Knife Making
It's been a long time since I made knives. Knife making was actually the reason I bought my gas forge a few years ago and it's still something I intend to do. I forged a few knife blades back then, but it was way too much manual grinding to be fun and I didn't have the right tools back then, and I'm still missing a belt grinder in my toolbox...
This time I will go for a purchased blade.
Last time I created a handle, I drilled a hole for the knife tang and shaped the handle around that. I found it hard to get right and did not liked the method at all. That was also a reason to why the all knife making plans was put on ice. This time I will create a three layer handle to see if that suits me better.
I started with these two pieces. One big chunk of birch and one piece of a more darker wood species (walnut?).
![/media/knife-making-1.jpg](/media/knife-making-1.jpg)
I cut the birch wood in half and put all three pieces into a planer. It is importande that the middle piece is of the same thickness as the blade.
![/media/knife-making-2.jpg](/media/knife-making-2.jpg)
Here are all the three pieces planed.
![/media/knife-making-3.jpg](/media/knife-making-3.jpg)
I cut the pieces with a 45 degrees angle to match the blade. Then I marked out the knife tang on the middle piece.
![/media/knife-making-4.jpg](/media/knife-making-4.jpg)
Then I rough sawed to the mark and filed the last bit to make it fit.
![/media/knife-making-5.jpg](/media/knife-making-5.jpg)
Now it's time to glue everything together. I kept the blade on to make sure it would fit even after the glue dried.
![/media/knife-making-6.jpg](/media/knife-making-6.jpg)
Next step is to draw the handle.
![/media/knife-making-7.jpg](/media/knife-making-7.jpg)
Rough sewed around the markings. Then it is mostly about filing and sanding. A belt grinder would be awesome.
![/media/knife-making-8.jpg](/media/knife-making-8.jpg)
The result
After sanding, oiling and polishing, the handle is finally ready. I also removed the blade and filled it with epoxy before I put it back in.
I am quite happy with the result, it fits well in the hand and has a good grip. I liked the three layer handle, both how smooth the process was to make it but also how it looks. This is definitely how I will make knives in the future.
One thing I take with me to the next time is make the outer pieces thinner so I don't have to grind and file so much.
![/media/knife-making-9.jpg](/media/knife-making-9.jpg)