This article will hopefully be the first of many on the topic of knives. I intend to cover general history, blade steels, mechanisms, simple things to customize your knives, what to look for in a knife, custom knives in general, and anything else that I can think of.

Today, I would like to take a look at the types of knife collectors. This may seem like a mundane topic, but it has tremendous influence on what you buy for your own use, or for collecting.

It didn't occur to me for years that there were different types of collectors. I always assumed everyone bought them for the same reasons I did, but I got a big surprise when I subscribed to several knife magazines and discovered not everyone had the same interests I did.

First, let me define the basic types as I as perceive them.

(1) The History collector-This person collects because of the historical mystique of a given knife, whether by owning an actual authenicated knife, or by buying replicas.  These knives will never be used, just displayed in most cases. I wish these collectors well, but my interests lie elsewhere.

(2) The Antique collector-This person loves old things and edged hardware, so what could be better than owning one item representing both! I must admit some of the old knives are interesting to me from a material and mechansim standpoint, but my interests are still elsewhere.

(3) The custom knive collector-This guy has the money to indulge his hobby and goes for the best.  Unfortunately, most of these knives will never see the light of day other than thru a display case. Even he can't bring himself to actually use the knife based on the money spent. In some cases these knives are works of art, never intended for anything except display. In other cases they have custom forged steel, exotic handle materials, impeccable workmanship, and a recognized maker stamp on the blade. I own a few of these and I hardly dare touch them.  Shame on me for not at least using what I spent so much money on.

(4)The mechanism and blade steel collector-Here I am. It took me a long time to realize this was my interest, but I should have known since I am a mechanical engineer by trade. Collectors like me can't get enough of strange and exotic deployment configurations, and when you combine that with some of the new alloy steels or maybe a cobalt alloy, I have achieved nirvana.

 (5) The personal use custom maker/collector-I have to include this type even though it is hard to put into words. The reason-that is what I am. Again, it took me years, and lots of knives, to discover that I really enjoy buying a new knife, and then not leaving well enough alone. I first got the idea of custom modifying a knife when I bought a rather expensive(for me) custom knife that had multiple handle materials with silver spacers. I took a look at this and decided I could do this. So... I plunged in, bought some cheap equipment, epoxy, and handle materials, and went for it. I will discuss the results of this, maybe with some pictures, in future articles.

(6) The basic user-This individual is not really a collector but actually USES the knife he buys everyday. How novel!

 As you can guess, all these various types can overlap. I have a little of each type of knife in my own collection, which I am finally photographing for the first time for insurance reasons. Not an easy task.

I don't want to overwork this topic, but it has an importance because, if you can discover what your knife interests are early, it can save a lot of money being spent on a knife that later on you just wish you could sell and make room for the ones that really matter to you. I speak from experience on this. I look at a few of my knives and wonder what ever possessed me to buy them.

Now that I am getting warmed, up look for some in depth thoughts on blade steels, handle materials, and mechanisms. I wish I had paid more attention to the lone materials course I took in college, because I find the topic utterly fascinating now and I hope I can foster a love of that in all those who buy one of man's oldest tools.

After a month or two traveling this summer I am doing something I have had on the back burner for several months, namely publish a comprehensive table on knife steels, including comments on the blade steels themselves, and some short notes on each of the alloy elements and their basic purposes.

I have not included some steels like 420HC and 01760-1, but I will do so later, since in my opinion, 420HC is not really a custom knife steel that I would want to buy as my blade steel, and 01760-1 and others of this type are used mostly by forgers for high end custom knives. I owe them both a separate description and evaluation.

Anyone who buys or collects knives these days knows there has been an explosion of superb alloy steels being brought to the market, first by custom makers, and then by major knife companies. We are all the beneficiaries of this, but it would seem to me that you should know what to expect from your blade steel before you buy any knife.

Several great knife companies, like Spyderco and Benchmade, have published some good tables and descriptions of blade steels. I have gone beyond their tables by utilizing data sheets from two of the major, special purpose, alloy steel makers. Both Crucible and Timken/Latrobe have done an outstanding job of developing and documenting these new "super" steels. I have not accessed any of the Japanese companies yet, but probably will, as time permits.

This table is as accurate as I can make it, but may have errors. I have drawn on all my knowledge and reading, in addition to the sources I have mentioned, to provide what I hope is a complete working document for a blade buyer.

Click Here to see the Table

There are many kinds and alloys of steel, but they all have one thing in common. To bring out the best in any of them requires the proper heat treatment, otherwise they do not live up to their potential, and in fact can be inferior to lesser or cheaper steels that have been properly treated.

But what exactly does it mean to heat treat any steel? First of all when the steel is first created in the molten baths of iron, alloy materials, and processing elements, it must be heated to just the right ”critical” temperature for the right amount of time, and then cooled properly depending on its content. These critical heating temperatures, rate of cooling, and method of cooling vary with the type of steel. Most of this data and methodology was arrived at by much experimentation over the years, and I think it is safe to say that today’s steels are superior to those of years past.

