What Comes First...The Knife or The Handle Material?

[waredbear]

When you design or make a knife...Do you look at a piece of wood and design the knife to fit or complement the wood or do you make the knife and look through your wood pile for a piece to make the handle out of? Does the knife or wood "speak" to you for the perfect mating material?

Next: How do you shop for knife scales? Do you have a standard type of wood that you always use? Do you search for a beautiful pattern and color? I've spent a lot of time searching E-Bay for scales and there is a lot of wood that I want to buy to make handles out of. I think some of the wood out there would make breath taking beautiful handles. But I'm curious because I don't see knives made out of that type of wood...like Leopardwood, spalted maple burl, and plasticized woods to name a few. Do these woods not make good handles or am I missing the ones listed using these types of wood? I don't want to buy a beautiful set of scales only to find out they are useless.

Please share how you pick out the wood you use for handles.

Thanks
Reid Allen

 

[mdoyle]

I have purchased lots of wood from e-bay. Make sure whatever wood you buy either is already stabilized or you send it out to be stabilized after purchase. The exceptions to stabilization are ironwood and cocabolo.
Matt

 

[bradley hooper]

Generally when I design a knife I create a picture of what the finished product will look like in my head and go for that. However like you I have seen some absolutely beautiful handle material and wanted it on a knife. Like Mr. Doyle said, just make sure it is stabalized before you buy it. The way you design your knives is of course up to you, but I draw out my blade design, pair it with whatever design if guard I want and then the handle shape. From there I pick out whatever I think will look good depending on the type of grain structure and how light or dark the material is and what it would look like in contrast to the guard and/or pins I might be using. I hope I was of help and good luck.

 

[D.A. Guertin]

Personally, I do both. I free-hand all of my blades after I just sit down with the bar and a sharpie. I just set my mind into a general 'track' based on the steel. If it's a high carbon, I'm going to think in terms of field or street use. If it's a stainless, all bets are off. I just go with the flow, so to speak; let the creative juices flow. When it's been profiled, I start going though my scales, matching up the wood with the steel, getting a complimentary pairing between the two.

Other times, I get a pair of scales, and just study it. Where's the curl, where's the figure and grain lead? I'll sketch out the general handle shape I want based on what falls where within the wood. Then, I'll match my handle profile up with a bar of complimentary steel, based on the type of wood, hit it with the sharpie, and then take it to the grinder!