So I have a few Moras laying around that I have not used until recently. Man these babies stay so sharp even after carving a bucnh of wood. One that I have is the classic red handled Frost with a laminated blade. The blade rocks but I am not a fan of either the handle or sheath.
So as a project I want to rehandle it. Has anyone done this type of project? I figured if I gave it a real handle and then a new sheath it would become one awesome knife.
Any tips or info anyone can pass along?
It looks pretty straight forward if I drill into a block and then shape it into a handle, epoxy the blade in and finish the wood.
If this goes right I may buy a few Mora blades without handles and make a few more imporved Moras.
Bill

I haven't replaced the handle on any, so I don't know what you'll have to do to get the original handle off. However, I have bought the blades seperately and put handles on them. Its not very difficult the hardest part is just shaping the handle they way you want. I did one just the way you describe, get a block of wood drill a hole, widen it into a slot and then just epoxy the blade into it and shape the wood.

The others I put stacked leather handles on. First I tap the end of the tang to accept a decorative nut. Then I start with a sloted piece of brass as a simple hilt. I cut out rectangles of leather and measure them so that they each have a hole that matches where they'll sit on the tang. And I end it with another piece of brass plate. All the pieces are roughly shaped into ovals before I put them together. The first piece of brass is epoxied to the blade. The leather pieces are stacked on and glued together with wood glue. Finally the bottom piece of brass is epoxied on as well as the decorative nut (which I buy at the hardware store as switch for a lamp). Once its all together and set, I do the fine work. Shaping with a file or rasp and then sanding until its smooth. Then I coat it with shoe polish to finish it.

Hopefully that's clear in text, I can visualize the process perfectly, but setting it down is a little difficult.

Unless you put a guard on front, I suspect that the hardest part would be getting the slot in the front of the wood to fit the metal exactly. I have never seen a Mora without the wood, but assuming that the tang is pretty much just smooth metal, I would file some notches in the top and bottom for the epoxy to grab when you glue the soon-to-be handle on. From then on it should be easy sailing...

I think the Moras are hidden-tang knives and that the tang is thin and tapered. I don;t know this for sure. Depending on how wide the tang is, if I were trying it I think I would make two handle slabs, rout or carve out for the tang (out of the inside of each slab), put a couple of pins through the handles, and then epoxy the whole shebang. I don;t know your equipment status nor how much effort you'd expend on the Mora, of course, I'm just throwing out an idea.

I'm interested to hear what the tang looks like when you get the plastic scales off. You can cut them lengthwise with a hacksaw blade, then use a chisel, and finally a wire wheel on the grinder (if you have access to one) to get all the plastic off.

The standard red handled Mora has a tang that runs clear thru, and is peened over a washer on the butt end. So all that you would have to do it file the peened part off, then the whole sheebang should slide off. Unless they used some epoxy too, then all bets are off...

OBG,
Does it appear to you the handle was made and then tang inserted? ...or that the plastic was poured into a mold over the tang?

If the latter then, depending on the bond between plastic and steel in this case, it may well just slide off with a little work.

(I'm at Ragweed's site now looking at the Moras for the umpteenth time, and wondering why I haven;t ordered one of these knives. See what you started, Billy?)

My Mora appears to have a red stained wood handle, altho I have never dug into it all that much. So I can't help you, you are on your own...

One of Ray Mears 'Woodworking with Ray' err... I mean 'Bushcraft' progs :-) shows him making a handle for a rat tail knife like the mora. You could get it on video.
But moras are so cheap why bother? Just keep the blade as a light and slim emergency spare?
simon

You could buy one of these kits



available at http://www.tamarackoutdoors.co.uk/disppr...wedish%20Knives to fashion your own custom knife. It includes at the materials and the instructions. If you can source some reindeer antler and leather you could make the handle very decorative such as the knifes produced by Helle.

Very simple, just find an appropriate block of wood, drill a hole for the tang and enlarge it in front with a small file. If you want (and have some basic metalworking skils) you can fashion your own guard and buttcap. Either way, once you assemble the grip it's a good idea to coat the tang with slow setting epoxy to ensure the strongest possible bond. Peen the end of the tang over a tightly fitting washer and you're good to go. Choice of wood is up to you but something like maple or hickory would be a good choice and easy to find. You can finish the wood with several coats of boiled linseed oil. Looks great and preserves wood very well.