In response to this thread about after market scales for the stainless model Spyderco's, I remember those some years ago, there were some high relief types being sold that had to be glued on i believe!And offered in metal, Aluminum and brass i think, this was some time ago. And i also seem to remember Some models being sold with these high relief scales retrofitted to the knives by either Spyderco or an after market outfit that did the installations and sold them in special cases made for the knife, these fancy scales were only put on one side though! And i have seen the pics of some other type of retrofit scales on stainless models posted here in this forum, but am not sure of what type of material is used to make the scales, though they have a rather busy pattern to them. All in all wether they are popular to some or not, the fact remains that only one side was done (like a well known Co that today specialises in fancy Spydercos) they too only offer the work to one side. But as a long time cutler and customiser of knives like Spyderco i feel that there is a lot missing when only one side is jazzed up! And i have talked to many people who have conveyed the same thoughts to me. And as far as how good the retro scales available (or were available) to owners of SS Spydies fitted, that is another story. Glueing them down would require small clamps and of course a good Epoxy, then there is applying the glue itself so that when clamping the scale some owners would only apply a small amount usualy to the center of the scale so that there would be no squeez out of Epoxy but would sometimes see small gaps here and there between the bevel and outer edge of the new scale, then there are the owners who would apply enough Epoxy (often too much) to create squeez out of the glue to seal the whole outer perimiter, but had to deal with too much squeez out, glue running between the handle and backspring, and or glue running into the release area frezzing up the release bar. Bottom line to this concept is that it takes good judgement experiance to do a good and safe job of applying these scales the right way and proper use of clamps to keep the scale evenly placed before the glue cures. As far as custom scales to SS models. I have been working SS police and other SS Spyderco knives for about a decade and feel the only way to customise these knives is by doing both sides! And the best way to get a vertual perfect fit is by first gluing a raw slab slightly wider and longer then the knife down, letting the glue cure and then very carefully grind the whole perimiter so that the scales will flow with the bevels and shape of the SS handle, proper grinding of the material will yield bevels in the material that will match the bevels in the SS handle. This procedure is extremly time consuming also because once the grinding is finished there is the extreme tedious work of hand sanding the edges starting with about a 100 grit sandpaper and finishing off with 600 grit, then on to the buffing wheel dressed with 1000-1200 grit compound.And all these steps must be done to both sides!! I feel that one of the main reasons for offering only one side of custom work by some outfits is because of the difficulty in reinstalling the clip, there are no pilot holes on the other side to drill through, and most SS models (police in perticular have the clip installed on the tang side of the knife, so even if there were holes on the other side to drill through, the drill bit would hit the tang of the blade. But i have a techniqe i devised to re-install the clip on the custom scaled side to end up with a complety customised Spyderco.But this method must be done before the scales are glued on, retro holes are created!!. Both sides rescaled and clip installed is my idea of a properly customised Spyderco. Anything else is just a compromise!!!!!. Thanks to Rugger (don't see you at the meetings anymore) Ren (devils trailboss) Larry Brahms of Bladeart, and all the other who have recommended me for this type of work and to the forums for the hosting.
Frank Recupero
