What handle material for kitchen knives?

Crayola

Crayola

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
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Hello!

I got 9 knives back from heat treat on saturday, and 8 of them are kitchen knives (4 paring/utility sets.) Um, what kind of handle materials do paying customers prefer? I'm hoping to sell 5 sets of these and my magic knot knives (3 of those) to either pay for tuition, or so that I can get a cool folder or a back pack.

Anyways, I don't want to slap on something that I like, only to discover that no one wants it. :) I was told that black micarta is gonna be the winner. I prefer the colored stuff, but hey, thats just me!
 
Karl, if you want em to be colorful, try some dymond wood, maybe emerald green. I love that stuff. Looks great and polishes slick as glass. It's super tough too and moisture won't hurt it. Another nice kitchen handle material is corian. It comes in a big variety of colors and patterns. I have a thick sheet of it that looks like granite. If I ever make any kitchen knives I'll probably give that a try. If you do use corian, don't buff it slick. Makes it too slippery, especially when it's wet. I used it on fillet knives and took it thru 500 grit by hand and then went over it good with a green scotchbrite pad. Kinda left a satin finish that was nice and grippy.
 
I've got ironwood on mine. Only had them for a little over two years, but they get daily use and have held up well so far.

Jack
 
Never tried selling any kitchen knives, but I'd think black micarta the winner too. I have a paring knife I made with maroon linen micarta and it's been through the dish washer for over a year with no change whatever. I think it looks good, too. You have four sets, consider making two black and your choice for the other two, see which sell first -- a little market research of your own!

Dave
 
I sure like Micarta on my TTKK.

Trace_Rinaldi_TTKK_Black.jpg
 
hey cray, micarta is the most durable with black the slowest seller for me. but my market here has already had the henkel, woustoff and others with the black handles. stablized woods like spaulted maple and cal, buckeye are good sellers for me. also bocote,cocobolo and padauk. hardwoods do well. also i tell them that putting the wood handled knives in the dishwasher voids the handle. so you need to check out what your market likes and does'nt like. women generally like bright and warm colors so in micarta butter scotch and a bright blue i have do well. maybe the diamond would work for you.
 
I recently made a sushi knife for a chef here locally.. I chose to do it in A2 with polished black G-10 handle scales. G-10 can look nice while being super tough, and wont hang on to yesterdays fish!!


Trace...
 
I personally prefer the micarta, but would try some of the dual colored type. Like the black with blue or the maroon with white, and I think they now have some red, white, and blue.
KEN (WWJD)
 
Hey Cray, here's a Chef knife I made several years ago from a cross-cut saw blade. The handle is white corian with a jigged bone pattern in it. I left the jigged portion kind of rough so it would take the stain better. I used dark brown leather stain. It works great. I've been using this knife for almost 6 years and the corian wears well and won't absorb any odors and just keeps getting nicer looking just like bone will. Give it a try if you've got some.
 

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You can't beat Micarta for a using knife. If you want to take looks up a notch you could use a stabilized wood or Ironwood.
 
I personally like Staminawood, or Pakkawood. I don't make knives, but I have a couple with this handle material. I use them everyday, and they are super tough. They are warm and colorful, and water doesn't seem to affect them one way or another. They don't hold onto strong smells either, i.e. fish, onion, etc.

You might give this material a try, I think you'll like it.
 
I personaly like Dymonde wood for a user(at least the solid color), but the only two that I have used it on still havnt sold. Around here to many people asociate it with cheap China or Pakastan knives. Also not that many are interested in wood, even when I explain that it is stablized, they still think it will discolor and rot.:confused:

Unless I have a request for dymonde wood, I won't use any more of it, except for me maybe.:) I still have 5 or 6 blocks left.

I would recomend micarta or G10. for durablility. I know of one maker that uses Ivory micarta and tells me that that is his top selling kitchen knife handle. If your not makeing a matched set, why not use a variety of materials and see what sells?
 
Thanks for all of the replies here guys, they've been great.

Tangus, check here to see what my magic knot knife is! The maagic is in the cord...
 
Max you amaze me. How do you get the Corian to take the stain. I've tried and the only thing I've been to stain it with is essence of cigarette (Bunch of cigarette butts sun rendered in a jug of water) This also kills garden pests very well but I don't like it all over my hands.:eek:
 
I guess the secret's in the dye Peter. I use Fiebing's alcohol based leather dye. I suppose the other reason it works so well is because I use a dremel stone to carve the jigged bone pattern into the corian and leave the surface rough before staining. Then I let it dry completely before cleaning it up with steel wool and my satin finishing wheel. Finally, I seal it with straight boiled linseed oil and believe me, it stays put.

I just finished up another one of those chef knives yesterday and had to use black because I was all out of the medium brown. Hey, I was really surprised with how good it looked. I think I like black better because of the contrast with the cross-cut saw blade. Go figure!
 
Thanks Dork. I've found that to be my favorite kitchen knife. The only other one I need is a Wharncliffe paring knife and I'm all set. You should see that big Chef knife slice tomatoes. It's sharp even when it's dull! :eek:
 
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