A quick tutorial as to how I fit the handle on a bowl knife; there are lots of ways to do it and a couple of jubilee clips would do fine, but I like the finish this method gives. It is a bit over the top though, very much belts and braces.
Starting point in this case was cleft dry ash, I left facets on for better grip.
I draw around the blade.
I cut a rebate for so the blade is inlet flush with the handle. I found a chisel easiest for this job.
I then screwed the blade in place, notice proper slot head screws, I have a stash of these but they are increasingly hard to find.
I then took it apart, epoxied everything in place.
When it was set I gave it a quick sand to remove any high spots and started the whipping. First cut off 6″ of thread and put it to one side, you will need it later. It is a bit fiddly to get catch the loose end, you also don’t want to start to close to the end of the handle. Once you have got a good start of 4 or 5 wraps you can cut the tag end down.
I only had very fine cotton so it took a while to reach the end of the blade, I then whipped in a loop of the material I had put to one side earlier. after 4 or 5 wraps cut your thread and pass it through this loop, pull on the two ends and your whipping will pass under the earlier threads, cut the end flush with a knife between the wraps.
I then added a thin layer of epoxy as I was concerned that if the thread frayed it would all unravel. Also want to make sure the thread didn’t come of the front of the tool. The epoxy soaked in and didn’t leave a glossy finish. A coat of oil to seal the wood and it was ready to use.
What I do like about this method is that the fixing is very low profile and so less likely to foul on the inside of a bowl in use.
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