Recommendation? Wa-handle Blocks Sizes and Wood Types

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honingblades

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Oct 4, 2018
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Hello,

I'm getting ready to send my first set of knives for heat treatment and I started looking at wa-handles for them.

Can someone recommend a good starting size block? Would 2"x2"x5" pen turning blocks work for a handle? I also saw some that were 6" in length that were also 2x2.

Also, what's a good starting out wood to use? Some of the exotic woods are quite expensive. More than the metal in most cases so I would like to start out with something pretty cheap.
 
Ironwood. Good value
Wenge also

What’s your final handle size?
I Try to get the smallest closest block to the size that I want to minimize waste or I get double the size and I get 2 handles out of the block

Most standard block sizes you waste 30 or 40% and I hate that

The back end of the wa handle is about 26 mm or about 1-1.05”

Pettys have smaller handles
 
If you're making true hidden tang wa handles, and especially if you attach the blades with beeswax or hot glue instead of epoxy, you can make perfectly functional handles with any non stabilized wood without any issues. I started by making a half dozen or so like that with maple, cherry, or walnut before I switched to really nice stabilized burls.

For a full sized gyuto or similar, I prefer my handles to be about 135mm long with a 30mm ferrule, and about 20x24mm at the butt. So I rough cut my blanks down to ~110x22x26mm before starting to make handles.
 
As a rule, I rough cut the wood 1.25" X 1" X 6" . Most any wood that will hold up to use will work.
The ones Callum mentioned are good and readily available as board stock:
Walnut
Cherry
Maple

Others that look good and are low cost are:
Ziracote
Zebrawood
Cocobola
Argentine Lignum Vitae

For the bolster (and butt if you use one) use African blackwood. On your first wa handles it may be wiser to not have bolsters.
 
I'd add bocote and chechen to the list of good interesting looking woods that can be inexpensive to use for handles.

Almost all the species mentioned so far you can probably find blocks that cost from $1 to $5 that will work for a hidden tang handle. If you look around on woodworking forums, you might could even get some gifted to you for the cost of postage only.
 
CallumRD1 said:
especially if you attach the blades with beeswax or hot glue instead of epoxy"
Click to expand...

C CallumRD1 Can you expand on this a bit? I did some searches and didn't find anything on the internets. Epoxy seemed to be the ones that got returned. I would be curious to know more about this process. Is there a "Japanese" term I should be searching for instead of, "wa-handle hot glue?"
 
Sounds good everyone, thanks for the feedback. I was on the right track then. I was just going to go with some walnut, maple and cherry.

Much appreciated.
 
I’d use African Blackwood, but I’m a sap for that stuff. It’s like 12 bucks for a good block & Ben has some of the finest blocks for cheap.
 
honingblades said:
C CallumRD1 Can you expand on this a bit? I did some searches and didn't find anything on the internets. Epoxy seemed to be the ones that got returned. I would be curious to know more about this process. Is there a "Japanese" term I should be searching for instead of, "wa-handle hot glue?"
Click to expand...

I construct, shape, and finish my handles completely separate from the blades so that I can move handles between blades easily (I've standardized on 1/2x3" sized tangs). (At this point I'm just making knives for myself, so if I grind a blade that is better than any previous ones, I want to be able to put my favorite handle on it.) My handles are glued up with a 2hr epoxy using the hidden dowel method. Once the handle is finished, I'll heat up the tang of a blade or blank or something a couple hundred degrees and slide it into the handle to remove any epoxy blobs that may have ended up in the tang slot. I'll then melt some beeswax, pour it into the hole, and slide the warm tang of a blade into the handle. Excess wax will be pushed out of the handle and when it cools the handle will be completely sealed with wax and the blade will be securely affixed. If I ever want to change the handle or blade, I just gently warm it until the wax softens and then separate the blade from the handle. The one caveat here is that you want a well fitting tang slot in the handle. The wax doesn't have the holding power of an epoxy, so if your hole is too sloppy, you won't have a very robust connection. My handles are normally snug enough to be used safely without any wax or glue, the wax is just insurance and helps to seal the handle from water ingress. I have heard that others use a similar method with hot glue, but I've never tried it myself. Also, beeswax residue is easily removed with isopropyl alcohol when you're cleaning up after installation.
 
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Whatever wood you decide to use just be sure it is dry - alot of the 2x2 stuff you buy may not be completely dry. ( Wood turners dont need it to be dry)
 
C CallumRD1 - Thanks for the information. What's the size from the spine of the blade to your tang? Not sure what the name of these "drops/indents" are?

I started on these but I think i messed the tangs up - https://imgur.com/a/w4vqfLK - i circled the part i'm talking about. I honestly just eyed these and as you can see, messed them up. At this stage i'm more interested in learning to grind the blade itself so not too concerned, but curious.

Some of the ones I own are about 3/16" on each side with a 1/2" tang width. Not sure on the length as the handle overs it :)
 
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