Re-handling a Mora - How I did it. (v. pic heavy)

[outdoorpaddy]

Hello Folks!

It has been quite some time since I contributed anything on this forum, so I best re-introduce myself. I'm Patrick, I'm a 2nd year forestry student at University College Dublin and I really enjoy bushcraft and traditional crafts, especially the sort that involves playing with axes and knives - as you are about to see in this post.

Anyhow, on with the interesting stuff!

How I re-handled my Mora.

Like many of us here I started out using ye olde faithful mora, and why not? They're dead cheap, virtually indestructible, take and hold a great edge and due to these attributes, are basically dispensable. But after prolonged use you really start to notice the hollow rattle from the sheath and the imperfect handle shape and texture. After three years I felt I was ready for a knife with a wooden handle, but I really wanted to make it myself, fitted to my own hand. At the time I had just bought two mora companion robusts from woodlore in their special offer so i figured I would use one of them for my first project, given that i was bound to make mistakes in my first knife re-handling.
Thankfully I had the issue of the bushcraft magazine with Ben Orford's tutorial on how to re-handle your mora which was really useful, i used this as my guide throughout the process.

I sawed the existing handle off the mora, taking care not to scratch the blade at any point, it really is a good idea to tape up the blade properly to protect yourself and the blade. This part was surprisingly difficult just because the plastic handles are fitted so incredibly well, it does take a lot of force to pry off certain parts of it.

[/URL][/IMG]


With the blade liberated I started to prepare the handle. Luckily we had a small copper beech cut down in our garden several months beforehand and a large section of it had been sitting propped up against another tree, allowing it to spalt. I found a part that had a nice pattern but not too soft and i carved it into a cuboid shape.
Following the tutorial, I cut out a template in cardboard of the shape i wanted for the handle and traced it onto the side of the beech block and drew on where the tang would be.

[/URL][/IMG]

I followed the lines from the tang over the top of the block so I would know where to drill the holes and how the blade would be aligned. This really emphasised to me that preparation is just as important as execution in getting the details and spacings right - you really appreciate it when it comes to removing material.

The next task was drilling the holes for the handle. This was always something that scared me. How on earth am I going to drill perfectly straight holes that have to be aligned on two different planes without a pillar drill or drill press. Well, as the saying goes 'necessity is the mother of invention' I rummaged around the garage and with a hand drill, tape and laser aligner I invented what i like to call the Accu-drill 3000!

[/URL][/IMG]

This allowed me to line up the drill bit with the centre line on the handle material using the laser and to be totally honest i can't really believe it worked.

[/URL][/IMG]

With the holes drilled I set about widening them with a small file which was quite tricky, i used the drill for difficult parts and got a bit angry with it, which was to have repercussions later in the project.

After a lot of filing, cutting and drilling the blade could sit comfortably in the slot, with a leather spacer and a brass/nickel alloy bolster which took a fair bit of filing and sanding to get perfectly flat on the bottom.

[/URL][/IMG]

Satisfied with the test fit, I mixed the epoxy resin to glue it all together. I have a few different vices but they either wouldn't stretch wide enough or were just to awkward to apply the forces in the right places, so I came up with my own method to press everything together:

[/URL][/IMG]

(sorry for the awful picture quality here) Basically a piece of wood on top of the blade with a 2kg dumbbell on top of that to press everything together and the creme egg mug and footstool to get it to the right height. It seems ridiculous looking at it now but hey, it worked!

The next step was shaping the handle which i was really looking forward to. I began with a rasp and a rounded file, removing material down to the lines I had drawn on:

[/URL][/IMG]

I found the files and rasp useful when shaping to the lines, which must be totally flat, but for shaping beyond that point i found carving the handle with a knife to be much easier. At this point, being methodical about how you shape the handle is very important to keep it as even and symmetrical as possible. The best way of doing this is to carve off the edges one at a time, keeping them the same on each side by constantly checking and adjusting.

[/URL][/IMG]

Using this method, you will carve down the corner on both sides of the handle to what you think is right and see how it feels in your hand. When you're completely satisfied with the dimensions you then start taking down the high points of that corner, forming two more, repeating the process until the handle seems round and fits well in the hand. Then you can take out the sand paper and start sanding away whats left of the high points, which gives a nice smooth surface. It's really important to keep checking to see how it feels in your hand, that way you're less likely to take too much off.

