Thanks Dennis. I had a hard time deciding on the handle material but I'm liking the koa.I like this knife. Visually interesting from front to back.
Thanks Ed. You are right about the radius around the finger guard. Normally I would have done that. The reason i didn’t here is poor planning on my part. I left the tang to wide at that point and as a result didn’t want to grind into the hidden tang hole.Good choice of NOT going with Redwood. I quit using it some time ago. IMO, it's just not well suited to knife handles. Koa is a much better choice, from pretty much every aspect.
One suggestion....if you don't already have one, get yourself a 3/4" "small wheel" for the "finger groove" at the guard......it makes your job in that area so much easier, and gives an much smoother look, with a lot less work. With the thicker guard/spacer materials, the 3/4" wheel is just the ticket.
A lot of folks have difficulties with that finger notch area...... but once you discover what you can do with a 3/4" wheel.......
All of those guards where rough ground out with a 3/4" wheel, then followed up with a slack belt (a belt(s) torn to about 3/4-1" wide) to finish out/blend everything. The big key is using thicker guard material(s). I can't remember the last time I used anything thinner than 3/8" material for a guard.
One suggestion....if you don't already have one, get yourself a 3/4" "small wheel" for the "finger groove" at the guard......it makes your job in that area so much easier, and gives an much smoother look, with a lot less work. With the thicker guard/spacer materials, the 3/4" wheel is just the ticket.
A lot of folks have difficulties with that finger notch area...... but once you discover what you can do with a 3/4" wheel.......
All of those guards where rough ground out with a 3/4" wheel, then followed up with a slack belt (a belt(s) torn to about 3/4-1" wide) to finish out/blend everything. The big key is using thicker guard material(s). I can't remember the last time I used anything thinner than 3/8" material for a guard.