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I've bought this blade, and I want to make a handle for it. the handle should be easy to make, and easy to maintain, and I also need to make sure it doesn't get in the way of the sheath.#

I'm considering these materials:

1) Wood - Taking a piece of wood would take some time, judging my skills it might turn out ugly and you need to oil and maintain it.

2) Paracord - I think it'll look silly, feel weird and wear over time, for a cord I can just tie a paracord to the hole in the end anyway.

3) Leather - that could work but I have no clue on how to approach this tang with leather straps, most videos I've seen show a thin tang with sheets of leather stacked on top of each other then shaped into form.

Which of these would be best for an easy to make knife handle?

Measurements:

  • Overall Length : 18.3CM
  • Blade Length : 8.3CM
  • Handle Length : 10CM
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    Wood could be varnished, for a one-off treatment. But that looks more like it's got a skeleton handle rather than no handle at all, which makes getting the shape to match harder than a simple tang. Have you considered casting resin around it?
    – Chris H
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 11:58

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Paracord

As Chris H points out, this knife has a skeleton handle rather than a normal tang, and it's really intended to be used either as is, or with a paracord wrap rather than anything more solid - for more on that, here is an article showing a couple of ways you can do that.

Considering your other options, if you really need to cover it:

Wood

You can make a wood handle for this knife, in much the same way as you make handles for knives with full (rather than stick or enclosed) tangs. You'll probably want to fill the void in the centre of the knife, and match the chamfer of the edge, so it will be more involved than making a handle for a full tang knife, but still very much doable (depending on your skills). I'd note that you can varnish wood to maintain it, so oiling isn't strictly necessary, it's merely one way of finishing the wood.

Leather

A stacked leather handle (as you've mentioned in your question) isn't really possible here as the technique relies on having a fairly large area of leather around the tang, which you don't have. You could make a wrapped leather handle, in which you cut a piece of leather to fit around the handle and sew it on over the solid foundation (this article shows the technique, albeit on an axe haft rather than a knife handle), or you could even use leather thonging in the same manner as the paracord wrap.

Comparing the three

The paracord wrap is by far the easiest of the three methods; the other two methods require tools, more expensive materials and a fair bit of specialist knowledge; while the paracord only needs a length of easily (and cheaply) available paracord and a bit of time to follow instructions.

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  • I would say this handle is NOT made for paracord, and I come to that because of the shaping of the metal. For paracord you would use straight metal.
    – Willeke
    Commented Nov 28, 2018 at 18:18
  • Thanks @Walrus for your answer, I appreciate the time you took writing it and I'll probably decide once I get it and have a feel with it.
    – Idan Botbol
    Commented Nov 28, 2018 at 18:23
  • @Willeke I'm intrigued; those holes at the end of the handle are the give away that it's designed for wrapping with something. Why is it necessary for the handle to be straight?
    – walrus
    Commented Nov 28, 2018 at 18:56
  • The holes at the end are to attach string to the handle, not to use them in a covering.
    – Willeke
    Commented Nov 28, 2018 at 19:00
  • I had that in mind, seems like the maker had the odd idea of making a skeleton metal made handle, as if that's how it supposed to be, naked....
    – Idan Botbol
    Commented Nov 28, 2018 at 22:10

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