# Another cheap western - conversion & re-handle



## RavenMad (Apr 13, 2014)

The third instalment in my "cheap westerns" series :wink: This one was a really worn out petty/utility that I've converted to a nice paring for the missus. This knife served many years duty as a gardening knife and, as you can see from the 'before' pic below, it was pretty clapped out - the profile was concave at the edge, the metal itself was scratched up and nasty and the handle, well better left unsaid. Really wanted to do a nice handle on paring for my wife so decided to see what I could do with this. I think it turned out pretty nice! On with the pics.

Before:




Unhandled:




Marking out the new profile - wasn't sure how to long to make it so two possible profiles marked out. I decided to go with the longer profile (which I made a fraction shorter at the refining/polishing stage):




New profile ground in:




Scales prepared - claret ash, Australian stringy bark for the ferrule and white G10 spacers:




Handle shaped and ready for finishing:




Finished product (with homemade mosaic pin). It's a bit hard to see but the copper pins at the back of the handle are made from the cores of two different gauges of electrical wire :biggrin:
















I feel that this one is an improvement over the last two re-handles in so many ways, but as always, C&C are welcome. Have at it!


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## berko (Apr 13, 2014)

wow!


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## scotchef38 (Apr 13, 2014)

Brilliant work!


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## cheflarge (Apr 13, 2014)

DAMN..... simple stunning!


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 13, 2014)

Nice job Adrian!

New handle is probably too good for this knife  Can't say if it's improvement over your previous works, as I like them no less. Few questions though. Are the dark spaces between wood and white spacer made intentionally? From the photos it's not obvious, but I'd guess they shouldn't be there




Also I wonder why haven't you made a more pointed tip. From the design marks on the blade prior to grinding I though as you were going to make in pretty pointed, but changed you mind later. What's was your reasons?

P.S. do you accept custom orders for pins?


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## RavenMad (Apr 13, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the compliments - always good to hear people say nice things about your work. 

@Anton: Thank you for your very kind words. Yes, this handle is too good for this knife but, at this stage, it's all about learning for me. Yes, the dark lines are annoying me! It's the epoxy darkening when it gets hot (sanding etc). I don't know how to stop it from happening! I know I probably didn't clamp this one enough to get a closer join so the epoxy line is pretty obvious but it seems to happen even when I get a really fine join.  As for the tip, I _did _change my mind when I was refining the finish - just thought I'd try a something a bit more snub-nosed. I like it  

Orders for mosaic pins? You're very kind but if you're interested, PM me and I'm sure we could work something out :thumbsup:


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## erikz (Apr 13, 2014)

Very nice RM! Awesome job. You might want to think about doing rehandling as a money maker


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## D3st1n (Apr 13, 2014)

Nice


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 13, 2014)

RavenMad said:


> @Anton: Thank you for your very kind words. Yes, this handle is too good for this knife but, at this stage, it's all about learning for me. Yes, the dark lines are annoying me! It's the epoxy darkening when it gets hot (sanding etc). I don't know how to stop it from happening! I know I probably didn't clamp this one enough to get a closer join so the epoxy line is pretty obvious but it seems to happen even when I get a really fine join.



From my experience this happens when you don't flatten enough both pieces. Another trick is to mix epoxy with wood dust (the very same dust that you get when flattening pieces). But more important is too flatten them. 

Mikey gave me advice to use a sheet of sandpaper attached to some flat surface (granite block, glass or anything similar) and then just flatten pieces using it. I'm using this method now and it works pretty well. Try and see if it works for you.


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## mc2442 (Apr 13, 2014)

Awesome work!


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## RavenMad (Apr 13, 2014)

icanhaschzbrgr said:


> From my experience this happens when you don't flatten enough both pieces. Another trick is to mix epoxy with wood dust (the very same dust that you get when flattening pieces). But more important is too flatten them.
> 
> Mikey gave me advice to use a sheet of sandpaper attached to some flat surface (granite block, glass or anything similar) and then just flatten pieces using it. I'm using this method now and it works pretty well. Try and see if it works for you.



Thanks Anton - that's a good thread. I'm pretty happy with the join I got between the spacers and the spine but I don't think I clamped it enough between the ferrule and handle. I'll see if I can improve that on the next one. 
Just back to the blade profile, after you mentioned it, I checked it and remembered that I dropped it just after I finished polishing the blade - point first! :beatinghead: It chipped a bit so I had to grind it out - the picture below shows the final profile - it ended up being a bit closer to my original design.


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Apr 13, 2014)

Nice shot!

Now time to make engraving and join KKF vendors subforum


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