# Layered handle construction



## TRfromMT (Sep 15, 2016)

A small custom knife maker recently sent me some blades to put handles on. He cut them with very short tangs, and also drilled rather large holes in the tangs. I felt the handles were going to be way too short (barely 3 fingers, more like 2). So, I cut the end of the tang off square and used a piece of handle material (stabilized maple burl) to make a spacer piece. Then I used carbon fiber to make a sandwich construction to capture what was left of the tang and the spacer, and more burl on top of that. It was pretty challenging, and I probably wouldn't do it again, but I like the results. One thing I really like is the black line and how it matches the damascus pattern.

Reactions: Like 2 | EyeCandy! 2 | Way Cool 7


----------



## NYWoodturner (Sep 16, 2016)

Very creative fix!

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## Mike1950 (Sep 16, 2016)

Is that Big leaf? Very nice solution.


----------



## Kevin (Sep 16, 2016)

Very cool. I wish you had shown a full image of the top and bottom views.


----------



## TRfromMT (Sep 16, 2016)

Let me see if I can get some better pictures this weekend

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## Schroedc (Sep 16, 2016)

Beautiful job, I've got a couple blades that were a gift with the short tang issue. I can see using this as a fix!


----------



## TRfromMT (Sep 16, 2016)

The first thought I had was for a hidden tang, but because of the large holes drilled in the middle there was no way to taper the edges. So it was an unconventional solution, for sure, but it worked...


----------



## TRfromMT (Sep 17, 2016)

Here are some more pictures of the whole handle lay-up. The main reason I held back the burl to expose the flat carbon fiber is that I did not want a lanyard tube on this handle, and I didn't want the lanyard hole to have a wooden edge.

Reactions: Way Cool 2


----------



## Nature Man (Sep 17, 2016)

Burl is out of this world gorgeous! Great solution and outcome. Chuck


----------



## rocky1 (Sep 17, 2016)

Boy you went and wrecked that with reason, I thought you did it, just cause it looked cool as hell!


----------



## TRfromMT (Sep 17, 2016)

That was the other reason


----------

