Anyone ever rehandle a knife with

SilverFoxKnows

SilverFoxKnows

Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
3,179
leather washers? I've got a Pilots Survival Knife that I like but the handle is just...not right. So I've started cutting out leather circles or varying colors and thicknesses. My intention is to boil them and press tham flat. Once they're dry I'll cut the slot for the tang. I was planning on using Tru-Oil to make them a little stronger and give 'em some kind of water resistance. Once the Tru-Oil has soaked in and dried they should be ready to shape. Does that sound like it'll work? My leatherworking experience is minimal. Thanks.

Frank
 
Frank--do a search. Ferrous posted some great directions a while back. I think he assembled the washers, cut them to shape, and then soaked them in parafin, but I'm not positive on that.
 
I think I've just about got enough washers. I'll have to check around for bees and/ or parafin wax. I'm planning on filing off the teeth on the back of the blade while I'm at it. I don't pictue myself having to cut through a downed airplane anytime soon and I don't make many snares in the suburbs.

Frank
 
two things come to mind:

1. make sure the leather handle is warm when you give it the wax bath.
2. the leather will "move" with time, so make sure you've got a good buttplate on there to keep things solid. Better yet if you use a tang nut that you can tighten.

I have also seen knifemakers put a pin through the butt plate laterally (through the tang) to solve that problem.
 
Tis the season for canning or home preserving foods. Parrafin should be in food stores these days.

We insist on pictures, by the way. No excuses or you can't go to the dance.
 
once I'm ready to take off the old handle, hopefully soon. I've done a few knife kits over the years but never with leather washers. I was planning on peening the tang over the buttcap. I don't have a welder and I haven't tried to thread anything since high school shop class in the late 80s. Thanks for all the help and support.

Frank
 
Got a pic of your knife?

I did a quick google search and came up with a bunch of these:

rc3278.jpg



which already have leather handles.

Are you replacing an old leather handle? Or just tossing the old handle and starting anew?
 
those knives are notorious for having the handles come loose.
any water on the leather and it will happen.
if you could soak the present handle in wax, that might tighten the whole thing up again and you wouldnt need any new leather.....
 
Good blade but the handle is too small at the ends and the metal butt piece bugs my hand even after rounding it out some. I wanted a fatter grip maybe with a small choil instead of the crossguard. I already took off the top of the guard but the bottom part still doesn't feel right. And I'm just curious to try my hand at it.

Frank
 
Frank?

As long as you are messing around, you might consider a wooden butt on the handle.

Some of the RH PAL 34 Mark I WWII Navy knives had wooden butt caps. I have one (a beater), but the wood rehabilitated nicely and can be formed to any shape. GB weld, or superglue it on, and if you don't like it, just split it off.

Reduces the weight and changes the balance a bit, but in a nice way.

Have fun.
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309559


This is where I described the results of rehandling the Pen Knife. It worked very well. Unfortunately the 9 pics have expired but I just sent them via email (3.6 MB - sorry if you have to be patient while downloading)
P.S. I used Sno-Seal and a fan on the stamped out and glued washers - it worked very well (before and after the sanding).
I glued the washers to each other with clear Pattex (contact cement) and used the sno-seal afterwards because I was afraid the glue would not work on the sno-sealed leather.

Andreas

P.S. Maybe we could include Keith´s tutorial, the pics and the step by step explanation that I wrote to explain the photos into the "Tipps and Tricks" sticky?
 
Did you wax the leather or just use glue. I was thinking about using epoxy to hold it together as well as for an exterior finish on the leather, for a laquered look. I boiled 'em an pressed 'em flat the other day (some of them were bent pretty bad as I was using scarp leather). I haven't cut the slots for the tang yet. Thanks for the pics.

Frank
 
SilverFoxKnows said:
Did you wax the leather or just use glue. I was thinking about using epoxy to hold it together as well as for an exterior finish on the leather, for a laquered look. I boiled 'em an pressed 'em flat the other day (some of them were bent pretty bad as I was using scarp leather). I haven't cut the slots for the tang yet. Thanks for the pics.

Frank
Click to expand...

I used the sno-seal wax recommended for boots as an exterior finish - it is not a hard laque-like finish but gives a very good grip. Will you use a brush to apply the epoxy or how do you want to achieve a uniform surface?

Andreas
 
I figured this would be the knife to experiment on. It's not expensive and I don't have an emotional attachment to it. The only thing about the wax treatment that I'm hesitant about is I don't want to ruin a pan doing it. I guess I could get a cheap pan from Big Lots.

Frank
 
Use a clean tin can to melt wax in, and NEVER do this over a direct flame. Use an improvised double boiler. Wax overheats and ignites very easily. Once it's on fire, you got real problems in the kitchen.:eek:

The old timers who used leather for handles almost always included a method for re-tightening them. Randall uses a domed SS nut, others used a recessed slotted nut that required a screw driver modification to use. Another decent finish for leather is clear lacquer (Deft is one brand) Tru-Oil would work too. Good luck and stay safe.
 
Hey Brian...speaking of old leather handles...

;)

.
 
The wax I used is applied after heating the leather spacers and the wax-tube on the heating or with a fan - then, when it sits on the "outside" of the handle it is softened with a fan until it gets really fluid - it finds its way into the leather spacers easily. As I said it is a wax recoomended to waterproof boots etc. Worked very good for me but does not result in a "hard", laque-like surface.
Please post pics of your effort!

Andreas
 
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