quick knife question

[ozymandias]

looking at the knives gallery for ideas for my knife handle shape got me wondering if i need a spacer between the handle and the full tang when i glue it all together? i will be using the knife for bushcraft type things, including gutting rabbits and fish, so should i treat the wood (i was thinking olivewood) with something special? i was going to use danish oil as i already have some and it seems to give a nice natural finish.

 

[outdoorgirl]

I'm sure that one of the knife experts here will provide a better answer, but if you plan to do a lot of meat and game preparation with a knife, don't use one with wooden scales. You need to be sure that the knife is practically surgically clean each time, which means boiling water, and many wooden knife handles aren't up to this. I can't comment on the various treatments such as stablisation as I don't know enough about the process, but I'd steer clear of using any knife for game prep that couldn't be sterilised...

My 2d...

ODG

 

[Bardster]

One thing you will find with olive wood is that it is naturally very oily - this can present problems with glueing. Also you wont need oil to finish it as its already full of oil... a wax finish over the top would work well.

 

[falcon]

I agree that olivewood is naturally very oily. A friend of mine got brassed off when sanding a handle for a shepherd's crook as the wood continually clogged his sandpaper. I did a knife handle in olivewood a while back....the sanding wasn't too bad but I couldn't get gunstock oil (the intended finish) to dry on it. Eventually I used danish oil on it and that worked well......

 

[ozymandias]

hmmm thanks for the advice guys...sounds like olivewood isn't a good choice for a first timer like me. will check out other interesting grains. maybe i should just have a small filleting knife for the food prep- i've always used a mora before so the wood thing hasn't been an issue.

 

[British Red]

Ozy,

Any "permeable" handle material is verbotten now for game prep if you plan to sell the game on (its okay for your own use still to use wood or antler handled knives). To be honest although my Bushcraft knives are sometimes pressed into a bit of game prep, a decent skinner, boning knife etc. kept for the purpose are probably a good idea if you do a lot of it

Red

 

[Ogri the trog]

Ozy,
I use a small skeleton framed Aitor for rabbit prep - it cleans easily and can even go through the dishwasher if necessary. I can keep my other blades for woodworking/other food prep/etc without fear of cross-contamination of any nasties such as have hit the news recently. It also means that I'm not using an unsuitable blade for a task that I think necessitates a seperate, single use tool.

Ogri the trog

 

[Shinken]

And another thing, dont boil your handle unless the blade is only attatched mechanically. As boiling will destroy the epoxy bond.

I personally wouldnt make a full tang without spacers as they act as a nice buffer when the wood expands and contracts! Hope this helps!

 

[Andy]

I've never seen a kitchen knife with spacers in (at least not production ones) so it's ok without. They are nice and might make a better fit easier though

It's been mentioned that you can't use wooden handles for meat prep if your selling it on. I'm fairly sure this isn't the case any more but it was until a a short while ago I know in the past any food prep where the food was then sold had to be plastic for health sfaety regulations and although this has been dropped it's still advised and I don't know any butchers that don't use plastic handled knives

 

[Big John]

I made mine without spacers and found it quite difficult to get the wood flat enough to make a nice join - with the spacers it would take up the undulations and make it look much better.

If I made another I'd definately use spacers. Have a read here.