Leather knife handles

[Iron 12]

I have never tried to make a leather knife handle. Does anyone know or have an opinion on how to compress the leather tight enough to be solid, like on a k-bar.

[DSW]

I had a kit knife years ago that was very similar to an old Kbar. The kit used stamped leather washers that you filed and sanded to the profile you wanted after assembly. If I recall correctly you slid each washer down then pounded them into place with a tube like tool to compact them together so you could eventually get the pommel on.

[Rich Hale]

The butt cap can be threaded and screwed on to threaded tang, or cross drilled and a pin put in sideways while the cap is pressed into place..or the end of the tang can be peined over while the cap is pressed into place....Pressing in place is the key to it all working well. 

[Chris john]

DSW is right buye sole leather already compresed hard as XXXX wont move on you 

not like some other leathers  they keep compressing

Chris

[BCROB]

not the leather washer type but here's another style of leather handle I recently finished............copper bolster and handle pins 

 

[VaughnT]

I bought pre-cut leather washers from one of the knife suppliers on the net.  Very handy and saves time.

 

Then I soaked them in water for a bit to fully swell.  

 

Then.... on to the big vise where I squished the snot out of them!  Yep, nothing fancy.  Just torque down on the handle and you'll see the leather squish down.  The only downside is that the leather doesn't seem to squish evenly and you have to work around this by orienting the washers on the tang.

 

While the washers were still wet, I used Gorilla Glue to fasten three or four of them together into thicker stacks which were then glued together to make the entire handle.  The GG worked very well and has proven quite durable.

 

As it stands now, the handle is very "kabar" like and I'm happy with the results.  I'd do it again, for sure, and I'm seriously thinking about sending it off to be professionally stabilized like they do with wood.

 

 

 

http://s70.photobucket.com/user/VaughnT/media/Knifemaking/IMG_0164.jpg.html?sort=6&o=9

 

[Iron 12]

Your knife handle turned out really nice. I like how the leather has an antique look. Very nice job!

[BlueSasquatch]

I "restored" two old WWII knives my grandpappy used, bought leather washers online, soaked them in water, dryed them some, covered them with glue and threaded them on the hilt, we modified it to have a twist on cap, which worked well to tighten the washers, the problem was getting the exact number of washers needed, every time you de-compress it messes things up and they will not be the same. Also sometimes when tightening to much it would smash one of the leather washers enough to squeeze it out of line and then pretty much become so flat it was thinner than paper and fell off easily, it isn't easy but it's not rocket science either, just have alot of extra washers and learn from what you do.

 

I used coats of superglue as a sealant on the outside, sanded, more glue, sanded, more glue, worked very well IMO. The end result is always cool, looks almost like wood.