After cutting the blade and undergoing heat-treating, it is time to finally complete this knife project. On the last part of this series, we will talk about finishing the blade, as well as giving the knife its handle.

Step 5: Finishing the Blade and Attaching the Handle

Finishing the Blade (Again)

Once the knife has cooled down, we start sanding the blade again. This follows the same process as the first finishing process we did before heat-treating, where we use sandpapers of increasing grits to give the steel a beautiful finish. This will also remove the blackened color of the blade, which resulted from the quenching process.

Starting with a coarse 40- to 60-grit, we will work our way up the grits, taking our time to make the blade as smooth as possible. At this stage, we will go beyond 220-grit and finish between 600- to 1200-grit sandpapers to bring out the amazing steel.

After finishing, we could polish the blade. This is an optional step; though doing this brings out the beauty of the blade even more. Car body rubbing compounds could be used, as well as a black polishing compound along with a polishing wheel. Simply follow the instructions of the polishing material of our choosing for the polishing process.

Next, we will make a basic sheath to cover the blade part of our knife. Get a piece of cardboard, fold it, and then place the knife blade between the folded pieces of cardboard. Roll some tape around the cardboard until the cardboard is completely covered, making sure the blade is secured. Not only will this protect the blade, it will also give us a handle while working on the, er, handle.

Preparing the Handle

To start the handle for a full tang knife, make a rough cut of two pieces of the handle material for each side of the tang. File and sand both sides of the handle materials, preferably at the same time to make sure they are symmetrical. Also, keep in mind that will be in contact with the steel have to be as flat as possible to give the knife a secure handle.

Attaching the Handle

Once the handles are ready, prepare some epoxy and spread a small amount over the side of one handle material, preferably the side that will be in contact with the steel. Place the handle material on the handle side of the knife, and keeping them together with a padded vise until the epoxy is rubbery.

Carefully drill through the holes on the steel and through the handle material for the rivets, using the same-size drill bit as the holes on the steel. Do the same process with the other handle material, and let them rest until the epoxy has fully set. Once set, carefully remove the excess epoxy off of the handle.

Insert the rivets on the holes and cut the excess rivets, leaving around a centimeter of the rivet sticking out on each end. Peen each end of the rivets using a ball-peen hammer.

Form the final shape of the handle with a jig saw, some files, or a combination of both. Sand the rivet ends and the handle with increasing grits, ending with 150-grit sandpaper for wood, possibly higher for metal. Polish the handle if desired using the appropriate polishing material.

Sharpening the Blade

The last step of our knife project is to sharpen the knife’s blade. Coat the rough side of a sharpening stone with some sharpening oil. Holding the blade at a 20° angle from the stone’s surface, scrape along the sharpening stone with a cutting motion, making sure not placing too much force on each stroke. Flip the blade to the other side every 2-3 strokes to sharpen both sides. Once both sides are sharp, move to the finer side of the stone and repeat the process.

For a better knife edge, do the same process on the kitchen steel, with about 11-12 strokes on each side. This will create a thin metal burr that gives a knife finer and sharper edge. Test the knife on a piece of paper. If it tears, go back to the sharpening stone. If it cuts, then congratulations!

Now, the knife is complete. Enjoy the work of art we made, and don’t be afraid to try other shapes, sizes and materials next time around.