Favorite Wa handle dimensions

Just curious what people's prefered size and shape is for wa-style handles. Overall length, height and width? Rounded, octagonal? Tapered? I've been making a few lately and trying to figure out the best size. Do you prefer much of a difference between knife types?

Thanks in advance!

 

Clearly no expert and don't really know enough to be dangerous so looking forward to this discussion.

 

I think wa handles often get made poorly outside of japan. sorry guys, no offense to anyone but I'm extremely picky in this regard.
I said often, not always...
taper is CRITICAL.
it can't be too square, or too rectangular either, big mistake either way.
the less materials the better, the simpler the better.
the construction of a collar over a single piece of wood is ingenious. burning in knives is ingenious. i have no love for glued up flashy handles that are epoxied to hell onto knives. sorry but i had to say it. it's a sure fire way to destroy a clean japanese aesthetic. but to each their own.
sizes vary greatly for knife types, an usuba and a yanagi and a deba for example should have totally different handle sizes and shapes.
cheers
matteo

 

I prefer tapered octagonal, although I have a couple d-handles that are comfortable enough. Size is highly dependent on type and length of knife. Handle length helps with blade balance, so typially longer for a long suji or yanagi, and shorter for a petty. For a knife that gets heavy use, like a 240 gyuto, please don't make the cross-section giant or too dainty. I wear XL gloves but my fingers are probably average length, and I have a couple US-made octagonals on gyutos that are pretty uncomfortable because they are too too big across (combined with having little taper).

I know I am not giving concrete #s, but that is tough to do. Stefan used to post on his 'for sale' handles what knives they would suit best; a short but blocky may work best on a daba, and a long-and-slender will likely work best on a long yanagi.

 

I particularly like the size and shape of Masamoto d-shaped handles, with the shig handles on second place. As Matteo says the payoff is in the taper. Octagons feel off to me.

 

Big fan of Kramer D-shape meiji.

 

Thanks for all the responses. So far what I expected to some extent. Would anyone who is listing their favorites be willing to measure and maybe post a photo of what they are talking about? I don't own any high end knives with wa handles so it's tough to gauge, so far the ones I've made have felt so-so, I know they can be better.

 

For a 240mm blade I do 13-14cm handle depending on weight and profile . 270mm and bigger get 15cm plus
Taper is very important to make it feel right , I do prefer making hidden tang westerns than wa handles because they feel more organic to me .
I am not a very big fan of too much bling on the handle either but saying that knives with fancy handles tend to sell lot easier than simple handles versions
Here is couple I made , first Meiji style d

 

Second one is an octagonal

 

Awesome, thank you!

 

Finer words have ne'er been spoken. But this is very much down to preference. All respect due to my friend, M.Tansu's craftwork above, too.

Mert - love the shape on the first handle above and nice wood. Absolutely hate spacers though! Nice material on the spacer there, though

Me, I don't really have a particular preference for the various wa shapes - octagonal, 'd', oval, etc; there are 1 or 2 others too. Maybe I like the 'd' the most?

Size-wise, not too small or too big. With a gyuto I like the balance a bit in front of the heel, and so the weight of the handle also matters. Shorter or longer also seems to effect balance, even when comparing 2 handles on the same knife which have the same weight. Bigger handles of the same wood can also be more hollow and so weigh the same as smaller handles, too. Also, small differences between handles make a difference. I've got 1 or 2 dozen spares around in various j-woods and so can try 'em and compare. Great how easy it is to switch or replace wa handles on j-knives.

By the way, forgot this before and recently remembered: 'd' handles are called 'shinogi' handles in Japanese. No idea why people like us have called them 'd's. Well, because of the shape, but the shape isn't really a 'd' at all is it? Any knife-crazy knows what a shinogi is, so I like this as the handle name too.

 

I like octagonal handles. About 0.75" transverse and about 0.90"-1.0" vertically. The more bling the better. And I would like to see more Wa handles with a pin through them.

 

Oh no, puke! 2

 

Just wait. I've got something planned. op

 

You asked for dimensions. Well, my favourite knife with a perfect handle (for me) is my Suisin Inox honyaki. It is an octagonal handle that measures 19.6 mm (width) by 23 mm (height) at the butt. I tapers slightly towards the heel of the knife, but I must emphasize slightly. Not more than 2-3 mm's I'd say.

 

I like most wa styled handles. Oval, traditional, rounded bottom etc all work well for me. I even have a square handle that I am fond of.

I prefer about 2mm -3mm of taper from front to back with the ferrule being proportional to this size of the tang. I don't like a lot of excess wood at the ferrule.

Balance is a big deal to me. If I have a heavier wood in my design, I may trim down the dimensions of a handle to make the balance better for me. Generally, the 240mm chef knives I have run about 5-5.5 inches in length.

 

Wow! Those are almost exactly the measurements I gave, but in metric. I totally concur!

 

Robin Dalman recently made a knife for me for which I provided him the handle measurements. The handle is octagonal and it measures 19.8 mm (width) by 24 mm (height). There is not tapering. It fits my hand perfectly!