There are many quenching (rapid cooling) techniques to achieve hardness after the melt is complete. Some require slow air cooling, some faster cooling in oil, and some even salt water immersion I have heard.

The sinking of the Titanic is an example of improper steel being used for the intended application. Evidently the collision with an iceberg resulted in the hull plates shattering, causing far more damge than would have been caused by a similar collision today. The hull steel was probably quite hard, but far too brittle, and did not have the properly toughening elements (like Molybdenum or Nickel) which would have caused yielding, but not total failure. This also goes for the rivets used for attachment purposes. I am guessing even those plates might have done the job if they had been heat treated after manufacture.

This brings up the topic of final heat treat and tempering. When steel is first made it is often too hard to be of use. It’s hardness makes working it difficult, and it is usually too brittle. Tempering is the process of reheating below the critical temperature, and then cooling at a slower rate or in a different medium (air, water, oil,etc.).  This is very often  repeated several times with possibly different reheat temperatures and cooling rates. Cryogenic treatment is also now used for some blade steels, with further enhanced properties being claimed using this super cooling technique.

If you look at catalogs of some knife supply companies, you will find they provide specific heat treatment information for the raw blanks of blade steel they sell to makers. They also sell semi finished and polished blades that have already been properly heat treated and just need handles and final finishing and polishing.

The steels we have today are a product of a vast amount of effort and experimentation on the part of mills and users. To me, old knives are great collector items, but for using knives, we have never had a better choice of steels than today.

 One last thought.  You can purchase a knife with top quality blade steel, but you are only half there unless you know it has been properly heat treated. I think that is why many custom makers thrive today. They advertise their own heat treatment, and the users of their products have attested to their superior strength and edge holding because of their custom heat treatments, and come back to buy more.

Dr. K

Now that the dust has settled and the epoxy has set, it’s time to look at what you have created.
Most of mine look like disasters that should be scrapped, and when I show the raw product to my wife she politely says how nice it will look.
Cutting
I, however, can see the beauty, and look past the jutting pieces and smeared epoxy, to what it will be. To start, get your jeweler’s saw or maybe the Dremel tool with a cutoff saw of plate attachment and trim as much as you can from the top spine area, back end, and bottom of the knife. You will find this effort well worth the time compared to sanding on a belt sander, and far less prone to gouging the knife. It is also a lot cheaper, since sanding belts and paper are somewhat expensive, not to mention the dust. In your trimming, aim for about 1/16” to 1/8” overhang if possible, but don’t end up cutting into the knife. The jeweler’s blades are capable of some damage to the knife if you are sloppy.
If the pieces you used are significantly higher on the knife faces than they will be for the finished state, you can carefully try cutting along the face to save sanding time on the sides.
I save all the pieces I cut because they can often be used in another custom design as accents.
Sanding
You can now start flat or bevel sanding the two faces of the knife to bring them roughly to the finished shapes, or you can work on the spine and bottom first. I like to do the sides first, but that’s just my preference because it starts to show the finished character of the handles and that
inspires me.

Keep all possible portions of the knife taped, especially the bolsters, as you sand the faces. It is no fun having to refinish polished bolsters because the belt or paper slipped onto the bolster portion. To sand the spine and bottom, I cheat a little and use the end of the 4”x36” belt sander.
This takes some skill because you can easily sand down to the spine or bottom surface and leave a dip before you know you did it. I use the Optivisor and breathing mask to perform this step, and I have my face stuck within about a foot or so of the belt to monitor the action. Needless to say, no long sleeve shirts or long hair if you do it this way. You can use regular paper or the top of the belt sander for the top spine in most cases, but the underside of the knife is often contoured, so when using sandpaper I wrap it or glue it around a round piece of wood and sand across the knife. This works fairly well for finger grooves and you have a lot of control against oversanding.
For the above work I generally use100 grit. The aim here is not the final product but rather rough shaping so that finer grits can effectively be used. Using the 100 grit properly gets you close to the final shape and finish and leaves just enough that you can properly finish the knife handles without massive amounts of fine grit paper and time being expended.
Final Sanding and Polishing
Once you are satisfied with the rough shape, it’s time to start with the finer grits. I use 220 then 400 and then wet/dry 600 paper. If the faces of the handle are going to be flat, then I lay out the various sanding papers and go at it. If you have a concave or other shape, you will of course need to use the papers by hand. When I think the 220 paper ahs just about done all it can I put on the Optivisor and inspect for any sanding grooves left from the 100 grit paper or sanding belts.  Those must be removed now, because finer grits certainly won’t do it. Grooves are best seen by rotating a moistened knife at various angles. I keep a damp rag around just so I can see better where I am in the process at each step.
The wet dry 600 paper really shows what the final product will look like, since it keeps the knife wet, and thus shows basically the best the handles are going to be. Once you have exhausted yourself with all the sanding papers, it’s time for some buffing.
There are all manner of compounds that can be used for final buffing, both by hand and machine.
It all depends on what finish you want and what handle materials you have used. You have to do your homework and experiment. I will say that one of my favorites for the recon stones is ZAM, a favorite of indian jewelry makers and a great polisher of turquoise and reconstructed stone material. I also use some various metal buffing compounds. In a previous article I gave sources of where to find these materials. Get their catalogs and review the writeups for the various compounds. Some are hard and dry, while others are grease type compounds.
There is no substitute for experience, so you will have to try small quantities of various compounds to settle on the ones you really like.
I hope these blogs have helped to at least get you started on a great hobby.

