just leave the knife in. if you don't like to use it then don't use it and stop complaining about it. just cuz its in there don't mean you HAVE to use it.

While it's not an especially easy fix, there is a way to alter Toolsmith in order to remove the conflict using Visual Studio Code. 

1. Go to your mod library
2. Find and open toolsmith
3. Open the folder for assets. In there, find recipes. In recipes, find crudehandle.json
4. Open crudehandle.json with Visual Studio code.
5. In Visual Studio Code, the 8th and 9th line will read "width" 1 "height" 2. Simply swap their values, to width 2 height 1. 
6. Save this file with "save as" in any easily located folder. 
7. Copy and paste or cut and paste this modified file into the recipes folder in your mod.

As a result of this small edit, the recipe for the crude tool handle will now require the knife to be on the left of firewood rather than on top. 

(Since I was already making my mods of the mods, I decided to do something for my own file as well, by making axes give 2 sticks,, and knives 4, as that felt a bit more balanced; and removed sticks from firewood with saws as that felt a bit more rational.) This was slightly more complicated, as in Toolsmith the files are saved as Json but in this mod they're not. The workaround was trivial though, simply unzip the mod into a folder somewhere else, which will allow you to save your edits rather than needing to save as, then recompress that modified folder and replace the existing folder with it.

(edit: a mistake I made in this process that I'm writing so that you avoid the same mistake. compress the assets folder and modinfo.json into a zip, not the folder itself, otherwise it'll create a subfolder within the folder which will make the mod not work)

Hey, for some reason axes don't work for making sticks, does it have to be a high tier? I tried stone and copper axe and they didn't work

I also agree with ZappyDoggo, I'd like to have the knife recipe be removeable through a config, but I appreciate you Mallow for the workaround! I'll delete the knife recipe in the meanwhile. 

Hello friends! Just an update to expect an update as I am working on what I have said below! Anyways, have a good one!

Hello my Silly Stickmakers! I have been thinking about it and here is where I stand with the knife recipe. If I can figure it out I will add a config that will be accessible through the Config Lib mod. That however will require Config Lib to be a dependancy if you are also using Toolsmith. I will also raise the amount of sticks you get while also DRASTICALLY increasing the amount of durabillity that is removed from the knife recipe specifically to simulate battoning. All of this will be configuable in the settings. Otherwise, if I cannot figure out working with this Library I will just pluck out that knife recipe as I do not want to dissuade people from using this mod with others.

Thank you everyone who left a comment! 

HOWEVER, in the meantime! If you use Toolsmith you will have to unzip the file and remove the knife recipe, its pretty easy to do, you can just delete the file that has knife in the title.

Make it a config, because I don't want the knife recipe, due to a conflict with Toolsmith.

I agree with the battoning.  Leave the knife in there.  It doesn't hurt (if you don't like it, don't use it), and replicates a very real basic survival skill!  Battoning would actually get you more sticks than using an axe, but I understand the tech level/difficulty progression when considering providing more sticks. ** Maybe just change the location of the knife & saw in the recipe to avoid any conflicts?

I would leave the knife recipe, as it simulates battoning which takes a bit more time and effort but does wear on the knife.

An ideal battoning mod would create more sticks, take more time and require a chunk of firewood in the off-hand, but I think that's beyond the scope of this mod.

I can understand removing the sticks from knife;  I know I've used it, but, it's niche.

Sometimes, i'll go out and I'll have firewood, cause I know it'll be a long trip, but, I sometimes run out of sticks just as my tool breaks, or I've used my last set of sticks to make more arrows, or something along those lines, and I'm just too lazy to craft an axe (or I'm using this to get two sticks to MAKE one axe.)   

I think maybe what I'd suggest instead is buffing the knife on firewood to 4 sticks, and giving the axe and saw an additional usage to convert logs straight into sticks but more of them.  Also maybe add a durability penalty to count for the additional sticks it grants. (Whittling sticks out of a log with a knife and getting 4 sticks out of it, would take a bit of time and probably dull the blade quite a bit.)

Or, you know, just remove the knife recipe ;)

I have been debating on removing the knife recipe as from the people I have talked to don't use the knife one. If most would prefer I delete that part of the mod then please let me know here and on January 1st I will update the mod, removing that recipe. 

Cadaru thanks for the tip!

maneater_buddha a quick fix I did is to just go into the zip and delete the knife recipe, feels rude but it lets Toolsmith have its recipe and the axe still makes sticks

New Update! Fixed the Aged Firewood bug and added the Saw and Knife recipes.

maneater_buddha Unfortuantely I don't think there is much I can do for the Toolsmith mod, I actually am writing an update for this mod that adds the ability to gain thatch from using a Knife to the side of firewood (if it would be better to have that as a stand alone mod let me know), but that doesn't fix that issue so I do apologize. If you happen to know which mod causes the conflict with the Saw recipe I may be able to write a compatability patch. I do try to keep the recipe the same due to muscle memory. Most of the mods that I have used that do this always have the tool at the top (I always imagine an axe swinging downward to split firewood).

Is aged firewood vanilla? I could have sworn I added a modifier to the recipe to allow any item with the word "firewood" in it to create sticks. I only ask so I can test. Regardless I will put a fix out soon, sorry for the late response!

works on 1.21.

Kind of breaks toolsmith as toolsmith uses knife to get carved handle. Seems like the mod also conflicts with some other mod as I can't use the saw variant of the crafting recipe. may want to consider moving the tool to the side in this mod to secure compatibility with other, larger mods.

The mod doesn't allow to make sticks from aged firewood

one of the simplest QoL mods, but i wont play without it.