# How to put a taper on WA handle?



## Danzo (Feb 22, 2018)

Well, hows it done usually? My current designs are clunky and flat, octagonal handles made on a bandsaw and router. Side note, Im also having trouble making centered holes, I think my drillpress sucks


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## Bensbites (Feb 22, 2018)

I built a sled for tablesaw. I mark everything with a pencil, hold down the handle on the sled, and cut.


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## Danzo (Feb 22, 2018)

But do you do that before or after you route the wood?


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## Bensbites (Feb 22, 2018)

I never route my wood.


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## Dave Martell (Feb 22, 2018)

I do the taper on a disc grinder.


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## Dave Martell (Feb 22, 2018)

Danzo said:


> Well, hows it done usually? ....Side note, Im also having trouble making centered holes, I think my drillpress sucks



Common problem unless you buy a big $$$ drill press.

You can counter the issue by making sure that your table is square to the bit (when extended too!), using a nice cross vise, and if all that fails drill the hole and then flip the wood 180 deg and drill again.


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## RDalman (Feb 22, 2018)

I use a fairly fancy drill press, but most importantly I think is I drill with a special ground high speed deep drill bit with side cuts. Also I start the holes with mill bit to get the first couple of cm cut straight.

I shape my handles on the belt sander freehand, so taper then.


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## Matus (Feb 22, 2018)

I either use a (way too small) disc sander and will in future use my new 2x72, but on the following knife I only used sandpaper after the block was cut down to approximate shape(rectangular in cross section, but already with a taper) with a bandsaw:
http://matuskalisky.blogspot.de/2018/01/project-25-150-mm-tall-petty-from-12442.html


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## Bensbites (Feb 22, 2018)

Danzo said:


> Well, hows it done usually? My current designs are clunky and flat, octagonal handles made on a bandsaw and router. Side note, Im also having trouble making centered holes, I think my drillpress sucks



I mark center, then I drill 1/8th, 1/4, followed by 1/2 inch. Starting smaller allows my center to be more exact. I have 2 inches of travel on my press. Once I bottom that out, I raise the head and block off the table and add a piece of wood to get another 0.75 inches. This is all I need for 210s and. Most 240s. I can use my center/drill method on both sides of the block and get a pretty darn straight hole.


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## Matus (Feb 22, 2018)

Apropos centred holes - squaring the block up as well as you can prior to drilling will help a lot. I also use a drill press vice. I drill either 10 mm for smaller knives and 12 mm for larger and do the drilling in 1 step and use the wood drill bits (with the thin narrow tip). I cut the block on a band saw after drilling and gluing, so I can correct if I did not get the drilling quite right.


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## HSC /// Knives (Feb 22, 2018)

I use 9" disc sander with table rest


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## Yet-Another-Dave (Feb 22, 2018)

The best technique to get your holes centered varies by the tools you have. I imagine a high quality drill press is the most common. One technique I don't see mentioned, (though hinted at by Matus above) is to drill / bore your center hole and use that as your reference surface. This is fairly standard practice when working with a wood lathe, (which is also a very accurate "drill press"), and lead to very high precision centering. However, with a little jigging, I don't see why you couldn't do something similar on a bandsaw or with a sander. (Which also lend themselves to non-cylindrical handle shapes.)


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## RDalman (Feb 23, 2018)

Lathe was easily my best handle making upgrade tool. Solves and speeds up many problems.


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## Matus (Feb 23, 2018)

Yet-Another-Dave said:


> The best technique to get your holes centered varies by the tools you have. I imagine a high quality drill press is the most common. One technique I don't see mentioned, (though hinted at by Matus above) is to drill / bore your center hole and use that as your reference surface. This is fairly standard practice when working with a wood lathe, (which is also a very accurate "drill press"), and lead to very high precision centering. However, with a little jigging, I don't see why you couldn't do something similar on a bandsaw or with a sander. (Which also lend themselves to non-cylindrical handle shapes.)



Yep, that is what I do. While I do square up the block prior to drillins so that I have a good chance to drill in the direction I intended (and marked on the block beforehand), I would then use a long strainght piece of dowel material and check closely if it aligns with the pre-marked lines. If not - I redraw the lines so that the dowel will be on axis of the handle. Another variastion is to make a dowel for the blade right after drilling, insert the dowel and the tang it ist place and use the blade spine to check.


