Handle a sloyd knife with hand tools only | No glue | Split dowel method

[@LitoGeorge]

I (physically) laughed out loud when you swopped out the egg beater drill for the electric drill. Very interesting method you have here! Tx

[@bbrachman]

The half pin wedges are a brilliant idea. No fooling around with broaching a rectangular hole. As tight as an axe handle wedge. Very nice. Block planes are the best! Thanks for showing us this technique.

[@dominicm6144]

Thanks for the video and showing the technique, this is new to me. Nicely executed!

[@Mikes_Life]

That was awesome to watch. You just earned another subscriber! Keep up the good work

[@mjolnirplissken7032]

I love your hand tools, they inclined me to subscribe. I am making Birch scales for an enormous knife/machete that I found lying in the street that needed a little TLC. It is a very strange knife as the spine is a full centimeter thick, but at the start of the tang the thickness tapers to a fraction of that by the time it then flares out at the butt like the shoulder insignia of a Private First Class. Its design was intended to seat the scales and create a small pommel i think. Its making the job of shaping the scales very complicated. The tang had six little pins instead of the more common two or three large pins. I drilled it out to accommodate another two larger pins as well as a copper lanyard hole pin. I like your idea of soaking the scales and then installing them wet so that they shrink as they dry to create a really tight fit. I might steal that idea. I have a drill, angle grinder and an orbital sander, a few hand saws, and that's about it. After seeing your block plane I remembered using my Dad's planes as a kid and was thinking that a small hand plane would be easier than sanding, sanding, sanding, raising the grain, and then sanding for another month... I should invest in a very small, portable table vice too as I have no work space, bench or horses. thanks for the inspirational video..... I CAN DO THIS> I CAN MAKE HANDLE SCALES TOO... im trying anyway

[@noodle138]

Thanks for the vid. I used this method to handle some beavercraft sloyd knife blades, it worked a treat.

[@JohnDoe-jn3es]

Helpful with putting handles on some 1800s wood chisels Thank you

[@LitoGeorge]

Its clear you found the enjoyable limits of using an eggbeater/drill of that size for the job at hand. A brace/auger will be far better for the larger holes required, and an actual pleasure/easy to use. One question: what wood was the split dowel made of, and was it dry or green wood?

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

Since this video was made I've obtained a complete set of jennings bits, and I hardly use my eggbeater drill any more. the split dowel was just whatever - you can whittle your own or buy it from the hardware store, it isn't important.

[@LitoGeorge]

@@jones_trees_and_treen one great addition to using twist drill bits in a size smaller than 1/4" is to use a drill chuck that then mounts into the brace. Was manufactured for many decades, can find them in second hand farm markets etc. Makes an eggbeater look silly.

[@markgoddard2560]

Nice work. Have you tried using a riffle to shape the handle. If you file the handle to fit your fingers the grip and control over the knife for detail is much greater and far less tiring.

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

It's a good idea but not for me. I have a strong preference for simple faceted handles and I don't like sanding. I think a lot of handles are 'over-ergonomic' to a fault, as in they're so contoured for the hand they can only be usefully held one or two ways. I prefer more versatility. Hope that's an interesting answer.

[@michaelrodman6646]

Hey littlebear I've really been enjoying your videos and have picked up a bunch of good tricks from you so far. I appreciate the no-glue concept a lot- I checked out your "updated handle" vid as well...in both you mention that this no-glue method as being "less reliable". can you elaborate? do your no glue doweled handles end up loosening up and need maintenance or is it just intrinsically not-as-sure-a-thing? thanks a bunch for taking the time to create your content. hope you keep at it.

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

I mean with time and use a no-glue handle will inevitably come loose eventually. If you're looking for a natural option, I think pine pitch or any kind of tree sap based resin would do a good job to secure a handle if it was wedged really well by the dowels.

[@Haasteublift]

Really nice, thanks for sharing, and the blade looks also amazing. Can i ask you what is that tool you're using to remove straight shavings from your handle at the beginning of the video?

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

It's a Pope #4 smoothing plane.

[@DanSantanaBows]

Really great video. I’ll definitely be doing this soon

[@marcopaccagnella3272]

Great video. Just one question. Is it a forged blaďe? Who made it?

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

Info is in the description.

[@mickwall1286]

Thanks. Helpful.

[@paulsmithies7620]

Great youtube, love the method. Have you used the same method for a hook knife ?

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

Hook knives usually have round tangs rather than flat, so this method wouldn't be applicable. If it's a flat tang then yes you could do the same. For round tangs I just drill a closely sized hole and use hot glue.

[@paulsmithies7620]

@@jones_trees_and_treen Its a Robin wood hook knife so has a square tang

[@noodle138]

Great video. I am getting into green woodworking. I have a couple of beavercraft knife blades to handle. Could you explain the fitting of the dowel? Is it a tight fit in the drilled hole? and have you tapered the hole and the dowel? Any tips would be great. New sub right here

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

Hi, it's a tight fit with the blade in but the dowel in the hole (without the blade) should be pretty loose. The dowel is tapered slightly but the hole is straight.

[@waylander7]

I like your approach to handling the blade with green wood rather than dealing with messy epoxy. What’s your drying process and do you ever have splits? Which wood is the handle made from? Thanks.

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

The wood is black locust. I like this method but glue is more reliable. If you want to stay natural, pine tar works as well. The handle held up just fine, no special care taken for drying.

[@sarah-janegalipo3995]

What camera are you using to film? Great footage.

[@jones_trees_and_treen]

Thanks. It's not much of a video camera. I shoot with a Fuji X-E1