24.03.

2020 Wa-Handle Dimensions and Shaping

Colton Handcra ed

Wa-Handle Dimensions and Shaping

11 November 2018 by Colton (https://coltonhandcra ed.com/author/colton/)

When I first started making handles for Japanese knives I didn’t have access to many product
examples to compare so I searched the internet for a sizing chart of sorts. It turns out there
wasn’t a very detailed one. The best I could find was mainly just “length of handle versus
length of blade”, but it didn’t get into any specifics. I kept searching and found pieces of
information here and there until I pieced together some good proportions to start testing.
You find out pretty quick on prep-heavy days what works and what doesn’t. A er a lot of
personal experimentation and feedback from others in the kitchen these are my go to
dimensions for a Gyuto / Chef knife:

Octagonal Wa-Handle Dimensions

Blade length: 210-270 mm
Handle length: 135 mm
Ferrule end width: 18 mm
Ferrule end height: 23 mm
Butt end width: 20 mm
Butt end height: 26 mm
Chamfers: 5 mm marked in from corner.

I find these dimensions work well for a few di erent reasons. The handle is big enough to
house the tang of the knife without becoming structurally weak or feeling too bulky. The
slight taper toward the blade is balanced and gives a good secure grip without giving the
feeling your hand is creeping forward. The handle is a good length for fitting a wide range of
hands but not long enough that you find it hitting your wrist when doing detail work with the
tip of the blade. Gizlilik - Şartlar

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Shaping an Octagonal Wa-Handle

I like to use all natural wood for my knife handles, in my opinion there is no substitute for the
feel of natural wood for a tool handle. The method for shaping that I’ll be showing here
doesn’t require a bunch of fancy machinery or expensive tools.

This method of construction di ers from the slotted dowel method I have previously posted
about. In this method you drill a hole in the body of the handle just big enough to fit the tang.
You can then either drill a matching hole in the ferrule and use a short dowel plug or use
some alignment pins for extra strength between the body and ferrule. Then a er glue up I
mark and drill out the tang slot. I find this method results in a tighter and cleaner fit.

I should mention that I make the butt end and ferrule end square (90 degrees) to the top of
the handle. This makes the top of the handle in line with the spine of the knife and the
bottom face of the handle taper up toward the blade. Both sides taper in from the butt end
toward the blade. I account for all of this when doing my layout, which is why you’ll notice my
tang slot is up from centre at first.

A er glue-up I like to take a couple shavings o the top face of the handle to give me a good
reference point for marking out the centre of the handle along with the tang slot.

Once I’ve established centre and marked the tang slot I drill out some pilot holes to start the
slot. Gizlilik - Şartlar

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At this point I start connecting the pilot holes using the drill at an angle. A er that I move on
to digging it out with a jig saw blade held with a small pair of vice grips. Then square things
up and refine the slot with some small files.

Gizlilik - Şartlar

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Once the tang is tightly fitted, I begin layout of the handle shape. I find it better to fit the
blade before shaping the handle so that when making the tang slot, if I go slightly out of
square I can easily adjust the layout to account for it. Going the other way (shaping the
handle and then cutting and fitting the tang slot) means it needs to be 100% perfect out of
the gate or you’re going to have spend a great deal of time tweaking the fit. More than likely
you’ll end up having to bin the handle because you’ll end up with a skewed fit or a slot way
bigger than intended.

Working from my top reference face, first I mark the 18 mm wide, 23 mm tall ferrule end,
followed by the 20 mm wide, 26 mm tall butt end.

Gizlilik - Şartlar

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Now I just plane down to my layout marks and I have established the dual taper of my
handle.

Gizlilik - Şartlar

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Some people only eyeball the chamfers but I find it beneficial to have a visual aid of what I’m
shooting for. It can be pretty di icult to mark out the chamfers accurately, which is probably
why most people do only eyeball it. I made a handy little guide out of a scrap piece of walnut
that gives me perfect 5 mm chamfers every time.

Once I have my chamfers marked I use my hand plane to remove material down to the line. I
hold my plane in one hand and essentially use it like a mandoline (kitchen tool). The most
import thing is to pay attention to grain orientation. It can look a bit wonky and be harder to
keep track of once you’ve started. Lose track of it and you will quickly ruin your handle and
have to start over.

Gizlilik - Şartlar

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At this point I’ll lap all the faces on a 320 grit sanding block. Then I’ll sand a small chamfer on
the edge around the butt end and the ferrule end. This handle is now ready for finishing. My
go-to for finishing woods that aren’t naturally water resistant is 100% pure Tung oil, followed
by my custom wax polish.

Gizlilik - Şartlar

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I use epoxy to mount the blade and this knife is now ready to be put to work.

Gizlilik - Şartlar

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Gizlilik - Şartlar

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Comments

Taylor Green says

14 July 2019 at at 15:09 (https://coltonhandcra ed.com/2018/11/11/wa-handle-
dimensions-and-shaping/#comment-144)

What brand/size of wood plane do you reccomend?

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replytocom=144#respond)

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Colton says
14 July 2019 at at 16:10 (https://coltonhandcra ed.com/2018/11/11/wa-
handle-dimensions-and-shaping/#comment-145)

Hey Taylor,

The plane you can see in the pictures is a 245 mm (9.65″) Mujingfang. You can get them at
Lee Valley for less than $100 CAD. The reason I like these planes for shaping handles is
because the area in front of the blade is much longer than your standard western style
plane, like a Stanley, Veritas or Lie-Nielsen. So in my opinion you have better registration
on what you are trying to plane. Mujingfang planes come with a flat 3 mm HSS blade
making it the same to sharpen as any other western style plane blade and will easily fit
any sharpening jig you would have. Something to note about the Mujingfang planes is
that the blade is adjusted like other traditional wood-bodied hand planes, with light
hammer taps.

For shaping handles o the work bench like I am in the pictures it doesn’t really matter
what type of hand plane you have, as long as it is super sharp. In general I would go with
something in the 245mm (9.65″) range. As for whether to go push (western style) or pull
style hand planes is a matter of preference and workbench setup.

Regards,
Colton

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