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## ThEoRy (Feb 23, 2018)

I use a 4" wide belt sander to taper wa handles.


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## inferno (Feb 23, 2018)

there is also the manual way of doing it. with a japanese saw and files/rasps. 
its also very easy to do rounded handles with these, I mean why to octagons when you can do ovals, that actually are ergonomic?

I like bahco/öberg files myself. these are now made in portugal and not in sweden, these are the best i can find locally for quite cheap, if I want better than this, it goes into exotic swiss territory quite quickly, like Vallorbe.

I currently use bahco 100-08-1 (coarse crosscut) 100-08-2 (medium crosscut) 143-08-1 (fine single cut) and a sh1t rasp that i need to swap for a bahco one (i mean dulling from rapsing wood??? serious sh1t quality imo).


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## OneStaple (Feb 23, 2018)

Danzo, a lot depends on the tools available and your comfort level with them. As a woodworker, my preference is to use a table saw and router table combination. Use the table saw first to square up (or rectangle up) your blank, then use the table saw with a jig or sled or shims against the fence to apply a taper (depends on your comfort with table saws and jigs available).

Use the router table (not a hand-held router) to put a 45 degree bevel on all four edges and create an octagon AFTER you've applied the taper. Otherwise, your 45 degree bevels will decrease in size from one end of the handle to the other.

This method can create nice, precise octagons relatively quickly.

You can drill the tang hole before or after the above steps, and as mentioned previously, a good drill press or lathe helps. I will often drill the hole first so I can tweak as necessary on the table saw when squaring up the blank if my hole ended up slightly off center.

Belt/disc sanders, lathes, and hand tools are also good/valid options. I like the method above, but I'm certainly no master.

Good luck!
Tyler


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## Danzo (Feb 23, 2018)

All good discussion here. Nice knowing what all of you use. I just went the octagonal/routed corner style because it seemed the easiest to accomplish. No real finesse or measuring needed. I dont see how though you could route after you taper the edges, wouldnt that give you wonky sides? I suppose the boy way to get a clean taper is to measure the width from the bottom and mark a smaller sized top and just flatten according to your pattern.


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## apicius9 (Feb 23, 2018)

I drill with a decent drill press but wish I had a lathe. As for shaping, I start the 45* octagon sides on a band saw, then shape it all by eye on a sander. Mine are often not 100% precise when you take a caliper to them, but they should feel comfortable. 

Stefan


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## apicius9 (Feb 23, 2018)

RDalman said:


> I use a fairly fancy drill press, but most importantly I think is I drill with a special ground high speed deep drill bit with side cuts. Also I start the holes with mill bit to get the first couple of cm cut straight.
> 
> I shape my handles on the belt sander freehand, so taper then.



Hi Robin,

I am always interested in alternative drill bits - would you mind sharing what type you use or maybe a link to a source?

Stefan


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## RDalman (Feb 24, 2018)

apicius9 said:


> Hi Robin,
> 
> I am always interested in alternative drill bits - would you mind sharing what type you use or maybe a link to a source?
> 
> Stefan



http://www.jano-knives.se/sv/borr/hogvarvig-djuphalsborr/

Swedish but this is the ones. I think both the tip and flutes are a bit different from regular wood bits. Deeper flutes so it clears the hole really well.


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## OneStaple (Feb 24, 2018)

Danzo said:


> All good discussion here. Nice knowing what all of you use. I just went the octagonal/routed corner style because it seemed the easiest to accomplish. No real finesse or measuring needed. I dont see how though you could route after you taper the edges, wouldnt that give you wonky sides? I suppose the boy way to get a clean taper is to measure the width from the bottom and mark a smaller sized top and just flatten according to your pattern.



I see you just posted a completed knife handle conversion in another thread where you tapered the last bit of the handle to match a bolster. In that case, I would add that taper after routing the bevels.

In what I described in my previous post, I was talking about a octagonal wa handle with a taper from one end to the other (subtle, but a few mm difference in each dimension). So yes, the bevel width stays constant while the sides and top/bottom get a little smaller as you approach the front of the handle (if that description makes sense). However, the sides and top/bottom are usually wider than the bevel that you add with the router, so the decrease in size is less pronounced/obvious than it would be on the bevels.

As I mentioned, there are plenty of valid ways to approach this though and it really depends on how you want the handle to look in the end.

