Newbie knife handle questions

[AJB]

Hi, thanks for reading,

I have never tried to re-handle anything before, and to be honest I’m a bit kack handed so no doubt it will be a disaster, but I’ve nicked a very old, small, knacked Sabatier kitchen knife from my mum and was going to try and put a new handle on it for her and to learn how to do it.

I’ve read the tutorials and they are very good, thanks to all involved, but I have a couple of newbie questions – apologies for them. For a flimsy little kitchen knife do I really need to pin the handle or will just epoxy do the job? Also, I’ve looked at BRISA as suggested on the tutorials, but as a victim of credit crunch redundancy, I just can’t afford to lash out £30 to get a bit of wood to Chorley, does anyone know where I could get something suitable but much cheaper? And if I do need "corby" or "loveless" bolts does anyone know where I could buy two or three instead of a bag full?

Thanks for reading and for any advice you have.

Andy

 

[Chainsaw]

On the same path myself here. I got my bolts from Mick Wardell on ebay and he also does scales etc at pretty good prices.

Good luck, let us see how it goes!

Cheers,

Alan

 

[Ogri the trog]

For what they're worth, heres a few examples of where I get my knife handle materials.
Old axe handles - mostly hickory, but if you cut them to length and then in half lengthways, they make serviceable - if not pretty knife scales
Old bits of furniture - I have a few lengths of mahogany from bed frames and ash from chairs etc that gets split just like the axe handles. I'll use pretty much anything except pine which is too loose in the grain to make a good handle
As for the pins, anything like copper/brass/aluminium rod ( I was lucky in getting some from a place I once worked) but big old brass screws often have a long plain section below the screw-head which can be cut to make a brass pin.
The pin(s) will hold the blade into the handle to stop it from getting pulled out, but it also stops the handle from splitting when stabbing into foods - and also spreads the pressure across the width of the handle when making heavy cuts, so it is reasonably important.
For shaping the handle itself, just remove any material that doesn't feel comfortable when you grip it!

Have fun with it and show us your results.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[AJB]

Cheers both - top tips, thank you.

Andy

 

[wanderingblade]

A quick trip to yuor local timber merchant will secure you a suitable off-cut for pennies - they usually have a box of free chunks somewhere.

You don't need corby / loveless bolts - brass pin will do the job for this kind of knife.
You might find this guide helpful?
http://www.akct.org/page35.html