Is it feasible and worth it

Fairly new guy here. I love all the beautiful custom handle work that I see around here and am interested in getting one done but I have a few questions. First off is it worth doing such work on lower end knives? I would love to have this done but at the moment I do not have the means to purchase a high end Japanese knife as well as pay to have it rehandled. Would it be feasible to have this done on say a Shun or Victorinox? Would any of our members even be willing to rehandled a knife from one of these makers? What is the average cost to rehandled and who would I ask about this service? Thank you all in advance for your insight and sorry for all the questions.

 

there are some solid proforming "cheap" knives out there that can easy be picked up and fixed up to look nice. as for rehandle costs too many options to do more then ball park 75-1000$

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Speaking only for myself, I'd find it hard to justify spending $100 (probably more) for a custom handle on a lower end knife unless it had some sort of sentimental value.

Some people make a hobby out of taking low end knives and rehandling them, like this Sabatier INOX chef's knife that was rehandled with cocobolo scales and bird's eye rivets:


The asking price for this knife was a reasonable $75.

There are also some people that make wa-handles as a hobby and pass them on for basically the cost of materials.

You could always try your hand at rehandling one yourself. A basic 1 x 30 belt grinder with a 5" disc sander is about the cost of one wa-handle.

 

Feasible? Sure, many guys could do it. It would likely cost between 100 and 150. Worth It? That is up to you. I have a few sentimental knives that I have opted to have redone, but would not do if they were not sentimental. Matching the shape on shuns can be tricky and may increase the cost.