Couple Random Tips

[scott kozub]

I'm sure these are nothing new but they seemed helpful to me so maybe they'll help others.

When making bolsters I like to epoxy them together and then shape them off the knife after drilling the holes. I'd always cut them to size, epoxy, drill, cut excess off then shape. Recently I just ordered 2 bars for bolsters. I epoxied the entire bars together. Now I just cut off what I need, drill and shape. As long as your careful not to overheat and melt the epoxy it works great. To separate later, just hit them with a torch.

I was also recently grinding a Scandi. It always gets tough not to burn the edge when it approaches zero. Usual pass, dunk etc. This time I had a wet shop towel in my dunk bucket. I would hold the wet towel against the back of the blade when sliding across the belts so it would act as a heat sink. Worked great and was way less messy than water on the belt but I still had water on the belt for good measure.

 

[Kali4nia]

Good tips. Thank you

 

[Natlek]

I'm sure these are nothing new but they seemed helpful to me so maybe they'll help others.

When making bolsters I like to epoxy them together and then shape them off the knife after drilling the holes. I'd always cut them to size, epoxy, drill, cut excess off then shape. Recently I just ordered 2 bars for bolsters. I epoxied the entire bars together. Now I just cut off what I need, drill and shape. As long as your careful not to overheat and melt the epoxy it works great. To separate later, just hit them with a torch.

I was also recently grinding a Scandi. It always gets tough not to burn the edge when it approaches zero. Usual pass, dunk etc. This time I had a wet shop towel in my dunk bucket. I would hold the wet towel against the back of the blade when sliding across the belts so it would act as a heat sink. Worked great and was way less messy than water on the belt but I still had water on the belt for good measure.

Why you don t use temporary pins instead of epoxy to shape bolsters ? I don t see need to glue them ?
One note , sometime ago I ask you question in some topic ..it was about visible pin in bolster on yours knife ? If you do that intentionally , ok .But if not .............here how i do that .I shape bolsters with temporary pins.Then I attach them on knife again with temporary pins ....and finish them 99 % .Then I use real one pins and pinned them , bolsters holes slightly tapered of course , just a little taper is enough .No chance to be visible after final grinding/shape the whole handle...
Edit to add...... I use short temporary pins so I can easy take them out after I finish with grinding .

 

[seanj]

I do the same thing accept I use a small dab of super-glue. Easier to take apart later. No heating required just tap them a few times or use a screwdriver to pull them apart. Then clean up.

 

[scott kozub]

Why you don t use temporary pins instead of epoxy to shape bolsters ? I don t see need to glue them ?
One note , sometime ago I ask you question in some topic ..it was about visible pin in bolster on yours knife ? If you do that intentionally , ok .But if not .............here how i do that .I shape bolsters with temporary pins.Then I attach them on knife again with temporary pins ....and finish them 99 % .Then I use real one pins and pinned them , bolsters holes slightly tapered of course , just a little taper is enough .No chance to be visible after final grinding/shape the whole handle...
Edit to add...... I use short temporary pins so I can easy take them out after I finish with grinding .

I used to but found that temporary pins allowed them to wiggle around a little. I wasn't peening them. I've even tried a small tig tack at the rear of the top and bottom of the bolster which also worked well. The epoxy keeps them locked in place so they match perfectly. The last thing I do is taper ream the holes before mounting and peening the pins. It's more about keeping the bolster symmetrical and I've accidentally nicked a few blades trying to shape them on the grinder. I started liking to thin the bolsters down a lot at the front so I'm also rough shaping the face of the bolsters at the same time.

 

[AVigil]

I use Bob Smiths maxi cure to adhere bolsters together while drilling and shaping

Always perfect.

I hit it with a torch to release, be sure you stand down wind while heating and then dunk in water quickly when the glue smokes.

 

[Cushing H.]

I used to but found that temporary pins allowed them to wiggle around a little.

I like this idea of epoxying the bolsters together for shaping. I have also used temp. pins .... but they are a PITA (keep falling out, and do indeed have "wiggle").

Question: how do you drill the holes? perhaps use a daub of cyanoacrylate on one side, attach to the tang and use the holes in the tang as a drilling template?

 

[Natlek]

I like this idea of epoxying the bolsters together for shaping. I have also used temp. pins .... but they are a PITA (keep falling out, and do indeed have "wiggle").

Question: how do you drill the holes? perhaps use a daub of cyanoacrylate on one side, attach to the tang and use the holes in the tang as a drilling template?

Get quality drill bits which drill ROUND hole When I drill 3mm hole for 3mm pin they fit tight so i need force to push them out ..

 

[Cushing H.]

Get quality drill bits which drill ROUND hole When I drill 3mm hole for 3mm pin they fit tight so i need force to push them out ..

Yes ... but following previous discussion on this forum I have started using a bit one step up from the diameter of the pin I am using. I have seen a lot of variation in the actual diameter of the pin material ... enough so that often (usually??) i had needed to sand down the diameter of the pin to get it to fit (especially important for temporary pins). I have one knife out there where I was doing a trial fit of a mosaic pin into a handle. I had to "tap" slightly to get it to go in. Contrary to my intent, I then quickly found out that it was now a permanent fit.

 

[Natlek]

Yes ... but following previous discussion on this forum I have started using a bit one step up from the diameter of the pin I am using. I have seen a lot of variation in the actual diameter of the pin material ... enough so that often (usually??) i had needed to sand down the diameter of the pin to get it to fit (especially important for temporary pins). I have one knife out there where I was doing a trial fit of a mosaic pin into a handle. I had to "tap" slightly to get it to go in. Contrary to my intent, I then quickly found out that it was now a permanent fit.

Well my friend , I don t know what to say ..........this is exactly 3.00mm. 304 stainless rod ,next one is bronze.........exactly 3.5mm. , next one is exactly 5.00 mm 304 stainless rod.... all perfect round ! Where you buy material for pins ?

 

[Cushing H.]

Well my friend , I don t know what to say .......... Where you buy material for pins ?

Lets see - some (early on) from Home Depot. Avoiding names .... I have also bought pin material (both brass and mosaic) from two different Knife making suppliers (several sizes of pins, and one stainless mosaic pin). Surprisingly, the one from Home Depot measures closer to the target .... the others vary more from target, and tend to measure on the high side. You might ask about the gauge. While I can not claim I have calibrated it recently (dont have certified gauges to calibrate against) .... when trying to insert the pins into drilled holes .... the ones I measure on the high side do indeed "not fit" into the drilled holes!

 

[scott kozub]

With them already glued together, I clamp them to the blade with a pair of vice grips. I lay the blade across a couple 1 2 3 blocks then drill down through the blade holes. Once drilled I make sure the back faces are flush and square. I then shape and finish the front of the bolster and do the faces last. The first one is easy to do the face. The second is more challenging as the assembly is now thinner. You have to clean out the holes well after doing this as they get filled with debris. If I'm dovetailing them that gets done last.

There may be better ways. I found this works for me and it minimizes the chances of ruining a finished blade as 90% of the shaping is done off the blade.

Something I'm going to try next is to tig weld the pins to 1 bolster. Then I only need to peen 1 side once mounted on the blade.

Does anyone have a preferred way to clean out the bolster holes before mounting?

I like this idea of epoxying the bolsters together for shaping. I have also used temp. pins .... but they are a PITA (keep falling out, and do indeed have "wiggle").

Question: how do you drill the holes? perhaps use a daub of cyanoacrylate on one side, attach to the tang and use the holes in the tang as a drilling template?