Finishing the handles tutorials?

[ArmedArtist]

So my first knife I've made is ready to send out to heat treat. I rough cut the scales to get a basic idea what it will look like. In the mean time I also took an existing knife and made teak handles for it. My first time trying that. I'm sure a lot of my issues were from the type of wood but the handles were hard to make. I bought dymonwood for my self made knife and I really want them to turn out nice. I think the biggest issue I ran into was shaping the front of the handles before they are epoxied on the blade. How much to take off and where to round it and sand it.. Ive watched literally hours and hours of videos on YouTube. Wanted to see if anyone here could recommend me other videos? Have any tips for handles?

I thought the knife making itself was "easy" for me because I've worked with metal in the past. I liked the process but i'm scared to work on the handles because I think the rest of the knife is turning out so good.

[Ray Rogers]

You don't need any more videos, you just need to think about what you're doing. Drill your holes in the scales so that they can be mounted on the tang. Now bolt the scales together while they are off the knife. Grind the front of the scales until they are the same length - that is as long as the scales can be. Put them back on the knife and see if they look OK. If they are too long shorten them some more until they look right. Esthetics, that's most of what you're looking for at this point - do you like the way they look or not? As long as there are no bolsters involved that's really all there is to it ....

[Hunter10139]

Just think about how you want it to look. Look at how other makers have finished the front of their handles. Pick a style you like and then do like Ray said and put the scales together without the knife and finish the front like that. Don't stress about the handles too much. Just take your time and it will probably turn out better than you expect.