Knifeception

Turn a used kitchen knife into a custom fixed blade knife.

I’ve made several knives, and the great part about this project is that it doesn’t require any annealing or hardening of the blade to produce the end product.

Try something new, don’t be afraid to take a chance.

This is the first time I used this handle material and learned about it by getting my hands dirty. With a little patience and focus you can create something amazing.

Materials needed

1. Old kitchen knife

2. Handle material (stabilized wood or composite)

3. Dremel 8220 + metal cut-off blade

4. Dremel MotoSaw

5. 3/8 steel rod (handle pins)

6. ½ aluminum tube (lanyard hole)

7. Sand paper 120 - 600

8. Belt sander (optional)

9. Epoxy

Steps

1. Draw new knife outline on old kitchen knife

2. Cut out shape using Dremel 8220 + cut off wheel

3. Drill holes for pins

4. Rough cut handle material to blank

5. Contour handle

6. Final assemble pins, handle and blade with epoxy (clamp for pressure)

7. Remove clamps and final sand

This is where the new knife is born. Use your creativity to draw a new knife profile on the old kitchen knife.

Using a Dremel 8220 + cut off wheel – cut out your design. Take your time!

Using bit sized to your pins, locate at least 2 holes in the handle area of the knife for your pins, Clamp the blade down before drilling it, then transfer the hole placement on to the handle material before cutting the handle material down.

I used the moto saw to create a rough contour of the handle material against the blade before shaping. Use temporary pins to hold everything in place to ensure success during final assembly.

Using a couple of tools here, the goal is to take the rough contour to a comfortable knife grip. A sanding drum attached to my 8220 worked great for knocking down the initial edge, and the tight radius of the front finger/thumb area, I used my 1x30 belt sander for larger areas.

Once you have everything 95% complete on your handles and pins its time to glue them up. Use your sanding drum to add a texture for mechanical strength. Clamp pieces together as the 5 minute epoxy sets up.

Now that the epoxy is cured, it’s time to remove any overflow and final sand the handle to your preference. I like to use between 600 and 800 for final grit.