Dr. K

OK, so  you've got the knife taped properly, you have a design in mind, and you have the handle materials purchased. Now the fun begins.
WORK AREA PREPARATION
As a prelude I recommend you clear your workbench of all extraneous tools, etc. so you can do an efficient and proper job.. The goal here is to get everything as ready as humanly possible so you can reach everything you will need quickly. You should have some paper towels neatly stacked in a pile where you carefully tore them from the main roll. You should have a metal can and lid with some acetone in it for cleanup and dipping of the paper towels. A pair of nitrile gloves( buy them in a 100 count package from a tool supply place) for you hands is also nice if you have problems with acetone or the epoxy resins. Small pieces of wood or old screwdrivers or probes are also handy for pushing and pressing epoxy laden pieces around. A sheet of wax paper taped in one corner of your granite block is a great work area for the knife.. Epoxy is sure to drip off the knife, but it will not adhere to the wax paper.
PIECE PREPARATION
Before I ever squeeze out the epoxy onto the granite block for mixing, I have all my pieces laid out at the top end of the block in the order and orientation,they will be installed. I have learned this from much practice and many mistakes. When the epoxy is mixed, the clock is running, and that is no time to try to figure out which way you meant for the pieces to be installed.
The width of the pieces and spacers must all be correct and ready. This means you have to do some cutting and sanding by whatever means to get the correct width for each and every piece. In addition, the pieces MUST have parallel faces or properly done angles if you are using triangular or other oddly shaped pieces. The length of the piece should be such that there is a definite overhang at each end of each piece when installed.  This is a must, because you have to be able to see that each long end has been placed so that it can be cut and sanded back later  There is no way to add material after the fact for a piece that wasn't long enough to begin with, or slid slightly on the wet epoxy after installation.
One techique I use for a knife that has a front bolster is to install all the pieces at one time, except the last one in the middle. Whether the knife has an actual back piece or is just open, you can still use this technique for centering. Of course you can also install the pieces one at a time from the bolster back, if symmetry is not an issue in your design. If you have a symmetrical design with multiple pieces of different widths it is best to do both ends towards the middle because the last piece can then be sanded exactly to fit snugly later. This will require two epoxy mixings however, as I will explain later, but will result in a finished piece that IS symmetrical. On a custom knife handle, not doing this will result in a handle that will look unsymmetrical and out of synch.
If you intend having both sides of the knife identical (even with different materials like I do) then it is best to do the cutting and sanding for both sides before every gluing the first side. One of the things I look for when I inspect someone else's custom work is alignment. By that I mean how well the spacers and pieces match between sides, as viewed from the top of the knife looking down on the spine. Matching intersections are, to me, the sign of a craftsman and quality work.
To accomplish all this precision you should have, as I believe I mentioned before, a reasonable set of calipers. The new digital metal calipers are not all that expensive and work quite well, and besides they have many other uses besides the knife work. Plastic ones are inexpensive and work quite well also. A nice tool to have around. This tool will quickly check how well you have sanded the individual pieces and kept the edges parallel and just as importantly will make absolutely sure you have the same width where you want the widths to be the same.
One last sanding item, and this one gives me fits sometimes.  It is obvious that all pieces must have a 90 degree angle between the bottom face that attaches to the handle and the two sides (unless some special design is being done). For me this is one of my most difficult tasks! I invariably end up hand  sanding the sides and must be constantly watching  that I  hold the piece vertical while sanding. You don't need any aids to see when you haven't done the job correctly, and yet it is essential to have these edges parallel and 90 degrees so you get that perfect fit.  Take your time with this step and make sure all the pieces are correct. The epoxy flow will cover some very minor errors, but it's always best to do it right. Go slow and view often!!
Two other minor items need attention also.  The bottoms of all pieces must be flat, but roughened enough for adhesion with the epoxy, and all pieces should be carefully given one quick wipe with  acetone or alcohol to remove any sanding dust, then carefully placed in their assembly order as mentioned before. All I have said for pieces includes any thin metal spacers. Make sure the metal spacers are pounded flat by doing both sides with a ball hammer and pushing outwards.with the hammer in a smoothing fashion. The granite block will let you knwo when you have  them flat.
The height of the pieces above the final finished level doen't really matter other than the amount of sanding you will have to do later. You should error on the plus side for height. Again, you can't go back and fill if the piece wasn't tall or thick enough. Finally, make sure bolster edges and spacers are sanded and roughed up slightly.
MIXING & ASSEMBLY
It is almost ridiculous how fast the knife finally comes together when the preparation has been done properly. I love this part even though it is somewhat messy.
With all tools and pieces in place, it is time to mix the epoxy. Squeeze or measure out equal parts
of resin and hardener onto a corner of the granite block, and start mixing with a small stick that you keep for just this purpose. Error on using too little epoxy, since you can mix more if you need it. Make sure you spend a FULL 60 seconds folding and swirling all parts of the mix or you will end up with portions of the handle having epoxy that just won’t set up.
With the mix in a liquid heap, take the knife and swab epoxy on the portions where the pieces will be installed. Make sure to swab a little on the bolster face(s) that will touch a handle piece. Now put the knife down and make sure it is steady and level on the wax paper. Now carefully take one piece at a time with some forceps or your fingers and swab the bottom and both sides lightly with epoxy, then lightly press into place. The epoxy is sticky enough to roughly hold the piece for now.
Continue swabbing and stacking pieces until you meet in the center with the one final center piece to go, or you have finished back to the end of the handle. As you install each piece, lightly press it down and push it against the previous piece. In some cases, if too much force is used, the previous piece (especially spacers) will pop out slightly due to hydraulic pressure. If this happens, use one of your very thin needle tools to gently push the piece back down.
Now is the time to quickly wipe your mixing and swabbing stick clean, with first a piece of dry towel, and then with an acetone soaked piece of towel. You can use both these towel pieces to also clean the granite surface.
If you have installed all the pieces on one side with out without the center piece in a reasonable time of say 5 minutes, you still have plenty of time on the 30 minute epoxy to adjust the pieces.
I carefully lift the knife off the wax paper, holding it absolutely level so nothing slides around and then I start checking for fit. This is easier written than done, so be prepared for problems.
First I look to see if the pieces are extended far enough over the liner they rest on, for both ends of the piece. This is especially true for spacers. You will need the Optivisor for this because epoxy will be everywhere and you need the magnification to see if thin pieces are properly positioned. Next check that the pieces are all butted snugly together. If there is a small space anywhere, try to push pieces against it to close it. Small errors will disappear because epoxy will fill them and sanding will smear material around, especially metal spacers. Remember to keep the knife level or you will be sorry. As the epoxy begins to set you will still be able to move the pieces, but slippage won’t be such a concern. Keep checking for proper alignment by going around again to see if all pieces have their bottoms close to the liner material and haven’t moved. You can’t check enough. Once you are satisfied, put the piece carefully back down on the wax paper and make sure it stays level.  Clean up your hands and any of the tools that have epoxy on them.
Come back in ½ hour or so to check the progress. Pieces should now be stuck in place and touching any epoxy is a very sticky operation. If you are really good you can take a lightly moistened swab and clean out the epoxy from the missing center piece. If You don’t, you get to scrape it off the liner before fitting the final piece. And, don’t forget to NOT swab the final pieces on each side of the missing center piece or you get to scrape those surfaces also.

