Handle Install Advice

[ex1580]

I've been watching this thread closely. Do you think that with something like a Takayuki Grand Chef Gyuto it would be relatively easy to rehandle it more deeply so it doesn't have the machi gap? Same process as a standard rehandle but might have to dig out the handle to make it a mm or two deeper? Or, I guess you could rasp a mm or two off of the tang.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/grandchef3.html

[taz575]

Yes, it should be easy. You can probably cut off a couple mm from the tang with a Dremel cut off wheel easier than rasping out the hole. You can also try heating the tang and burning it in farther to the handle as well.

[Kerneldrop]

That's the fun part about handles...whether you make one or buy one... with enough patience and the right tools, just about anything is possible.
I have to find a handle for a Yuki 210 gyuto.
I've found two places online, but not sure where folks mostly go for handles.

[Jeff B]

...where folks mostly go for handles.

https://sugicutlery.com

[Ocicat]

https://sugicutlery.com

Yes! I have a couple of Joe's handles and they are super nice. I also have a couple from Get a Grip Workshop and highly recommend them as well.

So far I've always had my handles installed by a pro, but I just had a nice blade-only purchase and am thinking of giving it a go myself this time. I'd been planning on going with the hot glue and heating the tang with a torch, but I noticed heat gun mentioned a couple times in this thread already. Will a cheapo heat gun actually get the tang hot enough?

[Ocicat]

Also, I know CKTG does a bunch of custom handle installs in house -- I even watched a video about it.

But I've never seen much for sale on the site. I know they put them on knives for sale -- I got a Takeda with a sweet bog oak handle a couple years ago -- but are they ever sold on their own here?

[Kerneldrop]

I use these for applying grease to things...I may use this to drop construction adhesive or epoxy into the hole.
If it doesn't hold then i'll break out the map gas.

2024-04-03_08-11-56.jpg (5.48 KiB) Viewed 392 times

[taz575]

A small butane torch will heat up the tang plenty to melt hot glue.

[Jeff B]

...Will a cheapo heat gun actually get the tang hot enough?

Yes it will. If you have doubts, you can always heat a piece of metal with that heat gun and touch a glue stick to it and that will answer your question definitively.

[Kerneldrop]

Hot glue sticks come in a low-heat option, too.
real beeswax melts at around 145 degrees F

My harbor freight heat gun advertises up to 1,000 degrees F.
Although that may be in perfect lab settings, even a 1/4 of that performance is enough to melt a hot glue stick.

[STPepper9]

I usually tape up my handle and blade for easy cleanup anyone have tips for this?
One thing I have noticed is that some tapes can lighten kurouchi. Maybe obvious if you think about it, but good to be aware of.

[salemj]

I just wanted to thank everyone again for the wonderful comments here. I was able to attempt an install this past weekend. Things went ok.

The first problem was that I wanted a certain neck size and the tang didn't fit, so I just did some very quick grinding of the tang's height so that I could get it 1-2mm deeper into the handle without having to actually burn-in the metal at the mouth.

The second, much bigger problem is that I opted to adjust the balance of the knife. So I inserted some small washers into the handle first. This meant dry fitting the knife, using clips to estimate the needed adjustment, weighing the glue, and guessing as to the total distribution. In the end, it worked very well.

However, it was a real challenge to get the washers in, with hot glue, without installing the knife. Obviously, I wanted to ensure these would be secure and never rattle. I don't have a hot glue gun, so I started by heating the washers in boiling water, cutting the glue into small pieces, and heating a BBQ skewer that I could use as a hot poker to heat the glue more and shove everything together deep in the handle. This was messy and didn't work great. Then, when installing the handle, it was clear that one of the washers stuck to the side (despite my efforts to check for this!), thus blocking the handle at first. Plus, the "cold" glue at the bottom was uneven, so the handle went in slowly and made a bit of a mess.

Finally, because I had everything taped up and made a little mess, I did not see that the handle was not installed to the right depth. It was off by 1mm or so. So, I then boiled the handle in a standing pot (using a ziplock) just until the glue started to give, adjusted the depth, and make sure everything was (again) as straight as I could get it. The final step was just trying to clean up some of the glue mess. I haven't finished this step entirely, although things look good in general (I just need a good heat gun or something to give the leftover glue a "sheen" rather than having cut marks).

All in all, the install would have been mostly painless if I hadn't done the counterweights. With them, it was messy, but still turned out very nicely.

