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I have been looking around at all the cool custom handles on the forum, and then reading about some of the members who did their own and how they mentioned the learning curve involved. The last thing to figure out on a handle is usually what finish to put on a wood handle. When I first developed an interest in woodworking, I tried looking around at wood finish, but I could find neither rhyme nor reason to anything that these wood finishes claimed. My response was to find the best book I could that explained the actual how's and why's of wood finishing. That book is "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Bob Flexner.
I highly suggest it to anyone who wants to demystify wood finishing. I no longer struggle to know what a finish is or what finish I want to use for a particular object. It teaches you what major types of finish there are, oil, oil varnish blend, polymerized oil, lacquer, varnish, shellac, and epoxy based finishes. It teaches you how these finishes protect wood, how they differ from each other, and how to properly apply each one. It explains how to recognize what type of finish a product is, which is very important because they often are not what they are labelled! Plus it covers wood staining as well, and debunks many wood finishing myths.
With this book handy, I have a good grasp on the final step of making a handle, even if I may be pretty clueless about how to do the rest! I'll probably have to ask some questions about the rest of handle making soon 'cause I am definitely going to have to try it eventually.
Wa are easier. Square up your block (or blocks/pieces if doing ferrules/spacers). I use a wood dowel to connect the ferrule to the main body of the handle and any spacers/trim pieces within the handle. Usually it's a 1/2" or 3/8" dowel, sometimes smaller for petty knives. Spade bits drill better holes than twist bits for this, don't get the ones with the screw pointy end on the spade bit because they will pull the bit down into the wood quickly!!
Once the blocks are squared, drill the hole for the dowel into the main handle body, but don't go all the way to the bottom of the handle! Drill a 3/16" hole in the center of the ferrule piece all the way through the ferrule piece. From the back of the ferrule (where it meets up with the spacer/main handle body), drill until you have around 1/4"-1/2" of ferrule material left on the front side of the ferrule. I usually line up the ferrule/main body and draw lines so I know which sides butt up to which face. (Better grain on the sides of the handle)
I sand the dowel so it's a somewhat loose fit to the wood blocks and trim the dowel so it is a bit shorter than the tang length. The dowel just needs to solidly connect the ferrule and main body and any spacers between them so it's hard to shear apart. Tape off the front of the ferrule. I use JB Kwik Weld because it's thick, strong and hard and sets quickly. Epoxy the dowel into the ferrule, slather epoxy on the back end of the ferrule, add any spacers (epoxy between each layer and on the dowel itself as well), and then put epoxy into the hole of the main handle body, on the dowel and the ferrules and push the main handle onto the dowel, rotating it as you go. There will be air trapped in the main body hole, so I find rotating helps the air escape. Some people may drill a hole through the dowel lengthwise to let the air out, too. The JB Kwik Weld is very thick, so the air will slowly push the epoxy out and up and eventually pop and let the handle slide all the way down. I use a quick clamp to clamp the pieces together after making sure the ferrule/handle are lined up square. The end result should be the handle a solid one piece, with a 3/16" hole thru the ferrule (albeit filled with epoxy) and the dowel not reaching the end of the cavity in the main handle body.
From here, resquare the block and then cut the tapers of the handle (saw or sander) for the overall dimensions, leaving some wiggle room. You will lose some dimensions when flattening and cutting the facets and tuning the final dimensions. You can always take off, but not add it back on! I put a table on a sander at approx 40-45 degrees and cut the facets for a octagon handle with 60 grit, checking to keep them even and making sure the tapers look good.
From there after the tapers and facets are roughed in, I lay sandpaper on a granite reference plate (true flat hard surface) and then sand the facets from 100, 220, 320, 400, 600, keeping that facet flat on the board. You will see if you are applying uneven pressure of if the facet isn't truly flat. It's pretty quick work starting at 100 grit!
I then round off the front and rear edges of the handle. If the facets are too sharp, I go to the last grit I used, put some leather or thin cork gasket on the granite block and use that to slightly round the facet points so it's more comfy in the hand.
Then I use 3mm needle RASPS to file out the tang slot. I have some where I ground the teeth off the sides to only cut top and bottom and not widen the hole too much. Broaches also work well for this task, too. By having the dowel end before the cavity, the dust/shavings tend to fall into that cavity instead of packing down into the hole and making it shallower.
Wow, thanks for the detailed description! I'll have to go through this more carefully later. I was thinking about trying to put a Wa handle on my cheap Victorinox paring knife as a first attempt, since that knife is cheap and I don't like the handle on it much. Not sure what the tang is shaped like, but I'm sure I could shape it with a Dremel if I needed.
Western handles are shaped on the knife, so it's basically starting with 2 flat scales, fitting them to the bolster if there is one, or shaping the front of the handle scales, attaching them onto the tang and then pinning them and then removing the excess. It can be tricky to keep the scales/tang flush and also to keep the pins level with the handle material since the metal wears slower than the handle material. It's simpler, but its trickier and you need to shape the handle on the knife itself. With a Wa handle, you can build it entirely off the knife and then install on the knife when done and you aren't worried about bolsters and exposed tangs.
Plastic handled Victorinox often have a pretty stubby tang to them, or are a half tang, which may or may not work with a wa handle. Half tang have the spine edge of the tang looking like a full tang, but the handle material completely on the edge side of the handle where the fingers wrap around. You may be able to slot a thicker piece of handle material to fit the tang into and shape it that way.
I'll probably have to ask some questions about the rest of handle making soon 'cause I am definitely going to have to try it eventually.