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A The Final Touch. Starting from the center, taper the handle toward both ends using a block plane to create a faceted, barrel shape.

handle. Start with light pressure and increase it as you near the end. You're looking for a tapered effect. After a couple of strokes, roll the handle and shave some more off. When you've finished one end, flip the handle over and taper the opposite end of the handle. Be sure, however, not to cut into the tenons on the ends of the handle.

Once that's done, take a chisel and create a chamfered shoulder around the tenons. And finally, install the ferrules on the tenons and spray the handle with several coats of lacquer.

immi* chamfer

SIDE VIEW tenon

large ferrule (cutaway)

planing the

Facets

A perfectly round knife handle didn't feel quite right, so I added facets and a barrel shape to the handle. This gives you a better grip, plus the knife isn't as likely to roll off your workbench. And, best of all, because these facets are randomly planed into the handle, you can't really mess them up.

The photo on the right shows how the facets are made. First, draw a line around the center of the handle — this will be your reference point for both directions. Then, using a block plane, work from the centerline and shave the

END VIEW

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rotate dowel counterclockwise while feeding downward

Routing Round Tenons

Cutting round tenons is easy on a router table, especially with the simple jig illustrated here.

To make the jig, all you need is a scrap of 2x4 and a piece of Vb" hard-board. Start by ripping a 6"-long piece of 2x4 down to IV4" wide. Turn it on edge, and then drill a hole near one end of the block, centered on its width. After the hole is drilled, glue the hardboard onto the block as a base for the jig.

Next, install a %" straight bit in the router table. Place the block against the router table fence and adjust the fence so the bit is centered on the end of the block.

Then raise the bit to Vs" above the table and push the block from right to left until the bit cuts about halfway into the side of the %" hole. Repeat this process, raising your router bit Vs" each time, until

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straight bit

the height of the groove equals the length of the tenon you want, plus the Vs" hardboard.

When the jig is ready, clamp it onto the fence. Leave enough of the bit showing in the hole to make a tenon the size to fit for the ferrules.

Turn the router on and slowly insert the knife handle into the hole until it comes to rest on the hard-board. Rotate the handle to complete the tenon. The bit not only will cut the tenon, but will leave a clean shoulder as well.

. align bit ^ barely inside through , hole

clamp jig to fence

bottoms out

on hard-board base