Any tips for modifying stock Trailmaster handle?

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
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I have a Cold Steel Trailmaster and have been playing with the idea of stripping the handle and replacing it with tan or black canvas micarta, or maybe a sweet block of stabilized walnut burl I traded with A.T. Barr a few years ago. Having never modified anything but REKAT folders, I have the requisite questions. Any help much appreciated!

1) Before we discuss anything else, how would I attack a new handle? Does the Trailmaster have a hole in the handle for a pin already? I assume I would have to make a channel of some type and glue two scales together around the tang. What kind of tool would I do this with? I have a drill press and a Dremel tool and that's about all I could think of as being helpful for something like this. If I could use a drill press as a makeshift machine tool in this case, what sort of bit would I use to make the channel?

2) Assuming I have what it takes to put a new handle in, what would I do to strip the current one off? I assume it is bonded to the tang somehow and would have to be removed mechanically and maybe with heat? I want to keep the guard as it is.

Anything else you may want to tell me would be great. I have a feeling that this mod may be more difficult than making my own knives. I have yet to work with anything other than full tangs. Thanks!
 
Sorry about posting this. I didn't realize that the search function was back up for everyone. I found a bit of info, but anything more would be appreciated, particularly on the part about how to make the handle (i.e. would making a channel and glusing the two pieces together be okay and what could I do to modify a drill press to do this?)
 
i hope you'll consider this suggestion, coming from someone who's just beginning to understand HOW TO MAKE KNIVES. i've handled a 9" TM in the bush and for a pipsqueek like me, it's a machete. yes, it cuts anything you'll find above the jungle floor. trouble is, after 4 hours, my hand had frozen arounf the stock handle. when i finally pried my fingers loose, bits of kraton were sticking to my palm and inner side of the fingers.

two things i'll suggest with regard to handle design. first is weight/leverage distribution. center of gravity is too near the tip. perhaps you can find a way to put the weight closer to the handle. you could use hidden lead weights in the handle like in the Applegate/Fairbarn dagger or, you could radically redesign the handle/hilt so that your hand comes closer to the edge (well-protected, of course).

second, ergonomics. i suggest a palm swell or even just a slight flaring where the fingers are longest. a large forefinger groove will also be ok.

be sure to show us your work. thanks.
 
Steve I agree with Hank's assessment, for what that's worth. :) I think the mitered handle would be fine for this knife, particularly if you're using something like Micarta that has little grain to show the separation of the halves. I'd use the Dremel to carve out the pocket for the tang. You didn't say, so I assume you have a hard handle of some kind on your knife rather than the Kraton. In either case though you could just saw it off with a small camp saw or equivalent, being ever more careful as you near the guard. I Haven't read the article Mike sent you to, hope I'm not repeating or contradicting anything you will have read there! I'd like to see your results too. Maybe you'd convince me to work on the one I have in a box in my closet...

Dave
 
http://www.ckdforums.com/showthread...&threadid=10673
Click to expand...
Mike, thanks for the link. Nothing against CKD, but I always forget it's there and I never remember all of the great tutorials that are posted there. This is exactly what I needed!

Hank, good suggestions. A lot of it will have to do with the size of the tang and also the shape. When that is factored into the size and shape of the scales I have available, the handle shape will probably work itself out a bit!

Dave, the Trailmaster has a soft Kraton handle. It's very unergonomically designed. I read through Cliff Stamp's Trailmaster reviews last night and saw that on his the Kraton was breaking down with heavy use and the handle was also starting to slip off, so he concluded that it is more of a friction fit than acrually bonded on. I looked at Sunrise Custom Knives, too, which has pics of a bunch of Cold Steel mods and they all have the handle pulled off in one piece rather than being cut off. What I am still unclear on is whether the handle has a hole drilled in it already. That's the only thing keeping me from taking the Kraton off at this point. I don't want to pop the handle only to find that there is not a pre-drilled hole and be left with a useless knife! I know I could have it water-jet cut, but that's a pain and I would never do it because that's the way I am!
 
I pulled the handle off my SRK.

It was attached only by friction and the little brass pipe at the base of the grip used as a lanyard hole. I used my dremal to cut out that little pipe and the handle came right off.

I plan on using only that hole for a pin and epoxy in the rest of it to hold it together. I also plan on using part of a pecan limb I saved from a tree that my parents planted when I was 1, so this one will be kinda sentamental. I have figured a 3 part handle; guard, handle, and keeper. I would like steel so that it could be blued, but silver would look cool against the black epoxy finish. The only way to make that black epoxy look decent is to go for the contrast of a white wood handle and silver fittings.

You might want to think about bluing yours if you are in a wet enviroment alot. You can do it yourself, I did it to my Carbon V "Twistmaster" and it took to it remarkably well. Just be sure to clean it throughly and heat the surface you are bluing slightly.
 
I would hate to use the only hole in the handle for a pin, although what good would a lanyard really do on a knife that big? I would like to use 1/8" diameter holes for black Micarta pins. Maybe I'll look and see if someone in town does water or laser cutting on steel. Ouch. Just called a water jet cutter and they said 1/8" holes are pushing it, but they could do it slightly larger. The problem is in the programming, which would be about $50 for two holes. I guess I am assuming that the tang on a Trailmaster is hard. I don't think they do a differential heat treat on it, do they?
 
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