That’s enough for one day.

Dr.  K

OK, so  you've got the knife taped properly, you have a design in mind, and you have the handle materials purchased. Now the fun begins.
WORK AREA PREPARATION
As a prelude I recommend you clear your workbench of all extraneous tools, etc. so you can do an efficient and proper job.. The goal here is to get everything as ready as humanly possible so you can reach everything you will need quickly. You should have some paper towels neatly stacked in a pile where you carefully tore them from the main roll. You should have a metal can and lid with some acetone in it for cleanup and dipping of the paper towels. A pair of nitrile gloves( buy them in a 100 count package from a tool supply place) for you hands is also nice if you have problems with acetone or the epoxy resins. Small pieces of wood or old screwdrivers or probes are also handy for pushing and pressing epoxy laden pieces around. A sheet of wax paper taped in one corner of your granite block is a great work area for the knife.. Epoxy is sure to drip off the knife, but it will not adhere to the wax paper.
PIECE PREPARATION
Before I ever squeeze out the epoxy onto the granite block for mixing, I have all my pieces laid out at the top end of the block in the order and orientation,they will be installed. I have learned this from much practice and many mistakes. When the epoxy is mixed, the clock is running, and that is no time to try to figure out which way you meant for the pieces to be installed.
The width of the pieces and spacers must all be correct and ready. This means you have to do some cutting and sanding by whatever means to get the correct width for each and every piece. In addition, the pieces MUST have parallel faces or properly done angles if you are using triangular or other oddly shaped pieces. The length of the piece should be such that there is a definite overhang at each end of each piece when installed.  This is a must, because you have to be able to see that each long end has been placed so that it can be cut and sanded back later  There is no way to add material after the fact for a piece that wasn't long enough to begin with, or slid slightly on the wet epoxy after installation.
One techique I use for a knife that has a front bolster is to install all the pieces at one time, except the last one in the middle. Whether the knife has an actual back piece or is just open, you can still use this technique for centering. Of course you can also install the pieces one at a time from the bolster back, if symmetry is not an issue in your design. If you have a symmetrical design with multiple pieces of different widths it is best to do both ends towards the middle because the last piece can then be sanded exactly to fit snugly later. This will require two epoxy mixings however, as I will explain later, but will result in a finished piece that IS symmetrical. On a custom knife handle, not doing this will result in a handle that will look unsymmetrical and out of synch.
If you intend having both sides of the knife identical (even with different materials like I do) then it is best to do the cutting and sanding for both sides before every gluing the first side. One of the things I look for when I inspect someone else's custom work is alignment. By that I mean how well the spacers and pieces match between sides, as viewed from the top of the knife looking down on the spine. Matching intersections are, to me, the sign of a craftsman and quality work.
To accomplish all this precision you should have, as I believe I mentioned before, a reasonable set of calipers. The new digital metal calipers are not all that expensive and work quite well, and besides they have many other uses besides the knife work. Plastic ones are inexpensive and work quite well also. A nice tool to have around. This tool will quickly check how well you have sanded the individual pieces and kept the edges parallel and just as importantly will make absolutely sure you have the same width where you want the widths to be the same.
One last sanding item, and this one gives me fits sometimes.  It is obvious that all pieces must have a 90 degree angle between the bottom face that attaches to the handle and the two sides (unless some special design is being done). For me this is one of my most difficult tasks! I invariably end up hand  sanding the sides and must be constantly watching  that I  hold the piece vertical while sanding. You don't need any aids to see when you haven't done the job correctly, and yet it is essential to have these edges parallel and 90 degrees so you get that perfect fit.  Take your time with this step and make sure all the pieces are correct. The epoxy flow will cover some very minor errors, but it's always best to do it right. Go slow and view often!!
