Fiddleback Handle Tutorial

Fiddleback

Fiddleback

Knifemaker
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Oct 19, 2005
Messages
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On another forum I was asked me to run down how I make my handles. So here it is. First I choose two woods that I think would contrast nicely together. Then I go to my tablesaw.

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I rip the liner wood ~1/8" thick, and the outter wood 1/4" thick for a 3/8" thick scale. Usually my tablesaw does a fine job, and I can go right to glueup, but if there is doubt I go to plate glass and sandpaper.

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I use spray adhesive to glue 60 grit paper to the glass, and a no skid cabinet liner thingie to make sure it doesn't slide around on me. Make sure you sand as little as possible here. You want to avoid making the faces un-paralell. Use a circular or figure 8 motion, so that your sanding pattern is swirley. Once the surfaces are lapped, check for fit by holding the two pieces of wood together and trying to see light between them.

1/4" thick Cocobolo, and 1/8" thick Osage.

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Don't try to glue it up all at once. I use epoxy between the wood layers, and superglue for the wood to vulcanized fibre liner. The superglue soaks into the fiber liner better, and gives a much better bond. This pic is of a stackup.

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Rosewood over Maple with brick red fibre liner.

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Thats as far as I got today. I burned myself with a red hot blade yesterday, and couldn't do any real work today. More tomorrow, but from here you pretty much treat the block as normal scale material.

Questions and comments welcome.
 
OK. To continue. We have the woods face jointed, and the liners glued on. Now I trim all the excess off so that the scales are a basic match for one another. Then I tape them together, and tape the knife blade to them. This allows me to drill the pin and lanyard holes through both scales at once. CATUION!!! This only works if you have flat square and paralell stock.

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Notice on the bottom of the stack that the tape is distributed on both ends and the middle. This keeps whole stackup flat on the drill table.

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Once its drilled, Its time for glueup. This knife has been cleaned up just a little.

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I use my 10" contact wheel to hog off some of the wood, and give me a head start on filing. This pic shows the wood I want to remove.

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And this one is after the grinder. Now its time for files.

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This pic shows some knives after the filing. The filing is the critical step in my process, and files are maybe my favorite tools.

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Then I start sanding. I start with 60 grit, move to 80, clean up the spine and tang metal with a 220 belt, and finally finish grits give me this:

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Thats East Indian Rosewood over Hard Maple that I finished this weekend on this knife.

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You said not to glue it all at once.Do you mean you superglue the liner to the bottom piece of wood then epoxy the 2 wood slabs together? Or maybe the wood slabs 1st then superglue the liner ?

Thanks for making this tutorial i,ve wondered what you,re method is for making those AWESOME handles.
 
Glue the wood together first. If you superglued that liner to an 1/8" thick strip of wood the clamps would likely bend it, and you'd wind up with warped wood.
 
MRpink said:
Thanks for posting up this up, very cool!

I love this picture, the handles look awesome with its curves and hole.
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Glad you like it!! I actually had two sets of scales from the same block of Rosewood glued up, and I should finish another Woodsman just like it today.:thumbup:
 
Do you normally put some kind of finish on your wood..

I.E. Tung oil etc.?

Thanks Bryce
 
I dip the handle into polyurethane, allow it to sit submerged in thin poly. Then I pull it out, allow to drain for 5 minutes, and wipe it off.
 
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Lets see. There are four Bushcrafters. Two have curly Maple on the outside one is over Wenge, and one is over Rosewood, one is Goncalo over Osage, and the last one is red linen micarta over black g-10. Then there is a Woodsman with Lacewood over Hard Maple, and a Nessmuk with Goncalo over Osage.
 
I love your handles (seems to be your signature), and have wondered how you did them. Thanks for the tutorial and sharing your methods. I also like the tip of drilling both scales at the same time...I will have to try that next time (will check to make sure my inexpensive drill press table is relatively square first though.)

Thanks for sharing!
 
MRpink said:
If it isn't a trade secret, what kind of files do you use on the handles?
Click to expand...

No its no secret. I use a hodge podge of files. The one I use most often is a half round bastard file by Nicholson. Home Despot special. I do recommend getting a first rate set of needle files. I have a set from Switzerland that has lasted me 7 years, and is still going strong. When I'm having trouble getting out a gouge in a handle, I go to those needle files, then sand again after. Get good files.
 
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