From the pics, however, I think you can see that it is at least as straight as any store-bought knife in the 500+ range (at least that I own), and that I got a great balance point that goes through the third hammer mark near the spine, maybe a quarter over an inch from the handle itself. (You can see another negative here as the knife literally balances on the edge of my cutting board at the inside bevel...having the edge taped up for 3+ months since I removed the old handle caused two flecks of corrosion on the semi-stainless at the heel that I still need to remove!)

Thanks again to everyone!

[jknife]

:

I just wanted to thank everyone again for the wonderful comments here. I was able to attempt an install this past weekend. Things went ok.

The first problem was that I wanted a certain neck size and the tang didn't fit, so I just did some very quick grinding of the tang's height so that I could get it 1-2mm deeper into the handle without having to actually burn-in the metal at the mouth.

The second, much bigger problem is that I opted to adjust the balance of the knife. So I inserted some small washers into the handle first. This meant dry fitting the knife, using clips to estimate the needed adjustment, weighing the glue, and guessing as to the total distribution. In the end, it worked very well.

However, it was a real challenge to get the washers in, with hot glue, without installing the knife. Obviously, I wanted to ensure these would be secure and never rattle. I don't have a hot glue gun, so I started by heating the washers in boiling water, cutting the glue into small pieces, and heating a BBQ skewer that I could use as a hot poker to heat the glue more and shove everything together deep in the handle. This was messy and didn't work great. Then, when installing the handle, it was clear that one of the washers stuck to the side (despite my efforts to check for this!), thus blocking the handle at first. Plus, the "cold" glue at the bottom was uneven, so the handle went in slowly and made a bit of a mess.

Finally, because I had everything taped up and made a little mess, I did not see that the handle was not installed to the right depth. It was off by 1mm or so. So, I then boiled the handle in a standing pot (using a ziplock) just until the glue started to give, adjusted the depth, and make sure everything was (again) as straight as I could get it. The final step was just trying to clean up some of the glue mess. I haven't finished this step entirely, although things look good in general (I just need a good heat gun or something to give the leftover glue a "sheen" rather than having cut marks).

All in all, the install would have been mostly painless if I hadn't done the counterweights. With them, it was messy, but still turned out very nicely.

From the pics, however, I think you can see that it is at least as straight as any store-bought knife in the 500+ range (at least that I own), and that I got a great balance point that goes through the third hammer mark near the spine, maybe a quarter over an inch from the handle itself. (You can see another negative here as the knife literally balances on the edge of my cutting board at the inside bevel...having the edge taped up for 3+ months since I removed the old handle caused two flecks of corrosion on the semi-stainless at the heel that I still need to remove!)

Thanks again to everyone!

Really nice job! There is a a certain satisfaction to a job well done. That said I would be willing to forgo that satisfaction and would be glad to send you a blade and handle to marry for me

[salemj]

:

Really nice job! There is a a certain satisfaction to a job well done. That said I would be willing to forgo that satisfaction and would be glad to send you a blade and handle to marry for me

Hahaha. Thanks for the comments and encouragement!

[Kerneldrop]

…

#builtnotbought. Great job on finding a way to finish with an excellent outcome.

[STPepper9]

Oh dang. We forgot the tip of taping the tang to the depth you want. I bet that's happened to almost everyone on their first install.
Looks good though.
BTW my cleanup trick for smoothing out the glue is to torch a spatula a little bit and the wipe/scrape/press it around the tang hole until it looks nice and smooth.

[Jeff B]

Oh dang. We forgot the tip of taping the tang to the depth you want...

That's how I marked my blade for the proper depth, like you, meant to mention it but forgot to bring that up!

Still turned out nice Joe, good job! Though I never doubted your results would be anything but steller....

[taz575]

They also make hot glue pellets now that are kinda like rice or couscous grain sized that may work for hot gluing handles. I got a bag, but havent tried them yet.

[Kerneldrop]

They also make hot glue pellets now that are kinda like rice or couscous grain sized that may work for hot gluing handles. I got a bag, but havent tried them yet.

This may be absolutely silly, but I thought about the expanding insulation foam since it hardens, has glue-like properties and is expanding.
Little shot through the needle straw and you're done.
I dunno, maybe.

[salemj]

They also make hot glue pellets now that are kinda like rice or couscous grain sized that may work for hot gluing handles. I got a bag, but havent tried them yet.

I saw a video by Knifewear that I believe used these. They seemed like a good idea.