When I left home for the first time many years ago I somehow ended up with a kitchen knife which was purchased while on holiday with my parents in Spain as a child. The knife was nothing special but it has followed me around for the last 30 odd years while many other items have come and gone. Over time it acquired a sentimental value as these things have a habit of doing.
Unfortunately, the knife had a laminated wooden handle, and after what must now be many thousands of trips through the dishwasher, it had started to fall apart. I began to wonder if I could repair the handle and save it. So began the journey of learning how to re-handle a knife.
Googling the best material for dishwasher proof knife handles, turns out something called G10, a composite fibreglass like substance was most people’s suggestion. I watched a few instruction videos to get the technique and other parts needed, heatproof glue and cutlers rivets.
I picked a nice looking swirly pattern G10 blank because it was the most interesting without the blinginess of some of the options.
Dismantled the remains of the old knife handle.
Cut the blanks to roughly match the handle shape, drilled the rivet holes, which turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as the cutlers rivets were 0.5mm larger in diameter than the existing hols in the knife handle metal. It turns out knife stainless steal is very hard and I knackered several drill bits trying to widen the holes!
Lined up the parts, glued and riveted them in place, which was tricky as the cutlers rivets didn’t fully close and I didn’t want to hammer them too much and split the G10 handles. Wait a few days for the glue to cure.
Next the fun part, shaping the handles, this was very satisfying, the G10 cuts beautifully with wood rasps and files. Then sanding, sanding, sanding through all the grits up to 2000. All the time trying to get a nice tactile shape that fit the hand well and looked rounded.
A little polish with the buffing wheel and voila, finished.
This probably took 4-5 hours of work and cost far more than just buying a new knife but the value to me was well worth it. I learned a lot and enjoyed the making process, which is the main reason for so many of my projects. Now I have a knife with even more sentimental value!