Two other minor items need attention also.  The bottoms of all pieces must be flat, but roughened enough for adhesion with the epoxy, and all pieces should be carefully given one quick wipe with  acetone or alcohol to remove any sanding dust, then carefully placed in their assembly order as mentioned before. All I have said for pieces includes any thin metal spacers. Make sure the metal spacers are pounded flat by doing both sides with a ball hammer and pushing outwards.with the hammer in a smoothing fashion. The granite block will let you knwo when you have  them flat.
The height of the pieces above the final finished level doen't really matter other than the amount of sanding you will have to do later. You should error on the plus side for height. Again, you can't go back and fill if the piece wasn't tall or thick enough. Finally, make sure bolster edges and spacers are sanded and roughed up slightly.
MIXING & ASSEMBLY
It is almost ridiculous how fast the knife finally comes together when the preparation has been done properly. I love this part even though it is somewhat messy.
With all tools and pieces in place, it is time to mix the epoxy. Squeeze or measure out equal parts
of resin and hardener onto a corner of the granite block, and start mixing with a small stick that you keep for just this purpose. Error on using too little epoxy, since you can mix more if you need it. Make sure you spend a FULL 60 seconds folding and swirling all parts of the mix or you will end up with portions of the handle having epoxy that just won’t set up.
With the mix in a liquid heap, take the knife and swab epoxy on the portions where the pieces will be installed. Make sure to swab a little on the bolster face(s) that will touch a handle piece. Now put the knife down and make sure it is steady and level on the wax paper. Now carefully take one piece at a time with some forceps or your fingers and swab the bottom and both sides lightly with epoxy, then lightly press into place. The epoxy is sticky enough to roughly hold the piece for now.
Continue swabbing and stacking pieces until you meet in the center with the one final center piece to go, or you have finished back to the end of the handle. As you install each piece, lightly press it down and push it against the previous piece. In some cases, if too much force is used, the previous piece (especially spacers) will pop out slightly due to hydraulic pressure. If this happens, use one of your very thin needle tools to gently push the piece back down.
Now is the time to quickly wipe your mixing and swabbing stick clean, with first a piece of dry towel, and then with an acetone soaked piece of towel. You can use both these towel pieces to also clean the granite surface.
If you have installed all the pieces on one side with out without the center piece in a reasonable time of say 5 minutes, you still have plenty of time on the 30 minute epoxy to adjust the pieces.
I carefully lift the knife off the wax paper, holding it absolutely level so nothing slides around and then I start checking for fit. This is easier written than done, so be prepared for problems.
First I look to see if the pieces are extended far enough over the liner they rest on, for both ends of the piece. This is especially true for spacers. You will need the Optivisor for this because epoxy will be everywhere and you need the magnification to see if thin pieces are properly positioned. Next check that the pieces are all butted snugly together. If there is a small space anywhere, try to push pieces against it to close it. Small errors will disappear because epoxy will fill them and sanding will smear material around, especially metal spacers. Remember to keep the knife level or you will be sorry. As the epoxy begins to set you will still be able to move the pieces, but slippage won’t be such a concern. Keep checking for proper alignment by going around again to see if all pieces have their bottoms close to the liner material and haven’t moved. You can’t check enough. Once you are satisfied, put the piece carefully back down on the wax paper and make sure it stays level.  Clean up your hands and any of the tools that have epoxy on them.
Come back in ½ hour or so to check the progress. Pieces should now be stuck in place and touching any epoxy is a very sticky operation. If you are really good you can take a lightly moistened swab and clean out the epoxy from the missing center piece. If You don’t, you get to scrape it off the liner before fitting the final piece. And, don’t forget to NOT swab the final pieces on each side of the missing center piece or you get to scrape those surfaces also.