Attaching a picture of a handle I made just so you can see.

Tyler


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## zitangy (Feb 25, 2018)

i tried 

a_ drill press.. with a cheap one . a waste of time as the wobble on chuck and possibly on the not so good bit does not give me not a slanted hole. Inspired by matus PB40 Bosch drill press and ordered one and shld be in abt2 weeks time. From his blog, i see that he managed to drill 2 mm holes.. 3 of them in a row... so inspiring... Meanwhile, my unelegant solution is to cut the wood in half, router the cavity, glue it with epoxy and so far no problems... Ordered a tuna knife and they wanted a bomb for the handle and saya.. this I will have to take this route as such a long drill bit wld wander and i dont know where to look for a long rasp and file...

b. Tapered . I like them tapered front to back as in the full ebony handles adn not like the cheaper rosewood handles rectangular in shape... I tapered first and then i use a router with teh 45degree bit . before that i used a 12 inch disc sander..with the aid of a 45 degree jig made from a square piece of wood cut diagonally across which gives me 45degree wood face and one of the ends attach a piece to for sideways L... One of the old eyes not so good..

If i cant drill straight.. I prefer to drill and then cut or sandisk away wood to have the hole in the center...


still learning ... hv fun guys..Z

Do not mind trying out the small table router from Proxxon someday . IF their 45degree bit cuts 6mm across i think it shld be good enough. Prefer router as it is less dust...


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## Danzo (Feb 26, 2018)

one staple. the last thread i did a hidden tang conversion. that one is a untapered octagonal handle, and just tapered slightly at the top end only to match the bolster. Im talking more of a straight taper on all 8 sides, can't be done on a router, must be measured and done with a sander of sorts. Its just more math and finesse, and tools i don't have yet. 
Cant deny that for straight untapered handles, a router is possibly the easiest method, as long as your wood is square, you get perfect sides every time.


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## zitangy (Feb 27, 2018)

""Im talking more of a straight taper on all 8 sides, can't be done on a router,""

I d believe that there are some router tables that allows the fence to be angled thereby having a taper if the front end portion of fence is tilted closed to the router bit.. i am looking for one... Or clamp yr own DIY fence...at an angle


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## Yet-Another-Dave (Feb 27, 2018)

zitangy said:


> ""Im talking more of a straight taper on all 8 sides, can't be done on a router,""
> 
> I d believe that there are some router tables that allows the fence to be angled thereby having a taper if the front end portion of fence is tilted closed to the router bit.. i am looking for one... Or clamp yr own DIY fence...at an angle



Changing the angle of your fence on a router table just changes the line the part follows by the (cylindrically symmetric) router bit. They sell jigs, or you can make one, that will hold a work piece at an angle to the fence on a table saw, but you have to run your work between the fence and the cutter. That's a big safety no-no on a router table.

What you want is a miter fence, or an equivalent jig, that uses your table slots. (Common on / for table saws & band saws. I don't recall seeing them on a router table, but most of those are home or kit made, so why not?) Think cross-cut sled with clamping / fencing to hold the handle at a slight angle to the direction of the cut.


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## tedg (Mar 1, 2018)

I made a jig that works quite well for making tapers. It works with a small 4"x36" belt sander. Not easy to explain, but here goes. With the sander upright, (belt pulling straight down) I added a 1/4"x4"x8" piece of steel to the cheap table that came with it. That gives a solid surface to work on. My jig basically holds (clamps) the blank straight upright, parallel to the belt and sits on the table I added. With 2 set screws I can tilt the jig forward to whatever angle I want. Two more set screws stop the distance I can push the jig in (they stop against the steel table I added). Using the tilted table and the stops (and the sander running) you have one side of a four sided block with a nice taper. Now you need to picture this mounted on a miniature rotary indexing table. 

Any amount of facets are possible. Even compound facets, like a diamond. Everything is cut/sanded based from the location of the pre drilled tang hole, (so the hole is centered no matter what you do even if its off centered when you start). And the best part is, the handle is clamped while its sanded to profile, so unlike a router or table saw you can safely add flair (brass, nic/sil, bone etc.) without worry of separation (or flying pieces). Unless you over heat. Over heating is the enemy here, we're in no hurry.

like I said, kind of hard to explain, but you get basics of what I did.


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