Unfortunately when I was trying to hollow out the slot for the tang earlier in the project I drilled a bit too far off one side, so as I was carving away the wood to achieve my desired shape I uncovered this hole in the handle:

[/URL][/IMG]

This showed me how much space there was around the blade within the handle itself so I mixed some more epoxy and packed into the hole as much as i possibly could which was a lot! Its just as well this happened or the blade probably wouldn't have been secure.

At this point I forgot to take photos and just wanted to get the thing finished, which I eventually did. The latter part of the project consisted of a lot of sanding and filing the bolster to the correct size which was simple enough.

I actually did this project last summer which gives me the opportunity to show you pictures one year after use and it has kept together pretty well, I don't use it as heavily as my other Moras and I would generally avoid battoning with it and thankfully it has incurred no real damage, just the odd scratch here and there.
Anyway, here is the finished product:

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

I would recommend to anyone with a spare mora to try this for yourself, it's easy enough as long as you take your time and think it through and it's immensely satisfying to have a finished product at the end which fits your hand perfectly.
Feedback is much appreciated, I would love to hear about your own experiences with this and ways I could improve for the next one. Now for the sheath...


All the best,

paddy

 

[MertzMan]

Love the DIY nature of your tools. Great job on the Mora too. Best of luck with your course

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

Nice one looks mint mate

 

[Robbi]

Hello Paddy, good to see you back mate, hope all's well with you.

That looks a cracking mod, well done indeed.

 

[TallTom]

Nice work there, thanks for the post

 

[outdoorpaddy]

Thanks for the feedback guys, really appreciate it!

Good to see you too Robbi, hope you're doing well. Certainly is good to be back! Thanks for the kind words

paddy

 

[ozzy1977]

Cracking job

 

[shaggystu]

Top stuff, really enjoyed reading that. Ten out of ten for the ingenuity, I like that kind of thing

Great looking knife too

Cheers,

Stuart.

 

[Clouston98]

Very nice mate! Well done .

 

[CallsignSam]

That looks great, I'm definitely going to try this over the summer.

 

[outdoorpaddy]

Thanks for the feedback and kind words folks, really appreciate it. makes writing it all up really worth it.

paddy

 

[Robbi]

Now what about a sheath ?

 

[copper_head]

Top work, that looks great.

 

[GGTBod]

Thanks for sharing and perfect timing as last night i stripped the handle off my old mora carbon, slightly bent the rat tail tang through excessive battoning but it straightened up easy enough, can i ask what method you used to reduce the bolster to the right shape and size?

 

[HillBill]

Not bad at all, It looks good.

 

[outdoorpaddy]

Thought you might pick up on that Robbi

I managed to get my hands on some leather, basic tools, thread and dye, just need to read up sufficiently on how to do it and then give it a try, not sue how it will turn out though!

paddy

 

[outdoorpaddy]

Thanks for all the feedback chaps

Thanks for sharing and perfect timing as last night i stripped the handle off my old mora carbon, slightly bent the rat tail tang through excessive battoning but it straightened up easy enough, can i ask what method you used to reduce the bolster to the right shape and size?

I used a small stone grinding wheel to take most of the material off and then a small file to shape it. Beyond that was just fine grade sandpaper. I'm always surprised how easily brass works, as long as you have a file, you'll be grand.

paddy

 

[GGTBod]

I am thinking of using a brand new pound coin as a bolster just for something different, then taper my handle to match the edge shape of it similar to how they do with the mora classic number 1 but have it widen into my hand shape from then.

I'll take pics and make a thread for better or worse, like you said the small cost of the mora blades make it a perfect practice/learning blade to mess about with

 

[crosslandkelly]

Very nice, looks great.

 

[outdoorpaddy]

I am thinking of using a brand new pound coin as a bolster just for something different, then taper my handle to match the edge shape of it similar to how they do with the mora classic number 1 but have it widen into my hand shape from then.

I'll take pics and make a thread for better or worse, like you said the small cost of the mora blades make it a perfect practice/learning blade to mess about with

That could well work, I would just make sure the surface features are filed/sanded flat so that you get a clean joint with the rest of the handle.
I look forward to seeing the end result.


paddy