That’s enough for one day.

Dr.  K

In response to some requests I have included hyperlinks in case you wish to visit the sites mentioned in the blog on knife handle materials. I was also remiss in not mentioning one more company that can supply all kinds of metal sheet for cutting spacers, along with other enhancements. Listed below are the companies and the direct links to them. These sites are fun viewing and can consume more time than you would imagine.
K & G Finishing Supplies – knifeandgun.com for the stunning stabilized woods and blade steel.

Jantz Supply  –Knifemaking.com for a solid selection of knifemaking tools, recon stone, knife kits, and exotic woods, along with a huge selection of stabilized/laminated Dymondwood slabs.
Mother of Pearl Co – motherofpearl.net for everything you can think of related to shells, along with some exotic skins.
Masecraft Supply Company - masecraftsupply.com for the best selection of recon stone. anywhere.
Eline Merchandising - elinemerchandising.com for the best price on knives anywhere.

The Rio Grande Company - riogrande.com –This company is a huge supplier to the jewelry trade and is strategically located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The have three separate catalogs;
Gems and Findings, Display, and Tools which cover everything you could ever imagine or need if you were a jeweler. Of interest to us is their extensive stock of metal sheet and strips. You can get stainless steel, copper, gold, silver, and nickel silver in all kinds of sizes and thickness. If you are going to inlay semi-precious or precious stones into your handles they have every known stone on the planet, both real and synthetic, including diamonds and emeralds. They also have items I have never seen before, but which could be used for handle material. It’s mind boggling.

I buy sterling silver wire and sheet from them for spacers and inlays, and sometime copper and stainless and nickel silver sheets which I cut to suit. The word Findings includes this sheet and strip listings, so get the Gems and Findings catalog, or order direct online. You might also wish to purchase tools like the Optivisor or dop or some machinery. They have it all, including lapidary equipment.

Dr. K

As I mentioned in my opening blog on making custom knives, the tools required to do the job are not very high tech in most cases if you don't make or shape blade steel. Many of the tools listed below are very handy around the home along with being somewhat indispensable for making handles. I am going to list them somewhat in order of importance along with an explanation of  why you need the particular tool and a rough cost, along with where to get them.
Optivsor - This is a brand name for a head mounted magnifier that just about every jeweler in the world uses, along with many other craft users. It provides a hands free magnification for both eyes, and usually comes equipped with a special extra magnifier for the right eye that can be swung out of the way when not needed. I, and my wife, have used this device for many other applications like sewing, knitting, fixing eyeglasses, and many other applications that require a little extra magnification. There are cheaper versions of the brand name selling for under $5 in some catalogs, while the name brand sells for $30-$40, with different levels of magnification available .I go on the theory that if my handle scale materials look well fitted with the optivisor, they will be very acceptable to the naked eye.

Dremel miniature drill/sander/cutter- This has got to be one of the handiest tools around the home ever invented. Dremel is the name brand, and of course there are cheaper copies, but I like the multi speed Dremel because it is obviously well built and parts/accessories are available at most hardware and  home improvement stores. This tool has sanding drums in two sizes, diamond bits, cutting saw wheels, buffing attachments, and various other bits. It is small yet powerful and is just right for many knife handle finishing jobs. You can even get a drill press and router attachment for it, or a 3-4 foot cable extension. The extension allows you to hang the motor overhead and just work with the light cable and bit.

Jeweler's Saw and Dop - These, along with the Optivisor are found, I am certain, at thousands of jewelry workbenches around the world. The saw costs around $15 and is U shaped. The height of the U is about 5” and the length of the blades around that. The blades are extremely small and come in various tooth sizes. These saw blades are a marvel. They cut wood, recon stone, shell, and most metals. They are inexpensive, but you have to learn to use them so you don’t constantly break them. They attach to the saw with friction clamps and the whole frame slides with a friction clamp also. The dop ( I think that is the right name) is a very inexpensive and simple device made from plastic and hard fiber board. It has two identical pieces, hinged in the middle, with one end flat and the other round. It is basically a soft clamp, and holds a piece of work in either end by inserting the plastic wedge in the other end, causing a clamping action. This tool will save your fingers for sure and allows for many operations like sawing and sanding to be done by holding it in one hand and using a tool on the item at the other end.

Adhesives-There are basically two types of adhesives I use. My main adhesive is the Devcon 2 Ton, 30 minute,  2 part epoxy that mixes one to one. It is tough and  strong and you can get it in large plastic bottles or a two tube  push applicator.  There are variations of the basic 30 mintue working time 2 Ton blend, but you usually sacrifice some strength for setup speed. I also use Superglue sometimes for special applications and inlaying setup, but I like the epoxy because it fills all the spaces underneath or alongside adjacent pieces of handle and that keeps water and rust from becoming a problem later. If you make a custom handle for display only, the superglue has advantages in speed. Devcon and Superglue are cheap at wal-Mart.

