Putting in a wooden handle for a friend’s parang

A parang handle making project

This is a small parang ‘gift’ project for a friend. I will have to make the wooden handle for it, as well as a sheath. The blade was purchased from the Bidor parang maker some time back. A standard blade sold everywhere. I decided to do this project for two reasons. As a gift and more so as a ‘practice’ at making handles for parang.

The piece of wood used to make this parang handle comes from Pokok Limau Nipis (Citrus Aurantifolia if not mistaken) . One of my neighbors recently had a major yard overhaul and decided to rid of his Limau Nipis. He piled his entire ‘unwanted’ yard outside his house. I went over while walking Sox and liberated some. It’s a blessing to be living in a neighborhood where bushcraft is a non-practice.

The blank Bidor parang blade for my project

This was the closest blade I can find that resembled Meun’s parang from Sarawak. Meun asked me why not I just order another piece from Sarawak. Well, her parang took close to 8 months to be completed, by the time it is done, I would have to give me friend 2 parangs instead of 1.

The Bidor parang blade compared to Meun’s Sarawak parang

So, with a piece of the wood cut off, my first task was to choose the best ‘alignment’ for the blade and the handle. Then it is off to the electric drill.

Drilling an insert into the wood for the parang’s tang

The tang inserted into the wood handle

Next up…shaping the handle. Well, not the final shape but to get it ‘roughly’ to the intended size. For this, I covered the entire blade with tape so that it doesn’t accidentally ‘bite’ me.

The blade is taped so that I can work safely around the handle

The Fiskars Hatchet worked like a charm. Combined with the carbon steel Mora, shaping the wooden handle is a breeze.

Getting there!

Good thing that there’s already a small pin hole on the tang of the parang blade. After a few measuring, I started drilling the hole on the wood piece for the pin. This is tricky as I may end up with holes on the handle that isn’t really aligned with the tang. But after some adjustment, I manage to fit all of them into place.

I used a nail a pin to keep the parang’s handle and blade together

Now I am ready to put the wood handle, blade and nail together. I use epoxy as fillers and allowed it to sit for a good 12 hours before continuing work.

12 hours later, the epoxy has hardened completely

This is the part that I have wanted to learn to do for a long time. I see only the ‘Turks head’ hitching being used to bind the end of the wooden handle. But most of the time, it is either a metal or brass fitting. I am using a coarse fishing line,. I am not sure what hitching or wraps this is but it turned out okay. The purpose of this is to help strengthen this particular section of the wooden handle. It is the area on the handle that probably gets the most stress when chopping.

The hitching on my parang

And finally, some finishing touches with sandpaper. While I am inclined to polish the handle to perfection, I think I am leaving it as it is this time. The imperfections are my mark. Now that I have completed the parang handle, I would probably have to make a sheath for it next.