Starting a re-handle thread to

J

jamestap

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Jul 7, 2014
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Stumps inspired me to do a re-handle job. I don't even know what knife these will go on. Or I may go buy a knife kit from WoodCraft. Anyway, I started this thread as motivation to finish the project.

I started tonight by resawing some face-matching blanks from this chunk of Texas mesquite:


Kinda breaks my heart to think people burn it.



Face-matched blanks will come from the figured center of two of those pieces.

Though I have a perfectly good 14" bandsaw, it's behind more crap in the garage than I care to deal with, so I cut them with a Japanese handsaw and rip blade. If you've never cut with a good Japanese handsaw, get one. You'll likely throw your Western saws away.

Besides not wanting to pull out the bandsaw and mount a fresh blade, hand-sawing is therapeutic to me. And they leave an awesome finish.



More details & pictures as the project progresses.
 
We crossed the point of no-return this morning, starting with a Buck 112:





I did quite a bit of shaping on the handles today, but no pics yet.

I selected the blank at the bottom in the picture above, for the dark little knot out at the edge. The flip side of one of the other pieces matches it.

The problem is, the knot on that bottom blank is right on the edge of my heartwood, so I had to put it right at the edge of my handle to include it. That particular piece is right on the edge of the limb, so not as much thickness to work with as I'd like.

Shaping a knot right on the edge of a piece of mesquite is a ticklish proposition, it will tear out very easily. In fact, once everything is shaped to final dimensions, I will probably stabilize the wood with a mixture of super glue and water.
 
Ok, finally some progress to report:

Screwed up first pair of blanks, but learned a lot from it.

Even though the 112 is already a bit thick, I wanted rounded grips that sit a little proud, but still "pillowed in" flush with the bolsters. This required most of the shaping/fitting to be done prior to glue up.

Here's what I ended up with;




Since I'm a one-man show, I can't take pics of the work being done, so here's some of the tools & techniques:

First, my "stationary" belt sander (high-end, don't you think?)



If you noticed the curly shavings in the first pic, they were made with the convex end of the card scraper (top.). I used it to smooth the uneven surfaces left by the belt sander and fine-tune the radius. The curve matched perfectly. A simple card scraper also burnishes the wood to a smoother finish than 220 sandpaper:


I couldn't handle the scream of the sander after shaping the first grip, so I switched to a Nicholson #50 cabinet makers rasp (above.)

The Nic 49 & 50 rasps were awesome wood-shaping tools, till they off-shored production. Their current products are junk. If you enjoy woodworking/shaping and run into a Nic #49 or 50 rasp made in the U.S., grab it.



Now it's wait for the epoxy to cure.
 
Nicholson's offshore now? I become more jaded daily.

Great work by the way. As far as that first set goes, remember the manufacturing maxim. Experience is directly proportional to material ruined.
 
I admire your use of basic tools for this project. While I am sure it is not by choice, it is commendable, and will make the finished product all the more impressive
 
davek14 said:
Nicholson's offshore now? I become more jaded daily.

Great work by the way. As far as that first set goes, remember the manufacturing maxim. Experience is directly proportional to material ruined.
Click to expand...

Yup. Another one bites the dust:-(
 
Well, here's what she looks like with the new mesquite furniture (no finish applied yet)





One I boogered up the bolsters a bit, I decided to go all the way & make things more ergonomic. Absolutely love the new grip. Everything is finished to 800-grit wet-or-dry. I like the slightly satin look of the metal.



Unfortunately, I forgot what too much of a good thing can lead to, especially when running a bench grinder:



If I do much more of this, the bandsaw will come out of mothballs;-)

That mesquite grain is gonna look good once I get the finish applied.
 
First coat is witches brew, equal parts oil-based varnish, mineral spirits,& boiled linseed oil.

Most any oil-based finish will highlight grain, but witches brew really pops it.
 
Looks good. I really like how you reprofiled the handle. Looks much sleeker. I'm impressed.
 
I also like the reprofiled bolsters!
 
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