# First Wa Handle w Hand Tools



## tostadas (Oct 11, 2021)

Decided to try my hand at making a new handle. The plan was a half-octo/half-round shape using white oak and black buffalo horn. Here's how it went.

My tool selection was limited, so I mainly made do with hand tools. I have a sander for bulk removal, but it's not at all useful for straight edges or precision. So a good amount of work was done with sandpaper on top of an atoma block which I used as my flat surface.






Originally I wanted to do a single piece burnt oak octagon handle. But I realized that my drill bits weren't long enough to make a hole deep enough for my Watanabe. So I changed course and decided on a 2-piece with horn. I used a slotted dowel. Since I don't have any super good way of making a precise straight hole, I went one size larger for the hole to allow for a little bit of adjustment. So 1/2" hole and a 7/16" dowel. I used popsicle sticks to make sure the holes remained straight during assembly.

The hardest part was getting square edges. It took a lot of measuring but eventually got it close enough. Here's the rough dimensioned piece epoxied together. The hole looks big, but the tang of the Watanabe is a bit awkward due to the widest part being about 2-3cm from the choil, and the tang was not totally straight. I did some straightening of the tang, but still had to widen the hole to accommodate.









For shaping, I started with an octagon, then marked off the rough shape on the front and back. Then went back and rounded the edges til it was the shape I wanted.





After polishing the horn, it started looking much better.





Finished product after torching and coated with a few layers of tru oil. Final dimensions are approx 23x26 tapered to 21x24 at the widest spots.





















*Final thoughts:*
This project took me around 10hrs, not including the 3 weeks that I spent just thinking about how to do it before actually making the first cut. It's definitely not something I can make profitable, but it was really fun and I'm very happy with the result. Stay tuned for more to come in the future!

special thanks to @birdsfan and @cotedupy for help on some technical aspects,
and also to @ian and @Carl Kotte for inspiration


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## HumbleHomeCook (Oct 11, 2021)

Very nice. Good for you!


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## Bensbites (Oct 11, 2021)

Nice job!


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## tomsch (Oct 11, 2021)

Wow!!! That looks amazing!!


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## birdsfan (Oct 11, 2021)

Great job! And I know it is more comfortable and likely better balanced than the stock handle. That shape is a personal favorite of mine for a working knife. Don't be surprised if you are now inspired to customize more knives in your kit!


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## PappaG (Oct 11, 2021)

Damn. that is crazy nice. Even more so with the tools used.


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## tostadas (Oct 11, 2021)

birdsfan said:


> Great job! And I know it is more comfortable and likely better balanced than the stock handle. That shape is a personal favorite of mine for a working knife. Don't be surprised if you are now inspired to customize more knives in your kit!


Haha, yea definitely thinking about the next project. Looking into some fancier woods after seeing that this one came out OK.


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## M1k3 (Oct 11, 2021)

tostadas said:


> Decided to try my hand at making a new handle. The plan was a half-octo/half-round shape using white oak and black buffalo horn. Here's how it went.
> 
> My tool selection was limited, so I mainly made do with hand tools. I have a sander for bulk removal, but it's not at all useful for straight edges or precision. So a good amount of work was done with sandpaper on top of an atoma block which I used as my flat surface.
> 
> ...


Looks great! I'd rock it on one of my knives.


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## madmotts (Oct 11, 2021)

this is great. I’m interested in doing one with Buffalo horn too. It looks like it’s a cylindrical piece to start and squared? With hidden dowel?


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## tostadas (Oct 11, 2021)

madmotts said:


> this is great. I’m interested in doing one with Buffalo horn too. It looks like it’s a cylindrical piece to start and squared? With hidden dowel?


Yea it was a 1.5inch diameter cylindrical piece of horn with hidden dowel. One thing about horn is that it smells kinda bad when you cut/sand it.


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## cotedupy (Oct 11, 2021)

tostadas said:


> Decided to try my hand at making a new handle. The plan was a half-octo/half-round shape using white oak and black buffalo horn. Here's how it went.
> 
> My tool selection was limited, so I mainly made do with hand tools. I have a sander for bulk removal, but it's not at all useful for straight edges or precision. So a good amount of work was done with sandpaper on top of an atoma block which I used as my flat surface.
> 
> ...



That is _seriously _impressive! Absolutely love it. How did you get the spacer-type effect with just that little strip not burnt before the horn? That's very cool indeed.


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## tostadas (Oct 11, 2021)

cotedupy said:


> That is _seriously _impressive! Absolutely love it. How did you get the spacer-type effect with just that little strip not burnt before the horn? That's very cool indeed.


I wrapped the horn with a wet paper towel, and wrapped that wet paper in some foil. Then pushed it back until it was right up against the ferrule line.

I did some torch tests on pieces of scrap wood beforehand. Foil by itself did not work well to protect the wood because my torch melted the foil. The wet paper reduced the speed of the melting enough to get the job done.


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## cotedupy (Oct 12, 2021)

tostadas said:


> I wrapped the horn with a wet paper towel, and wrapped that wet paper in some foil. Then pushed it back until it was right up against the ferrule line.
> 
> I did some torch tests on pieces of scrap wood beforehand. Foil by itself did not work well to protect the wood because my torch melted the foil. The wet paper reduced the speed of the melting enough to get the job done.



Very clever. I've been meaning to try torching wood for a while now, and will definitely be nabbing this technique . It's the little details!


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## KnightKnightForever (Oct 12, 2021)

Really cool. Like the hybrid design


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## Carl Kotte (Oct 12, 2021)

I’m speechless


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## silylanjie (Oct 12, 2021)

Very impressive, good job!


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