Green woodworking knives and such are expensive. But they can be significantly less expensive (generally by about 30 – 40%) for the same thing, if bought as unhandled blades. This also allows the buyer to make and fit a handle to suit their own hand and preference rather than a universal-fit handle that comes with a tool.

I’ve evolved a good handle-making process that involves slotting appropriate diameter dowel pieces for a blade-tang then inserting the dowel into a handle blank which can be shaped to suit. The slots need to vary in width as tangs vary in width. Ideally I want the slot to be very tight. The blade needs to be insertable with no subsequent movement, wobble, slackness or release from the handle in use – but still extractable, with use of a vice to grab the blade with rubber-clad jaws as the handle is pulled off the tang. 

I have various slot-makers (mini files, rasps and saw blades with various kerfs) but ideally I’d like a set of mini flat-rasps or bastard files to refine the slots to an exact width down their length that’s 0.1 – 0.2mm tighter than the tang. This set would need to include items in the set varying from 1.3 to 3mm in blade thickness, preferably in 0.1 or 0.2mm steps. The blade width could be anything from 5mm to 25mm; and the blade length could be anything from 30mm – 150mm.

Does anyone know of such things? I can’t seem to find such a set on the interweb; and the many such mini rasps, rifflers and files available as single items never mention the blade thickness.  They all look to be around 2mm in blade thickness. (Diamond coated versions all seem to be around 1mm).

Any help or advice, in either finding such things or an alternative accurate slot-making technique, welcome.