(9) Wood shaped to handle profile and attached with Loveless bolts
After the blades come back from heat treating I clean them up by sanding
them some more. Next comes the handle. For the chef's knife we're making here, I chose Dymondwood(R) an attractive and stable wood laminate. The picture (8) is a little blurry but let that help you imagine that it is any material you might want to use.
Fixed blade knives have either full or through tangs. Full tang handles like our chef's knife are
attached with Loveless bolts(9) which are very strong or sometimes with pins on
very small or fancy knives. The through tang blades are usually made with a
stub at the back of the blade. I have my own method of attaching a stick
tang to the stub which produces a very strong joint without any welding that
might alter the temper of the blade. Usually a wood or antler type handle
is fitted over the stick and a pommel is threaded onto the end. Every cavity in
the handle or under handle slabs is filled with 2-ton epoxy.