Stylish Pen Knife of Upcycled Bamboo

Hello again! This is a short Instructable on how to to make a stylish pen knife for your work place. It takes about 5-6 hours (not counting drying time for glue). Fairly easy -the do or die part is the final sanding and polishing .

Material needed: thin pieces of bamboo, small pieces of black or red plastic( preferrably Micarta or other plastic suitable for glueing and sanding), wood glue, drum sander, band saw. And a nice knife blade with a long thin shaft.

Knifes and tools are sharp. Be careful if you are not used to handlig sharp tools. put a few layers of tape on the knife blade while working. This will protect your fingers somewhat. And the blade from unwanted sanding marks.

I hope you enjoy! All comments/ suggestions/questions welcome! /Frederik

Glue together thin pieces of Bamboo as you see in picture. Wood glue works fine.

Saw the glued bamboo into pieces matching the size of the knife handles height and width ( not lenght). Sneak a peak at next step, which clarifies what I mean. Hopefully.

Also saw pieces of plastic (or possibly metal) for the end pieces of the handle.

Drill holes in all pieces to allow them to fit on the knife shaft. See photo how to find middle.

Now glue the subsections together on the knife's shaft. Sort of like collecting berries on straw. An analogy which probably means nothing to younger generations... Berries? Straw!? What is he talking about!

Saw/sand your knife handle to the shape you prefer. A band saw and a drum roll sander are useful here. You can also do it by using only files or even a carpenters knife. But it will take you looonger....

Spend time finely sanding the handle. Start with 150 grit and gradually switch to finer papers( 250, 400, 600 and 1000). No cheating!

Put some oil or varnish on it! Watch the colours appear!

By using a block of wood you can make a fancy desk stand for your knife!