Recommendation? How to repair bone knife scales

D

DaSOB

Joined
Jun 5, 2023
Messages
6
Howdy -

I'm brand new here, real name's Sam. I'm 72, retired, single and loving it, although I do have a wonderful GF who has put up with me for the last 8 years. I'm an Air Force vet from the Viet Nam years. I spent two years in Germany, where I picked up a knife that I brought back. It's got bone handles, which is the crux of my post.

I had a roach problem at my first house, and roaches got into the drawer where I had this knife and ate holes in the bone handles. I've been trying to come up with a way to repair them short of just replacing the scales, which I don't want to do. I'm looking for suggestions on how I can repair these scales so that they at least don't look so bad. I attached a couple of pics to illustrate the damage.

Any suggestions will be deeply appreciated!


knife-1.jpg


knife-2.jpg
 
Handles are actually cattle horn. One of the fixes for this type of thing is grinding a horn or hoof (same base material - Keratin) into powder, and mixing it with epoxy or super glue, and filling the pits and cracks. Another way is just using tinted epoxy. You'd need to be really careful around the safety, and the switch so as not to gum it up. This would be a tough job for the button side :(.
 
Thanks. That's been one of the conundrums that have dogged me - how to work around the safety and the button. My brother makes knives - he probably will have some epoxy and tint that I can work with.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums DaSOB.

I think those handles might be beyond practical repair, particularly if you want them to look like horn. Also, it's impossible to tell for sure from the pics, but it looks like the button side scale might be eaten out from the inside (beetle larva), which could leave the scale prone to breakage. Filling small holes with epoxy is one thing, but trying to replace large missing sections of handle can be another.

If you should ever consider having the knife professionally restored my suggestion would be to contact Bill DeShivs and have him refurbish the knife. Not only can he replace the handles (which I think they need), but he can also fix the "blade peek" (the tip of the blade protruding when closed) as well as fix whatever else may be wrong with it. In other words, he could restore it as good as new.

If you ever have any interest in such things Mr. DeShivs has a website- billdeshivs.com. He is a highly regarded restorer/repairman of stiletto switchblades. He is also a long-standing member of this forum.
 
Last edited:
tltt said:
Handles are actually cattle horn. One of the fixes for this type of thing is grinding a horn or hoof (same base material - Keratin) into powder, and mixing it with epoxy or super glue, and filling the pits and cracks. Another way is just using tinted epoxy. You'd need to be really careful around the safety, and the switch so as not to gum it up. This would be a tough job for the button side :(.
Click to expand...
This, but I would use ground up Roaches instead, grind, let dry. Mix with epoxy, revenge
 
Maybe during a rebuild, the maker could salvage a tiny bit, and use that original material in the design of the new scales?

Again, I agree about contacting Bill.
 
killgar said:
Welcome to Bladeforums DaSOB.

I think those handles might be beyond practical repair, particularly if you want them to look like horn. Also, it's impossible to tell for sure from the pics, but it looks like the button side scale might be eaten out from the inside (beetle larva), which could leave the scale prone to breakage. Filling small holes with epoxy is one thing, but trying to replace large missing sections of handle can be another.

If you should ever consider having the knife professionally restored my suggestion would be to contact Bill DeShivs and have him refurbish the knife. Not only can he replace the handles (which I think they need), but he can also fix the "blade peek" (the tip of the blade protruding when closed) as well as fix whatever else may be wrong with it. In other words, he could restore it as good as new.

If you ever have any interest in such things Mr. DeShivs has a website- billdeshivs.com. He is a highly regarded restorer/repairman of stiletto switchblades. He is also a long-standing member of this forum.
Click to expand...

fishface5 said:
Bill DeShivs Bill DeShivs
I think those handle scales are beyond saving but he would know better
Click to expand...
Thanks, gentlemen! I concur with your assessments regarding the extent of the damage to the scales, and I will certainly contact Mr. DeShivs. I won't mind paying him to do the work since this knife is a direct connection to my tour of duty in Germany, and because although I can make scales for a skinner or other fixed-blade knife, this would be an entirely different animal.
 
Roaches did not eat the handles. Dermestids (beetle larvae) did.
I'll be happy to rework your knife. The handles have to be replaced.
Contact me at mickeybeep@aol.com
Mail through my web site is iffy.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Roaches did not eat the handles. Dermestids (beetle larvae) did.
I'll be happy to rework your knife. The handles have to be replaced.
Contact me at mickeybeep@aol.com
Mail through my web site is iffy.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Bill! Dermestids - and here I thought it was roaches. But I can see now that the larvae bored into and through the horn. Interesting.
 
Follow-up on this matter - I sent the knife to Bill, and after examining it he contacted me and told me that the cost to repair it would exceed the value of it as a brand new knife. According to Bill, the knife is of Italian, not German, manufacture, and the steel is not Solingen, as I was told when I bought it in Germany, but rather is more likely a budget stainless like 420. It also has some issues other than the bug-eaten scales. He graciously offered me the option of foregoing the repair cost and just having him return the knife to me, which I accepted.

Bill is a fine guy, and I appreciate his openness on this matter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top