Shapes of handles?

theWeatherman

Well-Known Member
Hi guys! First post here. I have been wondering about the different shapes of handles and what people prefer? I could just make a rounded handle but I was wondering more about contours and how to do them?

Thanks for any advice.
 
There several kinds of shapes for handles. I don't know if I have a preference but I am partial to the coffin handle style. For a basic handle, whatever that is, I do like to have a little palm swell in it. Most handles look better with the edges rounded over a bit but there are some exceptions but a least break over the edges. Some people also like to have the handle a little wider at the butt than up at the blade.

I have use a slack belt to set the contours in the past but now I prefer to use a drum on my Dremmel or even a rasp for wood to set them up. I then spruece them up a bit with course sand paper and then sand them finer

Doug
 
Long before you get to shaping wood, think about profile of the metal. It's nice to be able to 'index' the knife (know which way is up) without looking. That may sound weird thinking of a camp knife, but I'm betting you have a knife or two in your kitchen drawer that you've almost placed your thumb or finger on the sharp edge thinking it was the spine.
 
Use what you have available for the particular contour you need.
I like to use powered tools in the initial shaping, then finish by hand.
Best to use a bandsaw for as much as you can first.

For shaping handle material by hand, different shapes of rasps and some shop-made radiused sanding blocks are hard to beat. Cutting as much of the shape beforehand with a bandsaw makes it go quicker and saves some armwork and abrasive.
For profiling the metal, various sizes of both round and half-round files work well if you don't have access to a contour saw (metal-cutting bandsaw with a narrow blade).

The rotary tools (Dremel, etc.) are great for small detail-type work. Use of a good knife vise makes the job easier.
These tools were not designed for heavy loads, so take it easy if it's all you got to do major shaping. Keep the pressure adequate but not too heavy and let the abrasive do the work or you'll burn up the tool.
(On one of my buffing units, I have a flexshaft. Considering the motor for the unit is 1 HP, I'm not gonna hurt it!)

The belt sanders are, IMO, the quickest. Slack belts work well for rounding over, "blending things in", and fair curves.
Small contact wheels of appropriate diameter work best for actual hogging to establish the profile of tighter curves and radiuses. They are especially effective at profiling the metal.
If you are not set up for the small contact wheels, don't overlook the use of various sizes of sanding drums in a drill press. These will have the same effect as using the rotary tool, only faster and less tiring (to me, anyways).

No matter which method you use on the power tools, it's probably best to leave a little room for final work by hand.

Good Luck,
Rob
 
Long before you get to shaping wood, think about profile of the metal. It's nice to be able to 'index' the knife (know which way is up) without looking. That may sound weird thinking of a camp knife, but I'm betting you have a knife or two in your kitchen drawer that you've almost placed your thumb or finger on the sharp edge thinking it was the spine.

I understand what you are saying but I am trying to work on the handle of my first knife and it is more difficult that I thought it would be.
 
Rob, thanks for the reply. I do use a sanding drum on the drill press, but it did not occur to me to use that on handles as well.
 
IMG_0120.jpg
This a a chopper that I made with a lignum vitae handle. The curve on the leading edge of the handle had to be cut in on my bandsaw and sanded even before attaching to the handle. The rest of the contour was roughed out slightly oversized too but the leading edge had to be done to finished dimention.
IMG_0109.jpg
This has a more "plane" handle. The edges were well rounded and there is a definite palm swell to the handle.
IMG_0061.jpg
This last one is a dagger that I made with a coffin handle. It doesn't show well but there is a distal taper from the wide point of the handle to the but and a proximal taper from that point to the guard. The faces and sides are flat and the edges slightly rounded for comfort. Usually flat surfaces like this are to be avoided but sometimes they work. This is also a hidden tang knife rather than a full tang but it could be done by shaping the tang to the profile that you want and then fitting the scales to it.

Doug
 
Using files to develop handle shapes is a good way to begin. Removing material with files, is not nearly as fast as an abrasive belt; which in the beginning, can be a good thing.

Enjoy the process, Fred
 
Theres nothing like getting a scrap or 2 of cheap wood and experimenting until you hit on something. Bad ideas are easier to swallow if they don't ruin a piece that you already have a lot of time sunk into, or a nice set of scales at any rate.
 
Theres nothing like getting a scrap or 2 of cheap wood and experimenting until you hit on something. Bad ideas are easier to swallow if they don't ruin a piece that you already have a lot of time sunk into, or a nice set of scales at any rate.

Well said, I didn't think about doing that, but that is a very good idea!
 
.

I have use a slack belt to set the contours in the past but now I prefer to use a drum on my Dremmel or even a rasp for wood to set them up. I then spruece them up a bit with course sand paper and then sand them finer

Doug

Funny thing is... I used my Flexshaft "Pass on the Dremel and get a Flex shaft." first and then moved to using slack belt!

I use my Coote Grinder slack belt mostly, And being a two wheel machine there is lots of slack to work with. A technique I started with this machine was to have the Coote on the slowest setting and have thumb pads on and work from the back of the belt pressing the belt were wanted! This method gives a great ability to sand in contours.

Now I must say that it is a highly dangerous method and you must have the grinder running slow and watch what the heck you are doing! having your hand and fingers go around a 8" Contact wheel is a sobering occurrence!
Ask me how I know??:s12201: Yes! you really want to lick your paw afterwords!
Have fun!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/

La
 
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Some of it is also the pins that I use sometimes. Doing the whole rough shaping with a slack belt, I use a Coote too, works well with solid pins but with cutler's rivets there's a real danger that you could sand the heads off. So when I'm using them I want to round the sides with a drum and then bring everything together with just a touch on the slack belt before going to hand sanding.

Doug
 
Something I feel is worth mentioning about this subject is that first, examine the human hand.....when a hand is closed around an object, in this case a knife handle, the smallest part will be where the thumb and index finger come together, and the largest opening will be where the pinky and the heel of the hand meet. Time and experience has taught me for those reasons, a knife handle will generally fit the hand well when the front of the handle is slimmer both in width and height than the rear, with the spine of the handle built with a gentle curve that mimics the curve of the palm when it's closed around the handle. The reason I went here is because like most, I start out just the opposite on handles....mine where thick and tall at the front, and tapered towards the rear..... they were somewhat difficult to grip, and for a long time it just never dawned on me that I was essentially making the handles just the opposite of how I should be. It's a very common thing when folks are just starting out building knives.

It's just going to take a few to "get your feet wet", and discover a combination of what YOU like, and what works. There are no absolutes when it comes to knifemaking....although help/advice is readily available, it still requires that we constantly experiment...which how we get "better" at it.
 
Or does anyone have any suggestions on different hand tools to shape handles? I have a craftsman 2x42 grinder and it wont get close curve areas on the bottom of the handle. I am thinking small files or different dowl sizes with sandpaper.

Links to files would help a lot. Thanks guys!
 
Look at some of the working working supply houses online and look for wood rasps. They generally have them in more shapes and sizes than you will find in hardware stores, even rifflers. If you have a wood working speciallest store near you that would be a good place to look too and they should have people on hand to help you find the tools that you need.

Doug
 
Stay away from the really small rasp. They tear the wood with their small surface area. Having a few diverse, rounded shapes provides many opportunities to shape and smooth the wood.

Rasp with course and fine in the same tool are helpful.

Here are a couple that I use a lot.
17J61_400.jpg


06A04_400.jpg
 
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