# A fairly unique handle project.



## cotedupy (Jan 2, 2021)

A friend of mine in the UK asked me about a month ago for a very specific handle, which I was almost certain I wouldn't be able to do. He wanted it from winemaking oak staves, buffalo horn ferrule, and then the kicker - a sea-green spacer made from plastic found on the beach. I've done spacers from beach plastic before, but the problem here was that almost all of it is white, even coloured bits will have been bobbing around in the ocean for some time and been bleached by the sun. This was the picture he sent as the kind of colour he liked, I told him it was vanishingly unlikely to happen:







And alas it they appeared to have cleaned our beaches here in preparation for Christmas and New Year, and there was absolutely no plastic, not even white. Until I found this tangled up in some seaweed, it's plastic fishing net:






Pretty spot on colour match, but unfortunately not really the right shape and consistency for a spacer! Still I thought we could give it a go, so I cleaned it up, and thought of trying to cast it in epoxy at the bottom of a shot glass:






I still had no idea how it was going to sand up, but it actually behaved quite well. Looking like it could work...






And here we go... put on a 180mm Kiritsuke/Gyuto. To say I'm pleased with how it came out is something of an understatement. A combination of luck, and some creative ingenuity has meant this is basically _exactly_ what he wanted


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## toddnmd (Jan 2, 2021)

Very nice work! That spacer is really cool looking and makes a great focal point.


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## Staystrapped (Jan 2, 2021)

Really nice


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## ian (Jan 2, 2021)

Wow, that did turn out nice. Congrats


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## cotedupy (Jan 2, 2021)

Thanks guys!


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## Bensbites (Jan 2, 2021)

Nice!


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## AT5760 (Jan 2, 2021)

Your stuff went from DIY to pro in a hurry. Very nice!


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## cotedupy (Jan 2, 2021)

AT5760 said:


> Your stuff went from DIY to pro in a hurry. Very nice!



Ah cheers! Taken a bit of practice, but they've certainly got to a level where I'm happy to do them for friends and other people, rather than just mucking around on my own knives . Definitely not yet at the level of many others here (@Bensbites an obvious example), but I'm catching up!


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## ModRQC (Jan 5, 2021)

Amazing work! I really like the handle, quite the looker.


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