out. Its only $16! Not much to lose there...
 
killa_concept said:
All I'm saying is that the chances of needing to (I guess I should say getting to) rehandle a plastic molded knife is quite slim. A wooden handled one might crack and require replacement sure - but a plastic-molded one is probably not going to break unless it's catastrophic failure of the tang, in which case you're SoL.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you enjoyed the video but I don't really know what you were expecting.

I agree the chance of needing to rehandle a plastic molded knife is slim but so is the chance of ever being in a real survival or self-reliance situation. A slim chance of losing my knife and lighter doesn't stop me from learning about friction fires and flint knapping. How is rehandling a Mora any different?
 
Coyja said:
If you're talking birch bark, then I'm saying yes, based on some vintage bark handled knives I've seen. Plus, the process requires no glue, and very few tools. A vice is the biggest tool required. So, if it does fail, its like $5 for more bark (free if you harvest it yourself) to make a new one... (or you can follow the vid above).

I bought a Viking blank for myself (laminated carbon), and a Tollkniv blade (lam carbon) for my buddy, and we're going to work on these together on Friday as an Xmas thing... I wanted the smaller blade of the Viking, but the Tollkniv is seriously beafy for a stick tang blade.
There are actually birches in my buddy's yard. After I show him this vid, he may go another direction with his handle!

The Tollkniv from Helle with handle has a bit of an awkward look, but the blade itself is TOUGH.
Check it out. Its only $16! Not much to lose there...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Coyja and good luck with the project. I looked around a little bit and Helle blanks are much, much less $$. This might really be the best way to go. Plus, like you said, making your own is just that much better.
 
killa_concept said:
No offense, but that's clearly a knife blank. What are the chances of a partial tang knife with a molded plastic handle breaking off so perfectly under use? With a mora, if the handle breaks somehow, the chances of the tang being intact (let alone the entirety of it) is VERY slim.
I mean it's a great video on handling a knife, but I wouldn't call it a rehandling video.
Click to expand...

Actually it's not a slim chance, a couple of times I've seen that happen.
The knife probely did not break doing abuse of the knife. More likley the hole blade just slipped out of the plastic handle. They arn't glue together.

That said, I don't know what happend. It could be a blank, but there is a very real chance it's not. :)
 
At first I was like: What?!

Then I turned up the volume- fresh, green wood: Hmm? OK. Interesting

A branch in the round is prone to radial splits. you could rub some pitch on it/seal it somehow or it will surely split as it dries. But is it supposed to be permanent or get you through the next 2-3 days?

how would this scenario play out around here: Lost my first knife; then lost the second. Then on my third, the handle broke and pieces lost. Good thing I have my saw and axe and camera
 
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