Knifemaking is a fun and rewarding hobby, allowing you to craft functional yet attractive tools by your own hand – and one important aspect of that is the handle.
Making knife handles is not especially difficult if you know how to do it, but if you’re a beginner, you’ll need a good plan to follow – and for anyone who wants to have a go themselves, here are 19 tutorials for making a DIY knife handle that will show you what you need to know.
Table of Contents
1. Make a Custom Knife Handle
To begin with, here’s a great tutorial that takes you through the whole process of making a knife handle, from preparing the materials right through to finishing the job. We like the way this plan breaks everything down into logical steps that are easy to understand, and there are also plenty of photos to help you. The examples at the end look great too, so why not see if you can make something similar?
2. Easy Knife Handle Tutorial
What we like about this video is that she admits right from the start that she’s not a pro – and that tells you that, as long as you use the right techniques, any novice can create something similar. She then goes on to explain how she made some attractive knife handles, and we’re very impressed by what she achieved!
3. How to Make Knife Handles
Here’s a detailed plan that takes you through all the steps you need to follow for making a knife handle of your own. It includes plenty of useful tips that some other plans don’t mention, things like wrapping the blade in duct tape for safety, and it explains everything in simple terms that everyone will understand. We’re big fans of WikiHow because the plans on the site are always so well-written and thoughtfully illustrated – and this one certainly didn’t let us down.
4. How to Make a Custom Knife Handle/Knife Scales
We always think it’s so useful watching pros at work since we can always learn a lot from what they do – and if you agree, this is a video you should enjoy. In it, a professional knifemaker demonstrates how he made a handle for a customer’s knife – and these are techniques that any amateur knifemaker would do well to adopt.
5. How to Make a Knife Handle Using 3 Different Materials
One of the most important things you’ll need to decide when making any knife is which material to use for the handle. Different materials all have their associated advantages, and the one you choose will depend largely on what you’re going to use it for. To help, this blog discusses some of your options – and then shows you how to make handles using three of them.
6. HDPE Knife Handle – Recycled Plastic Chef’s Knife Scales
This is such an interesting design for a knife handle since it’s made of recycled HDPE bottles. In the video, we watch as the YouTuber first makes a mold for the handle before creating the plastic scales, after which he fits everything together to finish the job. It’s fascinating to watch, but it’s also relatively easy to copy, so if you think you’re up to the challenge, why not see if you can do it too?
7. How to Make a Knife Handle
If you’re looking for a simple and to-the-point plan that shows you how to make a basic knife handle, this one should be worth a look. Each step is clearly explained and there are lots of photos to show you exactly what’s required, making this an ideal tutorial to follow, even for beginners.
8. DIY Knife Handle from Tree Branch
There are plans online for making knife handles from a range of different materials, but this one showing you how to do it from a piece of tree branch is one of our favorites. It’s fun watching the handle take shape, and when it’s done, it looks fantastic. All you’ll need to replicate it are a few basic tools – and it won’t cost you anything because tree branches like this are free!
9. Make a Handle for a Bowie Knife in 10 Steps
Here’s another great plan for a knife handle that makes everything as simple as possible – this time, for crafting a handle for a bowie knife. There’s nothing complicated here, making it a plan that anybody will be able to copy, so if your knife needs a handle, why not give it a try?
10. Cow Bone into Knife Handles
This is one of the more original plans we’ve seen because in it, we learn how to make a knife handle from cow bones. This might be a more unusual choice, but it makes for a handsome knife when it’s finished. This is Part 1 in a series – so check out the other videos too to see how it looks at the end.
11. How to Make a Basic Custom Knife Handle
As this YouTuber tells us, the blade he bought cost him £18 without a handle but would have cost £80 with one (that’s about $24 and $105 respectively), so making your own handle can help you save a lot of money. He then goes on to show us how he made the handle from a block of ash, and we think he did a fantastic job!
12. Knife Handle
In this plan, a pair of bloggers show us how they made new handles for a set of knives they bought using epoxy and wood. As they explain, they saw a great deal on the knives – but the handles were made of ugly yellow-green plastic. We think the new version looks far better, and we’re sure you’ll agree. And if you want to have a go yourself, their blog has all the details.
13. Turning Newspaper into a Knife Handle
If you have lots of time and patience, you can make a knife handle from newspaper. The technique involves placing layers of paper one over the other and sticking them together, as this video demonstrates. It’s a great idea, and one that should give you a lot of satisfaction to complete – and the handle he produces in the video looks stunning.
14. Making a Knife Handle from Epoxy Grout
Another more unusual material you can use to make a knife handle is epoxy grout, and if you have some left over from another project like installing a shower, you can have a go. That’s exactly what this blogger did, and you can learn how to do it from this tutorial.
15. How to Make Knife Handles – A Beginner’s Guide
For anyone just starting out in knife making, this video is essential watching. In it, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to do it and all the techniques you’ll need to use. We like the way he explains everything clearly, giving you plenty of tips and tricks – so don’t try making a knife handle of your own until you’ve watched it!
16. Knife Handle: How to Make the Most Suitable and Most Satisfying
There’s a lot of information to consider before making a knife handle. For example, you need to decide whether to go with wood, metal or synthetic material, and you’ll also need to think about what the knife is for before you can choose the most perfect design. This tutorial has all the answers you are looking for, helping you make the best knife handle for your needs.
17. Knife Handles 101
As the name of this video suggests, this is a tutorial aimed at knife-making novices. In it, you’ll find all the details about making handles for a range of knife types using different materials, helping you choose the right option for your needs. They explain everything clearly, offering tips and advice on how to achieve the best results, all of which makes this another recommended watch for anyone interested in knife making.
18. Crafting the Knife Handle
Here’s a great resource that will tell you everything you need to know about how to make a knife handle, including cutting and inserting the pins, sanding it, shaping the handle and more. It also includes a couple of useful videos that show you how it’s done, helping you level-up your knife-making abilities.
19. How to Make a Chef Knife Handle
In this video, we learn about how this YouTuber made an oak handle for a chef’s knife he was refurbishing. This video is part of a series he filmed about this knife’s makeover, and they’re all fascinating to watch – but if you’re specifically interested in how to make the handle, this is the one to go for.
Plenty of great plans to copy
As you can see, there are loads of great plans to copy that show you how to make knife handles in a range of styles and from all kinds of materials.
We’ve enjoyed finding these plans for you, so we hope you’ve enjoyed watching and reading them as well – and above all, we hope we’ve helped you find the plan you needed for making a DIY knife handle of your own.