Who want to make new handle

ndoghouse said:
Looking great Eric! I always wanted to try that! The combo with the wood is an excellent idea. I had an Estwing framing hammer with a stacked leather handle. Man I loved that thing. Very comfortable for those extended use times. I think they still make them but they are hard to find. Id love to replace it. I lost it in a house fire which would have been ok but I really lost it so I couldnt rebuild it.
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Dang man! You had a house fire? You were in a house fire and the teepee fire when you burned your pants up? You have really been through the fire brother. You must be pretty refined now.

This is after most of the shaping was done.


It was still pretty rough. I went out and cut some brush and I got some hot spots on my fingers after about 20 minutes. That made me want to smooth it out some more.

I don't have any pictures of it after smoothing it out, but I will try to post one soon. I sanded it down again incrementally with finer grit paper. Then polished it on a wheel with wax. That made it smoother and gave it a satin shine. Even when smooth, it is grippier than wood. It has a unique feel to it. Kind of like you are touching skin on skin;)

I am going to go over it again with the finest paper and polish once more. I will post another picture when done with that.
 
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Excellent! I like the way you worked the ring back into the handle. A fine sanding will bring out the contrast in the leather stack. Nice job! I got to find me a knife without a handle now. I got to try this. I have plenty of leather straps. Do you do anything to prep the pieces like add some hide glue? Do you just dry stack them?

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Yep we had a little fire in the neighborhood:D My house was just under that little mushroom cloud. I talk about it now and it was ten years ago but still seems like yesterday. Luckily I had a climate controlled storage unit down the road so we "lived" there for a few weeks with my four dogs until it cooled off enough to get back on the property. My property resembled the moon once we got back. Im thinking I have a KLO without a handle. I might try to put one on that one. You got me thinking now! Id love to see a pic of that one polished up. Awesome job man!
I had a bunch of video but Google deleted them all when they bought out Youtube. I wasnt too happy about that!
 
Eric, I think that handle is very handsome and quite unique. You done good, bro. You ever try this again anytime soon and want a piece of curly striped maple to play with, sing out!
 
This is so well done :thumbsup: Looks excellent. You have inspired a few of us - winter projects coming up!!
 
Thanks everyone! Here are a couple pictures in hand. These pictures are from last week. I'm out of town and have not had a chance to take new pictures after I smoothed it out and polished again.


Bookie, I may hit you up on that maple burl one day. Thanks
 
Do you prefer that ridge in the center? I was thinking of reworking an older horn handle and eliminating that
"hot spot". I don't feel that they add much to the grip that is an advantage.
 
RayseM said:
Do you prefer that ridge in the center? I was thinking of reworking an older horn handle and eliminating that
"hot spot". I don't feel that they add much to the grip that is an advantage.
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I do like the rings. I had some huge blisters on my hand when I first started using khukuris. None of my khuks have a really sharp angle on the ring. They are pretty rounded. All but 2 of my khukuris are wood handles. The rings on the horn handles seem a bit pointier than the wood. What I like about them is that I know where my hand is on the handle without looking. I like being able to feel if my hand is too high or low. I like the ring between the middle and ring finger. I thought about eliminating the ring in this one because it was more work to make one. I'm glad I made the ring. It just feels right to me.
 
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I think ring location is everything, if it's in the right spot it's a good thing, if it's not it's not so good.
I too prefer the ring and so far most seem to be in the right spot for my hand, guess I'm lucky.
 
OK - so next question ;) - RING - flat or pointy?

You can tell I'm cogitatin' on my own handling project.

Thanks for the help.
 
Don't seem to matter much to me, I think a nice ridge with kind of a narrow point is the ticket. Not a sharp edge, most have a little bit of a flat, just a pronounced raised area for a reference point.
 
I also like the ring, but the handle has to be gripped properly, with the ring between two fingers and the hand relaxed. The ring locks the hand firmly in place. If you squeeze the handle in a death grip the ring will press into the palm of your hand, whether its sharp or rounded. This type of handle is meant to be held with a relaxed hand until the end of the swing and point of impact. The palm of the hand is not tight against the ring. It's something like a martial arts punch, where fist, forearm and everything else tighten up only at the actual impact.

The only downside to the ring is if you have one of the longer handles and want to hold it in different positions for different kinds of work. Then the ring might get in the way.

I have a few vintage khukuris from the early 1900s. They tend to have short handles and sometimes very pronounced sharp rings. The most extreme example is this steel-handled khukuri that is 25" overall length and 42 oz. With that much length and weight and a very prominent metal ring, you'd expect it to tear up your hand. I found that if I hold it properly that is not the case at all.

SteelHandle-25in-Vintage42oz-01.JPG SteelHandle-25in-Vintage42oz-07.JPG
 
RayseM said:
OK - so next question ;) - RING - flat or pointy?

You can tell I'm cogitatin' on my own handling project.

Thanks for the help.
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Most of them are like a little ramp. Some of them are totally rounded like a little lump. I don't like when the point is sharp, but I like to be able to feel that it is there. Please take a couple pictures along the way.
 
Heads up! I sent this one back to Yangdu for her to put in the DOTD to help out HI. I am not sure when, but she will most likely post it one of these days. If you want this unique knife, it just may be available to you some day soon. The handle is not perfect but it is pretty dang cool in my humble opinion. I used this knife quite a bit so it is not in brand new condition. I did clean it up and make it nice and sharp. I had tested it and put it through the ringer. It is a great little knife and will most likely last you a lifetime. Super sharp and strong. Keep your eyes peeled.
 
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