It requires great skills to make a knife. You can develop a knife from its top to bottom with intensive care using your hands only if you are that professional. Other than the blade, what asks for priority is the handle. Handmade knife handles are popular.
It is because the handle of a knife decides if the knife is going to serve you right or not. Many tutorials on knife making show the usefulness of a handmade handle of a knife. The care a handmade knife gets is inexpressible.
It’s because the handmade handles have amazing texture and they are shaped so amazingly that you won’t get over their advantages. But not every material is suitable for handmade knife handles. You need to choose the right materials.
And with it, comes the design of the handle and other many things. Let’s discuss this elaborately.
How to Choose Knife Handles?
There are certain ways to select the right handle of the knife. Not every knife can come with a suitable handle. As the handle is one of the most important parts of a knife, you should select the perfect one that will ease your trouble. Besides, the handle of a knife ensures the comfort of the user too. That’s why keep these facts in mind while buying a knife,
Observe the Materials
First thing first, materials matter more than anything when buying a knife. The material of the handle is what you should learn about after the material of blade. It is because, without the right material, you cannot have the comfort of cutting.
The material ensures your comfort, effortless cutting experience, can cope with the temperature, and many more. Therefore, do not compromise with the material and look for wooden or stainless steel-made handles.
Check the Shape
The next thing that you should notice is the shape of the handle. A bad knife can come with an extravagant shape of the handle. But this should not be the case. The best kind of knife provides a D-shaped handle in most cases.
But you can get a wavy shape or more or less straight back of the handle. The main purpose of checking the shape is to see if you find comfort in holding the knife.
Examine the Construction
Good construction defines a perfect knife. You need to check if the knife is a full tang. Then examine the thorough construction. The blade should be engraved with the handle pretty strongly. In a half-tang knife, the tendency of the fall of the blade from the handle is evident.
So, it is your job to examine the finishing of the blade and handle. It should be seamless. Handles with rivets ensure you of strong construction. So, take note of that too.
Best Material for Knife Handle
As we have already mentioned that the material of the handle is one important fact that you should take a look at. There are several material-based knives we noticed. And in the modern era, technology-based material brings a new dimension to the material for making handles of knives. Let’s check out the best material for the knife handle.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel-made handles are great for knives. You can give a great shape to the stainless steel and make a proper handle out of it. Many brands polish the handles made of steel with their hands. This gives precision to the handle. Besides, the knife looks beautiful and the whole construction is praiseworthy.
Wood
Wood has been a material for making the handles of knives for centuries. Japanese started it earlier and now wooden handles come with the most variations so far. A wooden handle offers the best kind of experience. Besides, it is somewhat easy to carve a piece of wood and make knife handles out of it.
But definitely, it requires precision and patience. Woods that are less porous like Pakkawood or stamina wood are perfect for making handles for knives. Many great brands consider wood to be the perfect material for handles also because it can cope with the temperature and offers great grip.
Micarta
It has great value and it is made out of the type of resin called phenol. Micarta has great demand as a handle material because it is lightweight, compatible, and highly durable. But manipulating micarta to make a handmade handle is tough. That’s why many people discard the idea of making a handmade handle out of that material.
G-10
As a composite material G-10 is top-notch and ensures longevity. The great thing about this material is it is water-resistant. So, you will not get a slippery handle. Besides, the texture of the handle is so preferable that you can sense the high-end characteristic of the material.
There are a lot of materials including aluminum, Zytel, bone, leather, and mother of pearl and they work fine and are fantastic in making handles for knives.
Best Design for Knife Handles
Designs are important because a man of taste values every detail of his knife. Design is a part of a solid knife. Handles with design emphasize on great features of the knife. Besides, it helps to boost the confidence of the user to a great extent.
Oval Shape Design
data-preserver-spaces=”true”>This is a very common and universal design of the handle of a knife. It provides ease and this shape works in most crucial times when you need to conduct your knife in a busy kitchen. This oval shape is beautiful and with the right materials, they don’t look common at all.
D-Shaped Handle
It is another shape that comes with a definite purpose. The straightened back of the D-shaped handle provides a space for resting your fingers. By pushing the back harder you can cut hard vegetables too. This shape comes with a convincing design.
Exposing of Triple-Rivet
Many knives come with rivets in the handle to give a firm construction to its knife. In most cases, the rivets are showy and exposed. But that only enhances the beauty of the knife. Some knives also come with hidden rivets. They look fine too.
Wavy Structure
Some knives have a great wavy structure. This is to let your palm relax and do the job effortlessly. Besides, the design looks great on a chef’s knife.
Final Words
If you are a knife enthusiast, you must know how special is a handmade knife and its handle. Handmade knife handles are best because they fit into your palm, offer you ultimate comfort, and come in great shape.