A lil how-to on rehandling a Gyuto

[tonydahose]

You guys seemed to like the CCK cleaver that i rehandled so i thought you might enjoy this. If not, or this is the wrong place just let me know and i'll delete it. When i first started modding knives (and i am still rather new at it) i looked everywhere for hints and how-to's on the web. hopefully this will give some one the encouragement to try it for themselves:).

First some pics of the wood, i took the pics really quickly outside, they don't do the wood justice. i bought the wood on ebay, the are stabilized with the epoxy finish which goes throught the width of the wood, not just the surface. i have bought from the same buyer before and the wood takes to the buffer very well for a nice shine too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0249-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0251-1.jpg

next i outline where i am going to cut the wood for the handles.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0252-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0253-1.jpg

next i cut the wood, you'll notice i went outside of the lines, just in case you screw something up when cutting, you will have enough room to fix it hopefully. Keep the scraps. You can sand them down into dust and then mix it with the epoxy when it gets glued up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0256-2.jpg

here i just placed the cut handles over the knife to get an idea of what the finished product will look like.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0257-2.jpg

OK, here i used my dremel and cut out around the pins. it took about 15 minutes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0258-2.jpg

[tonydahose]

i heated up the end of the knife with a heat gun and tried to pry the corner off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0259-1.jpg

EDIT: notice the blade is taped up very well, always do this! i wrapped it in newspaper a few times, then a nice thick folded paper over the edge and folded that over the point and then taped it up really well. safety first!


Now that i know the heat would work in getting the scale off i took off both sides. i was surprised to see all the rust, i am pretty anal about drying my kitchen knives after i wash them. maybe the glue that was used to hold the handles down was water based??
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0260-1.jpg

This was a surprise to me, i thought the pins were the same diameter throughout the handle. it looks like they are more like rivets. So much for keeping them to use again.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0262-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0260-1.jpg

I dremeled off the tips of the pins and pulled them out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0263-1.jpg

this pic shows a stamp of some sort, either with the date or run of the steel batch in case there are problems down the road is my guess.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0264-1.jpg

that's it for now, stay tuned to this bat channel for updates :p.

[tonydahose]

I took the scales, placed them in what would be there final position and outlined the back of the scale. I did this so i can score/grind out the scale to give the glue some more surface area to connect to. i did the same (not as deep though) to the tang of the knife but i forgot to take a picture :(. I saved some of the scraps and sanded them down to dust so i can add it to the epoxy to it blends in well with the handle in case there are any gaps (there shouldn't be though;)).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0268-1.jpg

Here some dry fit pictures, i went long with the pins, they will be sanded off later. There are 2 ways to go about putting the scales on. some people like to put a few drops of crazy glue to adhere the scales to the tang. then you can sand the scales for a perfect fit with the tang. pop the scales off and then use a round over bit with the router on the edges. in this instance with no guard (like a bowie knife for instance would have) i can glue it all up, then sand and the router real close to the bolster and stop. i will finish the final 1/8" by hand.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0267-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0266-1.jpg

here is what was left of the colored epoxy (i use loctitie 2000psi)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0269-1.jpg

and here is the knife clamped up waiting to dry
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0270-1.jpg

[tonydahose]

and here is the knife after the epoxy is set, i tlooks rough but it will clean up nicely:)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0271-1.jpg

i grinded down the pins, in the future i will make them shorter, it took awhile to do it. then i sanded the pins flush with the scales. after that i used the oscilating drum sander to sand the scales flush with the tang. I then routered the edges right up to the bolster. the knife is still rough looking, i need to sand it up to about 600 grit and then buff it. i do see the scratched bolster, there was a small imperfection on the scale and i needed to sand it down some more to get rid of it. i will sand the scratches smooth and then buff it out.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0273-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0272-1.jpg

[tonydahose]

ok here she is, this is a working knife as you can tell by the scratches on the blade:o.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0274.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0275-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0277-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0276-1.jpg

[tonydahose]

and here's the knife with a little surrounding color.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0279-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/tonydahose/100_0281.jpg


ok, here are my thoughts on the whole rehandle job. here are my mistakes, i feel the need to point them out so hopefully someone else won't do the same thing:). I messed up on the pins. they were so long that i brought my angle grinder to shorten them so i wouldn't have to be at the sander forever. they overheated and burned the epoxy. it was a rookie mistake not to have some water next to me to cool the knife down. you can see the black ring around the pins. This really makes me want to kick myself for doing it but there is no way of fixing it at this point other than starting over and for a working knife i am not going to do that. It really isn't too noticeable either unless you bring the knife a few inches from your face. the other part that i am not happy with the the flat part on the bolster. the only way i can think to make it look more stock is to sand the flat spot all the way to the end of the bolster and do the same on the other side. that way the sides will be flat and the top and bottom are curved. Ok that is what i don't like abouot the knife. what i do like, the fact that the handle looks beautiiful with that blue. it really is striking compared to the plain old black that the knife came with. i tried selling this knife awhile back and i had no takers so i decided to try this rehandle and now that it is done i will definitely be keeping this knife:D.

i hope you guys enjoyed the thread.

[tgraypots]

I was just starting to comment on how much I like the halo around the pins.....

[bujakorn]

Thanks, this helps me a lot on my rehandle job. I've been collecting rare wood and now I have few hundreds kilograms of it but haven't got any ideas of how to rehandle my knives. Your post is very helpful to me. Now I only need to get a dremel and start working on it.

[mad_dog]

beautiful wood. Thanks for all the info.Makes me want to give it a try someday.

[Rob Babcock]

It came out very nice! I love the color you chose.

[tonydahose]

thanks for the kind words guys. for those of you on the fence about trying something like this. pratice on some cheap knife and use a soft wood from a 2" X 4". it really isnt that hard, and post some pics when you get one done.