# first DIY wa-handle



## pkjames

I have this little 135-140mm deba in pretty bad shape. dirty magnolia handle with plastic ferrule. 

Since I have being doing quite a bit of workworking, decided to give DIY handle a try since I have nothing to lose.
Making a square was ok but sanding the corner was a bit tricky as it was so easy to mis-align the corners, thinking maybe next time to use a little block plane to slowly remove the corner.

because it is the first try, just found some spare scarp timber lying around and didn't bother stabilizing the wood (still haven't completed my vacuum chamber yet).

So, here we go:
little deba, $30 from yahoo japan 






ferrule in bad shape





PVA glue looks pretty strong, not sure if I should use epoxy instead.





after sanding to 1200 grit and oil 





The installation was reasonably straight forward, and I found drilling the hole and filing it to correct shape/size was the most time consuming bit.
here is the finished look. The fit was better than what i was expecting, and I sealed the gap with wax.











Quite happy with the first try, and thanks for looking 

EDIT: PS, timber is red mahogany and queensland walnut, gotta love aussie timbers!


----------



## mhenry

Nice job man. That handle looks great


----------



## NO ChoP!

Looks good. What wood is it?


----------



## pkjames

mhenry said:


> Nice job man. That handle looks great



cheers mate!
hope that one day i can make some handles that are half decent as those from Stefan and Marko:O


----------



## pkjames

NO ChoP! said:


> Looks good. What wood is it?



added on original post. 
Red is red mahogany (a type of eucalyptus, nothing to do with mahogany) and brown is queensland walnut. Both are native aussie hardwood :biggrin:


----------



## RobinW

Did you pre-drill the parts before attaching them together?
I am thinking of drilling a bigger diameter hole (idea from someone way smarter than me...) to give flexibility in direction when inserting the handle.

Also, what tools didi you use? Power or hand?


----------



## pkjames

RobinW said:


> Did you pre-drill the parts before attaching them together?
> I am thinking of drilling a bigger diameter hole (idea from someone way smarter than me...) to give flexibility in direction when inserting the handle.
> 
> Also, what tools didi you use? Power or hand?


I attached them before drilling. The bigger hole will certainly make the insertion easier but how to fix the tang to it securely? Would be nice to hear, as I also feared the tight hole may not be straight.

I used belt sander and drill press. I drilled a small hole than slowly filed the hole to size.


----------



## Lefty

Nice work, man! Congrats on your first.

Take it from me, a large hole, just larger than the tang diameter is essential in the main handle piece. For the ferrule, take a drill bit that is the thickness of the tang, drill three holes in a line and then use a micro-file to turn it into a tang slot. 

For blade installation, drip epoxy through your hole, insert tang and wipe excess with acetone. The epoxy is stronger than the handle material, and lighter to boot.


----------



## Mike9

Nice first handle. 

I have a trick for filling the hole with epoxy so it doesn't get all over. I cut a piece of wax paper say 5"x5" I mix the epoxy on that then roll/fold it up like a little pastry bag and insert the "tip" into the hole and squeeze it in. Insert tang and catch what comes out packing it around the tang before wiping it clean with acetone.


----------



## TB_London

I drill a larger hole in the main handle block and partially through the ferrule. This is then filled with a dowel slotted to accept the tang. Playing with the dowel material can allow you to adjust the balance point. it also reinforces the joint with the ferrule. I posted a thread on it a while ago, but i think the pics died and i still havent gotten around to re-embedding them.....

For making the slot in the ferrule a narrow jigsaw blade glued into a handle and tapered towards the tip makes a great broach. Easier and faster than a file IME. A fine file can then be used for tweaking the slot.


----------



## franzb69

those look good =D


----------



## Mike9

I like the jig saw blades that cut on the down stroke. I can chuck it into my drill press and broach the slot.


----------



## TB_London

Mike9 said:


> I like the jig saw blades that cut on the down stroke. I can chuck it into my drill press and broach the slot.



Interesting, I'll have to get one to try. Guessing it works well? I'd have thought it would flex the blade too much


----------



## apicius9

Looks great! I use a rotary tool with a cutting bit for opening the tang slot and then a rasp or file for the final adjustment. Many ways to get to the same result, I guess. Nice trick with the wax paper, Mike. I have gone back to mostly using West System epoxy for gluing and I use up my Brownell Acraglass for filling because it is thinner and flows better. A syringe works well to squirt it into the handle, and you can re-use it because epoxy doesn't stick to it. 

Stefan


----------



## RobinW

Stefan, do you wait until the epoxy dries and then push it back up the syringe? Dang it in that case, i threw mine out....


----------



## apicius9

RobinW said:


> Stefan, do you wait until the epoxy dries and then push it back up the syringe? Dang it in that case, i threw mine out....



Yep, once it's hardened you can just push it out. Not sure if it works with all syringes, I picked up a few at West Systems that were meant for that. 

Stefan


----------



## RobinW

Thanks! I'll look into that


----------



## pkjames

thanks very much for sharing guys. Looks like pre-drill a bigger hole for the main handle and precisely cutting the ferrule using jigsaw blade or dremel then filling with epoxy would be the way to go!

gotta give this another try!


----------



## marc4pt0

nice job man! I just started trying to do practice handles Monday afternoon (between mowing the lawn and the pegwife coming home from work and saying "it's time"). Tricky, as I knew it would be, and I'm nowhere close to moving on to the good woods yet. So, excellent work!


----------