Power sanding belt- I bought a $69, 4" x36" belt sander with a side disc attachement. This was a cheap version of some more expensive euipment, but I have used it for years so far, without any problems. It is great for rough finishing the ends of pieces sticking out in all directions that I invariably end up with when I glue everything together. It also does a fast job of getting all the pieces to be one flat surface. The only problem is oversanding and gouging parts you didn't wish to sand, so watch when  you get within 1/8" of where you want to be.
Granite block- If someone had told me I needed this when I first started, I would have looked at him a little strangely. However, it has turned out to be invaluable.. I bought a roughly 1 ft square by 4" deep chucnk that  had been surface milled to a fine tolerance. Granite is very dimensionally stable and is used for all kinds of machining applications, so it is a natural here also. It proivides a hard surface for pounding, a smooth surface for sanding pieces, and a nice surface for mixing epoxy. I paid $29 for mine from an internet tool catalog.  If you have some heavy smooth piece of steel or other material, use it by all means, but granite is still the best in my opinion.

Power buffer- You can always finish your knives by hand, but having a buffer helps. I have seen very inexpensive buffers at internet and local tool stores, but you can make your own also. I did that very thing by using two pillow bearing blocks I had, and old pulley, a piece of steel shaft, and an old washing machine motor and belt. Works great and I have multiple buffing wheels all on one shaft. There are various tapered and bolted attachments you can buy to fasten the bufiing wheels.
Vise with rubber plates- very handy for when you are using the  Dremel freehand. You can hold the Dremel with both hands then and not slip. I also use it for holding the knife when applying the handle material and epoxy in some cases.
Small steel ball hammer and files--These everyday tools help flatten metal spacers that I cut and use on my handles from big sheets. I buy brass, nickel silver, copper, and stainless sheets because they are so cheap that way, but I then have to use tin snips to cut rough pieces and pound/file them flat on the granite block..

Masking tape- You must mask off your knife before doing anything with it for two reasons. The obvious one is safety from being cut or pierced by the blade, and also to keep epoxy from flowing to where it shouldn't be. It is time consuming and hard to remove epoxy that has flowed thru some hole or around a corner. I ALWAYS mask the whole knife to the point that only the surface being worked on is exposed. This includes the opposite side handle area and the cavity for the blade. If there are holes from the handle surface to the interior, you must stuff tape of tissue into the  area to stop the epoxy flow. I have found thru long experience that when you are fitting the pieces of handle, epoxy gets all over the knife. It's so much easier to mask the knife first and then leave the masking off until it must be removed for some operation. SOmetimes I strip off the epoxy after I have sanded the applied material to almost finished  status, and  then hand sand to final dimensions. I then reapply tape fo some areas when I am buffing.
Cotton swabs/ small sticks, small pieces of wire, etc. - When you mix the epoxy you need some kind of small stick to mix and apply the epoxy, and you also need some small tool to push and align the pieces you have applied to the knife to get them aligned and centered.

Roll of paper towels neatly separated into a pile and Acetone- Working with epoxy is sometimes messy until you develop a routine. My routine is to have everything I need very handy and to clean up as soon as possible. I always need paper towels to wipe dripping epoxy and clean the granite, and acetone to get the epoxy off completely from where I have mixed it. My waste basket is right there also to drop the paper towels into.
Sandpaper – You will eventually go thru a lot of this.  I use, in addition to the power sander, 100,220,400, and 600 paper. The 600 is wet/dry and is the last step for me before buffing usually.
Safety equipment- You need these items!!  A pair of clear plastic safety glasses, and a simple sanding mask are inexpensive and save trips to the eye doctor and maybe eventually a medical doctor. Several woods are toxic when sanded, notable among them being cocobolo and desert ironwood, but there are others. It’s simply not worth it to not use a mask when power sanding for sure. There are also leather finger protectors that I should probably buy for use with the power sander, but haven’t yet.

I’ve probably missed something that I’ll remember after I post, but I will mention it in the future if I do. Again. many of these items are already around your workshop or are well worth having in any case. If you always cut your pieces close to final sizing you can delete the power sander, and  you can probably get by without the Dremel, but they make life easier.
Making custom knife handles is a lifelong hobby that can be pursued long after other hobbies have been abandoned, and the older you get, the better you get!  And even being in a wheelchair doesn’t hamper the effort.

