Wooden knife handles - question

[Janne]

Last year I bought some various blades. All have rat tails.
I have now collected (and dried) several different woods.
I wonder, as some of the wood has developed tiny cracks radiating a few millimeters from the center of the wood ( innermost year ring), is it ok to drill the hole through the middle ( innermost year ring) or should I use the wood by splitting it through the middle and use only that?
Have difficulty explaing.

 

[Robson Valley]

If it's your plan to set the tang tails with epoxy (I like JB Weld), I'd use a couple of bits to drill a tapered hole
quite close to the metal size and shape.

Pacific Northwest Native crooked carving knives are all surface hafted so this isn't the puzzle.

See if you can find some good illustrations of the Mocotaugan crooked knife hafting.
Essentially a single-handed draw knife, not meant for elaborate wood carving
in the birch-building native cultures of eastern North America.

There's a little hook in the tip of the rat-tail tang (mosty made from files)
which is seated in a carved inlet then covered and whipped.

 

[Janne]

I bought a couple of various Finnish and Swedish blades and 4 Siberian Yakut blades.
I thought I do those first.
Then I want to try to make my own blade, from a file.
I know a guy here that has a very fancy water jet machine, I want to cut the blade with that, including the sides, the sudes in stages due to the width.

 

[Robson Valley]

The deal is to mess with junk before you commit to the good blades.
What will you do? Wood carving? For hand work without a mallet,
never more than 15 degrees total included bevel.
I like 12. Gouges are all 20.

1. Got any farriers around your place? See if you can score what they call a "worn out" hoof knife.
It will be a hard steel crooked blade with a lifetime of carving steel left in it.
Smash off the original handle and see what you get to mess with to haft the blade to your liking.
I pay $50 each for new Hall farrier's knives. Locally, I can buy them for $5 each from the local farrier.
Mora 171 and 188 are about $25 new here, softer than Hall but OK for cedar carvings. Diamond 271 (Taiwan) about the same.
Ukal/Supervet (France) is really hard steel like Hall (Canada.)

2. A better piece of steel for small knives will be a chainsaw file. Annealed, hammer that puppy out for the blade you want.
I used 1/4" copper rod for experiments, they went well. Have wrecked lots of 7/32" CS files. Lots of them. $22.00/dozen so can't complain.
Lots of work on saws with 36" bars (see my avatar logs)
So dull, they are shiny! Plan to beat on a few to make stone carving tools this summer.

 

[Janne]

I am quite used to wood working, hence me doing handles first. Never done a scabbard before, but I will try with a wood/halftanned leather.
For the bolsters, I will do different materials. Tin first, did buy an old tin cup I will melt down. Have bronze too.

The first handle will be a very simple handle from Birch, for one of the Yakut blades. Offcut from the knife stand I am working on now. Has a nice wavy grain. Stained, oiled.

 

[Robson Valley]

Just had a look at the assymetric design of the Yakut blade. Traditional birch burl handle. I think I need one to explore.

 

[Janne]

Yes, very interesting design. Strictly Left or Right handed.
The handles are dead easy. Ovoid wooden. Clean. Good beginners design.

 

[brancho]

What type of wood is it and how close to the size of hndle is it?

The worts wood I have had to deal with was this olive wood

Wood from Aris by Alf Branch, on Flickr

Aris knife 2 progres 3 by Alf Branch, on Flickr

Aris knife 2 finished 2nd 1 by Alf Branch, on Flickr

Aris knife 2 progress 9 by Alf Branch, on Flickr

I filled the cracks with expoxy

Aris knife 2 finished 1 by Alf Branch, on Flickr

 

[Janne]

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[Janne]

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[Janne]

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[brancho]

I always draw out my knives I would suggest something nice an simple to start with.
Bronze then Juniper maybe and I would go for a factory blade as not much is lost

Here is how I start

Aris knife design by Alf Branch, on Flickr

which became (after a design tweak)

Aris knife 2 by Alf Branch, on Flickr

This collection of parts became this which is my second knife

Knife and sheath by Alf Branch, on Flickr


All this depends on what experiance and tools you have.

 

[Janne]

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