Rehandle my Frankenstein

P

Poleaxe

Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
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I have a John Fitzen frankenstein and I currently have a black paracord wrap on the handle. I would like to have a different handle material as I believe the wrap is just not as durable or practical as Micarta slabs or something similar.My questions are as follows.

1. How easy would it be for me to rehandle it myself?

2. If I do have someone rehandle it does anyone know an approximate amount someone might charge for some micarta or hard wood re handle job?
 
You need something to shape the micarta with. It handles very much like wood. If you have the time and desire making the micarta yourself is easy and rewarding.

To shape I use a 1" × 30" belt sander, sandpaper, brass pins (stock can be found at hobby and maybe hardware stores) and two part epoxy.

Find a handle shape that you like and try to mimic it.

It's really pretty straight forward. If you have any specific questions just ask. :)
 
Strigamort said:
You need something to shape the micarta with. It handles very much like wood. If you have the time and desire making the micarta yourself is easy and rewarding.

To shape I use a 1" × 30" belt sander, sandpaper, brass pins (stock can be found at hobby and maybe hardware stores) and two part epoxy.

Find a handle shape that you like and try to mimic it.

It's really pretty straight forward. If you have any specific questions just ask. :)
Click to expand...

I do have access to those tools..The handle is full tang and is quite substantial with a arching curvature , I wonder if this would make things more difficult . I can post a picture of it if you think it would help.
 
If you want to buy micarta there are knife supply places online that stock many colors and options of thickness and material used to make it, paper, linen, canvas etc.

Once you have your stock you'd then trace the handle shape onto the micarta with a sharpie then cut it out with some sort of saw. From there shaping is easy, but I recommend looking at some other knives (or at pics at the very least) for inspiration so that you don't end up with scales that create hot spots during use. Of course you also need to take into account the thickness of the tang so that you don't end up with a grip that is too wide.

Micarta (and this particular project in general) is pretty forgiving, and is something you can learn as you do it. Very different than grinding metal stock, at least in my experience.
 
Thanks a lot man. If I would rather have someone else do it, any idea on what something like that would cost?
 
I have no idea at all. If I still had my shop I'd have done it for fun.

You could ask in the services forum. I think there is a services forum anyway. :)
 
I'm not sure if I would agree with Strigamort as far as it handling like wood... yea kinda, but not really I found that it saws, sands, and files a bit differently... but still I can see how there are similarities... anyways, you don't really need a bunch of equipment, take a read of the PDF in the link below, basic wood working tools is all that is really needed.

Handle Tutorial - Nick Wheeler-PDF http://www.mediafire.com/?02ra4do6xyzayeq

Note: link stolen from the Counts v. Twenty something of the Counts standard reply to new knife makers
 
I didn't intend for that to be a deciding factor on whether or not one should try their hand at working micarta. Still, it's my opinion that if a person has the tools, ability OR will (or time) to try, woodworking is not far off in terms of what one might expect when considering working with micarta. In other words, if you've had success with working with wood in the past I believe some of that experience will transfer over.

In some ways I think micarta working is even better (or more forgiving, however you want to look at it) because it is typically harder than wood, which allows for more time against a powered tool before a mistake is made. This, of course, goes out the window if you become careless, tired, distracted etc.

Also, I didn't mean to insinuate that the tools I listed are necessary or complete. Like knife sharpening or even making you can do quite a bit with very little. Basic woodworking tools are all you need. I completely agree. :)
 
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