- Joined
- Jan 19, 2009
- Messages
- 312
Hi all, I've been working on my handles for a while and seem to run into the greatest amount of problems attaching my scales to the tang. I'll give you a little rundown of how I am going about it and then maybe you will have a suggestion or two. I start with tracing my tang outline on the pieces of wood I'll be using. After that, I rough cut them on the band saw leaving a little bit of extra diameter so there is some wiggle room. I then tape the scales together and sand the front edges down and work them to a final finish (as it would be very difficult to do after it's attached to the blade without scratching up the Damascus.). I then make sure my scales and tang are nice and flush (usually sand them flat on the belt sander with a fine grit). Then I mix up my epoxy for the first scale. I have two options at this point. Use an air powered vise (watch the fingers!) or a manual one. It depends on the knife but I usually opt for the manual. I can usually get my first scale exactly where I want it (the most important part being where it meets the blade.) After the epoxy is good and set I drill my holes through the first scale and prepare to attach the second. This is where I get into trouble. Once the epoxy is mixed I apply it like the first and use the vice to clamp it down. The problem is with the layer of wet epoxy, I get some slippage and it is hard to see that it's happened while it's in the vice. Only after my epoxy is good and set do I find out that the two front finished ends do not line up perfectly because of the slippage that the vice is causing. My question to you is how do I get that second scale on there to line up with the first while using a vice? I would consider using C clamps but I've found that the even pressure over the whole tang and scale is much better at not getting gaps between the wood and tang when it comes to the final finish. If anyone has found a better way than what I'm using, I'd be really interested to hear. One thing I did try this weekend is to let the epoxy set most of the way and then clamp it down minimizing the amount of movement on the second scale. They still do not line up perfectly. Anyway, I hope I was clear on my problem and hopefully someone has a trick I haven't thought of. Thanks in advance! Here's a gratuitous picture of my last knife:
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See I've never had any instruction or read up on it very much so I was just going about it the way I figured it was done. Thanks guys, you've got the gears cranking in my head now!
