How to Put a Handle on a Knife.

This knife is one of my favorite ones I have made, but it does not have a proper handle yet so I will show you how I put my handles on my knives.

Before I get started some people might wonder how I made the knife so I will give a little explanation.

The blade was flat stock that I shaped and drew out in the forge, then I tempered the blade so It would stained up to being used. This knife I made for every day adventuring on the farm, so I did not spend too much time on the polishing it.

I Designed this knife as a all around work knife for being outdoors. The 1 inch hole in the handle is placed so you can slide you finger in it to prevent slipping. There is also a glass breaker on the back of the knife, and a gut hook/string cutter at the base of the blade. The knife is 12" from end to end and I am very happy with how it turned out.

Tools

• Wood rasp
• Half round file
• Small files
• Clamps
• Sand paper 60-400 grit
• a scroll saw

Materials

• Wood, I am useing lace wood
• Some sort of glue or epoxy
• and a finish, I used danish oil.

This blade I have already polished, but I have to clean up the handle a little. So I sanded the whole thing down to the bare steel and then used acetone to get any debris off so the glue will adhere better.

Then I trace and cut out the scales, making sure that to wood grain is going lengthwise down the handle. It is also better for them to be a little over sized then too small.

A note on the wood I am useing, It is lace wood. I have used it for lots of my projects and I really like working with it.

This is a very important part in putting the handle on, if it is not glued well your handle could, Fall off, slip, or crack. If that happens it is extremely hard to get the glue off. So make sure that your scales are clamped on very tight, as you can see I have three clamps covering the whole handle. I would recommend letting the glue set up over night, this ensures that it will be cured 100%.

Place your knife in a vise so that you have no movement as you are shaping the handle. It is important to remember that you can take wood off but you can't put it back, so go slow and steady. I start by getting all of the edges smooth all the way around the handle. Use a file for this, so that when you hit the steel it smooths it out even with the wood.

Then You will need to get your rasp and start profiling the wood, once you get a rough shape with the rasp smooth it out with a file. Smoothing with the file helps with the next step, sanding.

Now start sanding the handle, when your sanding stop and test the grip of your handle. It is important for it too conform to your hand, so that there is less chance of it slipping when your using the knife.

Now you need to finish your handle, I like to keep the wood feel in my handles so I used a finishing oil. You could use any finish, but I have been very happy with useing oil for my knife handles. As you can see the lace wood really pops out with the look of the knife.

So there you have it how to put scales on a knife, it is not to hard and it looks pretty good in the end.

Thank you for taking a look at my instructable.

If you have any questions or comments, I would be more than happy to hear them.

Caleb