Creating knife handles

[iamnoone]

Hi everyone, I'm interested in making knfe handles made of different stones/minerals. I've been searching the web with little success. I have found the knives themselves but no instructional info. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
John

[snowmom]

You came to the right place! There are plenty of folks here who will be able to steer you in the right direction.
they should be along presently...........

[vegasjames]

I saw the idea on another rock forum and just decided to try it.

Basically just took the slabs ground on a flat lap to the same thickness and traced out the handle pattern, cut away the excess, drilled the holes for the pins then used bolts and nuts to hold the rough scales on while I finished shaping the edges flush to the handle. Then took out the bolts, glued the scale to the handle and the pins in place using brass rod, cut off the excess with a hacksaw, then used an angle grinder with diamond pads to grind the pins down flush. I used a combination of the angle grinder, a Genie and a lot of hand sanding to finish it the shaping.

There was some trial and error mostly on the other knives I have been working on. But each type and shape of knife has presented its own problems and have required different solutions. For example, where there are grooves for fingers that are too small for the larger grinding wheels I used wet/dry sandpaper wetted then wrapped around my finger to sand these smaller areas.

Another tip I learned the hard way is to cut the slabs a little thicker to start with and drill the holes from the outside in so where the drill goes through the chipping from the bit will on the non visible side. I also write an "L" and a "R" on the inside of each rough scale to remember which is the right and left scale and which side I chose to face outward.

[barclay]

Here is a link to a great tutorial. I prefer to do most of the work on the handle using a dop stick instead of putting them in the knife right away. I also prefer to glue the handles in place instead of drilling holes for screws. For me drilling is just one more thing to go wrong. The critical thing for me is to shape the stone correctly so it fits perfectly in the knife. It is very easy to see if you mess that up.

www.allaboutpocketknives.com/content/knife-related-projects-tutorials/mike-hoovers-art-in-stone-the-basics/

[iamnoone]

Thanks for the information, i really appreciate it

[TByrd]

Barclay, thanks for the great link. I have made a few knives myself and this has some really great info.

Tammy