Handle materials

[taz575]

There are a ton of handle materials out there!

M3 Mokume: Metal composite where they atomize metal and rebind it with epoxy. So it's actually metal and epoxy mixed, so it works like wood, but has metallic look without the weight. Fairly pricey, but looks awesome as a ferrule!

Stabilized Burl woods: These are moderately priced usually, around $35-$45 depending on wood figure/grading. Some pieces can go for over $100 depending on figuring! Beautiful, light weight, durable, often my go to for a beautiful light weight handle

This handle has a M3 Mokume ferrule (black and silver) and a stabilized buckeye burl handle, blue for a Starry night handle style!

TJ Lam Fabrics: Material that I make with a 6 ton press, metal mold, fabric and boat building (laminating) epoxies. This is similar to Micarta, but I can do layers or the camo type patterns where it is randomly swirled. Moderately heavy, price varies a bit depending on fabrics and size. I can make larger slabs to use for multiple handles in a set which brings prices down, but it ranges from around $30 for material (if I do a larger batch and get multiple handles out of it) to around $65 for fancier fabrics and individual handle pieces. Super durable and a bit heavier than stabilized burl wood, takes a matte finish, but darkens a bit when the handle finish is used.

5 premade steak knives with TJ Lam BubbleGum handles. They were made from 1 large block of material

TJ Lam Carbon Fiber Burl: Similar to the fabrics, but using Carbon Fiber (or Basalt Fiber) fabrics, epoxy smooshed like crazy in a mold! It feels lighter weight than the fabric material above and may have teeny tiny air bubbles that I try to fill with CA glue. Durable and looks different than your typical carbon fiber weave patterns.

Closeup of a CF Burl handle:

6.5 x 6.25" block of the CF Burl material fresh out of the mold and trimmed down. 3/4" thick at one end, 1.5" thick at the other. My top press plate hit part of the mold and didn't fully compress, but I should be able to get a block around 6.5" x 6.5" x1"+ thick using this same mold/material amount:

[KnightKnightForever]

I want the starry night handle. Can you do one without a bolster?

Or maybe a yellowish one that mimics the starry night theme a little further

[taz575]

Micarta and G10 are laminates using paper, linen, denim, canvas, burlap, duckcloth, fire hose or fiberglass and many are made commercially. Very durable, may be a bit heavier than my laminates. G Carta and ShadeTree Phenolics make their own version of Micarta as does Gagarin composites and runs from $20-$50 per handle, so slightly less expensive than what I custom make. G10 has more color choices available.

G10 has a new variation called SureTouch. It is layers of G10 fiberglass and rubber, so it gives an awesome grippy texture even when wet, but retains a soft in the hand feel. Black/Black, Black/Blue, Black/Red, Black/Orange, Black/Camo, and some other colors (hopefully more will be added soon). My go to for fillet knives or when you need a good grip. Great for a durable outdoor knife, chopper, survival knife, etc!

These layered laminates will show some layers as you grind into them, so it looks like a topography map a bit!

Set of 5 Lauri Grand Fillet 220mm fillet knives with various colors of Suretouch handles:

Acrylics:
There are various acrylics out there. Kirinite is popular, but pricey and hard to get. I found some urethane composites on Amazon that are nice to use, easier to keep level with metal tangs. Many of the acrylics out there are very soft and hard to get flush with a metal spine/tang, so I usually avoid those. I don't mind using them, but they will be more fragile and may be more suited for a Wa handle where you don't need to try to sand metal and softer plastic level while sanding and especially polishing!

Bottom knife is a Hiromoto santoku thinned and rehandled in a harder acrylic:

[taz575]

KnightKnight, that handle is currently on a Tojiro Shirogami Kasumi 240mm gyuto. I can do up a similar handle if you want! Send me a PM and I can send you to some of my wood suppliers websites and talk more details with you! I can also do blue and yellow fabrics and make up a fabric handle, too!

[taz575]

This is what a frame style handle looks like; this one has a black G10 spacer and the TJ Lam handle scales. It's a 3 piece sandwich style handle. I can also do liners between the spacer and handle scales as well.

Same handle from the side

[taz575]

Played with some burlap and glow in the dark pigment powders for a buddy of mine in a brown/green camo burlap block:

Also did a hollow pin with the epoxy in it, too!

GITD pin.jpg (17.5 KiB) Viewed 562 times

A blacklight really makes it shine, but it has a fainter glow with other light sources.