| Making a knife for own use or for collection is a | | | | wood is first cut and then rounded and shaped to fit |
| delight for a knife maker. The knife making process | | | | the user's hands. The size and shape of the rounded |
| connects them to the steel and gives them the joy | | | | wood would depend on the function and purpose for |
| of creating a useful and beautiful piece of equipment | | | | which the knife is going to be used. This will be |
| from the flat metal piece. Irrespective of the type of | | | | followed by grinding the top portion of the handle |
| knife making involved it is a very intimate process | | | | where the ring cap would be mounted. Then the |
| and a bond invariably builds between the knife and | | | | handle is mounted tightly and the hole for the knife |
| the maker. Further it gives an option to make a knife | | | | to mount is drilled at the bottom of the handle. This |
| according to the needs and desires and even | | | | hole is sometimes slightly burnt to give corrosion |
| personalize it as required. | | | | resistance to the blade. |
| Knife handles are an important part of the knife | | | | The handle is then smoothened out and finished with |
| making and knife using experience. The handle makes | | | | fine sandpaper. This should later be polished using a |
| or mars the use of the knife. Further the handle also | | | | piece of clean, smooth and dry cloth. Oak, Red |
| provides a place for the knife maker to experiment, | | | | sandalwood and ebony make fine choices for knives |
| add decorative pieces or even etch or engrave a | | | | that are used very regularly. The ring cap is mostly |
| name or initial. Knife handles are made from many | | | | made of metal but sometimes plastics or horn is also |
| material including hard wood, fine wood, antlers, | | | | used. |
| stags, stones like jade or turquoise and even many | | | | One of the tips used by experienced knife makers is |
| exotic material like tusks of elephant or wooly | | | | to drill the hole for the tang and form the slot for it |
| mammoth. | | | | before shaping the handle. The drilling and slotting |
| One of the delights of knife making is crafting the | | | | should be done using a good vice so as to keep the |
| beautiful handles. Starting from selecting the correct | | | | hands free. The reason for doing this before shaping |
| material, cutting, shaping, grinding it to crafting | | | | the handle is that, even if the hole becomes slightly |
| beautiful handles from it, working on the knife handle | | | | off-center, the handle can be shaped accordingly to |
| is a delight. Selecting the handle material is a matter | | | | bring it back to the center. |
| of the function for which the knife is going to be | | | | Once the handle has been shaped, it is time to |
| used for. Soft or fine woods like blank walnut are not | | | | decorate it with your own personal designs. You can |
| good choices for hunting knife or for uses that | | | | use your own carpentry tools to carve designs. |
| involve a lot of moisture or water. Hardwood like | | | | These can be filled and fitted with thin metal sheets |
| Rosewood, oak and maple make good choices for | | | | using epoxy. Carving can include intricate designs or |
| hunting knives. Stabilized wood like spalted maple are | | | | simple ones like an initial. Many options are available to |
| available where the wood is impregnated with plastic | | | | decorate a completed knife handle. |
| making it entirely waterproof and providing it with a | | | | One of the biggest dangers with wooden handles is |
| durable finish that does not require any maintenance | | | | shrinkage factor. If you attach a handle to a piece of |
| except an occasional buffing. These are highly | | | | wood with residual moisture, the wood is apt to |
| recommended for tough duty knives and those that | | | | crack as the moisture evaporates. This is because of |
| would be exposed to a lot of moisture. Select and | | | | the fact that the wood shrinks as the moisture is |
| exotic woods like stag, moose horn, oosic, walrus or | | | | removed. The best way to avoid this kind of a |
| sea cow bone etc, are used to make knives that are | | | | situation is to completely dry the wooden handle |
| mostly collected rather than used regularly. These are | | | | before attaching the knife blade. It is better to leave |
| somewhat fragile and also need to be maintained in a | | | | the handle in a dry place or even put it in the oven |
| very careful manner. Domestic antler and many | | | | set at the lowest possible temperature for a few |
| artificial materials resembling stag are available for | | | | hours. This will ensure that the wood is completely |
| those who require inexpensive and easily maintainable | | | | dry and does not crack later. Antlers are pretty |
| alternatives. | | | | stable when it comes to handling moisture and they |
| In order to craft wood, it is first required to select | | | | don't need such a treatment. |
| the correct piece of wood of the correct size. The | | | | |