Giving a good steel blade a new handle is not rocket science. In fact its just good sence to give it a new life rather than toss it and buy a new piece. Besides, most of us are of Scottish heritage and we know how frugal we Scotts are.

Here is a picture of an 8" bowie made of good German steel I picked up in a flea market for $5. It was in pretty bad shape - the sheath was torn in half and dry rotted, the blade was corroded and the antler scales were cracked and loose. I spent a week rehabing it. It has an elk antler handle now and I did some fancy file work on the bolster just to personalize the knife. I cut off the torn belt loops and soaked the sheath in neatsfoot oil till it was fairly healthy again and then restructured it with some brain tanned deer leather



The same proceedure I used on the bowie can be used on any blade.

It's important to anneal the brass prior to doing this work. It's easier to work with soft brass. Also, FWIW, some brass will not anneal. I think it's the kind with a lot of nickel - but I'm not sure. I know that many cast brass butt plates and tricker guards will not soften and are hell to try to finish.


First make the parts you'll need including the bolster, end cap and antler section. You can use steel but I think brass looks more classy and gives even a moderately inexpensive blade a new personality.

For the purpose of this post just imagine that key looking thing is the tang end of a knife blade. I grind a few notch's in the tang to help it grip the epoxy later. The bolster is a piece of brass I have drilled and filed a slot for the tang. I'd also clip the corners to reduce the amount of filing necessary when you finish it down.




I select the handle material and drill a hole in the end so the tang will fit and the brass bolster is flush with the antler. Then I fill the cavity with an epoxy (or thick Super GLue will also work), slide the tang through the bolster slot and shove the tang into the antler hole. It's also a good idea to wrap the handle up to the edge of the bolster with tape to prevent any squeeze out from getting on the handle. I park it in my vise till the epoxy is hard - I usually leave it ovenight.



I finish shaping the brass bolster befor I attend to the end cap.

The end cap requires some soldering. After cutting a small piece of brass for the end cap I solder a brass flat head screw in the middle. The screw threads will give the epoxy some grab and your end cap will be secure. I also rough up the brass around the screw with 80 grit or a file so the epoxy will grab that surface as well.



Drill a hole in the end of the handle material just large and deep enough for the screw to fit inside and the brass plate is flush with teh handle. Add your epoxy to the handle cavity, place the end cap and let it set for 12 or so hours till it's hard. Then carefully file the brass flush with the handle.

BE CAREFUL WHEN SHAPING THE BRASS. FILING TOO HARD AND FAST WILL CREATE FRICTION HEAT WHICH WILL SOFTEN THE EPOXY AND THE BLADE OR END CAP WILL FALL OUT. IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH FILING OR HEAT TO RUIN YOUR DAY.



I used leather dye to color the antler

Any questions?