Dr. K

Strangely enough one of the biggest enjoyments in collecting knives, for me at least, is the desire to modify and customize them. Many knives I buy can't effectively be customized, but I have learned to look for knives of basically good quality, with simple handles and uninspired handle materials. I then strip off the old handles (or rubber/plastic inlays, and create my own. Doing this can take a knife from the ordinary to the custom level very quickly, with appropriate increase in value and appearance.I started out with Buck folding hunters and have progressed from there. I watch for sales and then buy several and modify them. Some I have purchased were all steel, with flat handles, relatively easy to work on. I simply add whole single pieces of exotic wood to recon stone to each side, or make several pieces with spacer of nickel silver, brass, or silver between the pieces. Sometimes I add various types of rivets, mosiac pins, and blind screws to aid the epoxy and the look.Sometimes I copy a particularly striking pattern or material I have seen in pictures on other knives. In other words, the possibilites are limited only by your artistic sense.
What I wish to do in a coming series of blogs is to tell anyone interested, how to get started. The equipment is not expensive, the skills not complex, and the rewards outstanding. I am self taught. No one was around to show me what I will be freely providing to you, but I felt it was time to show that you can produce knives with handles matching custom makers. I don't make my own blades or assemble knives from scratch because that is not my interest, and it takes much more euipment and skill fo do this. Once you see how little it costs to buy a raw finished blade of top quality steel, you will instantly see the possibilities and savings.

Future blogs will cover what equipment to get, where to purchase handle materials and fasteners, and above how how to do it. When I see the same knive advertised with different handle materials and look at the price differential between the materials, I just chuckle because I know what the "expenive" handle material costs, and it is surprising cheap. Once you get started you will quickly realize the possibilities.

Dr. K

A visit with David Yellowhorse Having a hobby of making custom knife handles is a fun way to spend your time, and I'll have something to say about the craft in a future blog, but right now I'de like to tell you about a wonderful gentlemen.His name is David Yellowhorse, and to anybody who has collected knives for awhile, his custom handle work is instantly recognizable. He is a 4th generation Navajo silversmith, and good at what he does, but it is his custom silver and nickel silver inlays in desert ironwood, as part of his custom knife handles, that have made him famous in the world of knife collecting in my opinion.
I had been making all kinds of custom handles for a few years, but never had a clue on how he did those wonderful inlays. In fact I bought one of his knives just to see how he did it, as I've mentioned previously, but even under the Optivsor magnification and then a more powerful jewelers loope, I could find no clue of how he performed his magic. All I knew was that it was called the "channel inlay process". Then something happened that changed all that.

We go to Phoenix on a regular basis to visit our grandchildren, and usually end up on I-40 at least part of the way, which is a stretch from Albuquerque.,New Mexico to Holbrook, Arizona. We are usually traveling at 75mph as we go over the border from Nm to Az, but this time we actually were stopping at some of the indian trading posts. Just as we were cruising over the border into Az., there it was- a big yellow colored sign I hadn't noticed before- "Yellowhorse Trading Post". And under that, a small sign saying "David Yellowhorse knives".. Wow! I yanked the car onto the off ramp and there we were. There were several different trading posts all sharing space underneath a huge monolitic piece of red sandstone, with a huge painted scene on the rock. It was an amazing site, and I knew we had to be on Navajo land, because that would never be allowed otherwise.

I walked into the trading post and couldn't contain myself. I immediately asked if this was where David Yellowhorse worked, and the lady said "yes, would you like me to go get him?" I didn't know what to say for a moment, but recovered and said "sure". A few moments later a man in his late 40s or mid 50s came out from a back door and I knew who it was instantly. I told him I owned one of his knives and made a few myself and then to my utter amazement, in his soft spoken voice, he invited me into his shop. It was surreal for me, but moments later I was in a mobile trailer walking past two indian women working on two grinding/polishing machines that had rubber-like wheels cooled by water. I looked over and saw two trays of identical and spectacular knives, with the middle portions open, and ready to accept the final triangular pieces each of the girls was working on. We both started talking and I showed him a few of my custom knives I had in my pocket and then he asked me if I wanted to see a shipment of completed knives that was ready to go out that day. To see 5 trays of finished custom knifes, each tray different, was an experience I will never forget. I stood staring and then finally came to my senses and told him I would take one of each. He politely told me all his production was spoken for well into the future, that's why there were no knives for sale at the front counter. I laughed and said I had guessed that was the case.

We had been walking past some equipment when I came upon a small work bench which had what I had come to learn about and see---pieces of desert ironwood and pieces of silver and nickel silver. I stopped and finally blurted out, "how do you do this" as I pickd up a finished piiece of inlaid ironwood.. I expected a polite statement about proprietary secrets, but to my utter amazement, he said "Sure, here's what I do." A half hour later I felt like Knig Kong. I could do this! I promised him I would only use his technique for my own use and gifts for my friends, but he really never asked me to make that promise.

I suddenly realized I had taken almost an hour of this busy man's time, so I thanked him profusely and said my goodbyes. Here was a quiet and gentle man who was an expert in his craft, and yet he had taken time to talk to a stranger and provide him with invaluable knowledge, at no charge.

And to top it off, as I was walking out the door he sais. "Come back anytime." That blew me away and I mentally vowed to do something for him for the knidness he had shown me, but that's another story.

Dr. K