Custom handles for a Benchmade 531 (or 530)?

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bruinblade

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Apr 3, 2012
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I'm looking to thin out my EDC (which is currently a workhorse Benchmade 720 that has earned a place in my personal hall of fame). I love almost everything about the 531 except the handles - I want totally smooth, no pocket-fraying, preferably either aluminum or wood. I'm totally happy making custom, say, Ebony, handles for a 531. My question here is: given the amount of custom work on the 531's liner, is it possible to just remove the OEM grips so I can fab my own?

I'm also ok going with a 530 if I have to, but I prefer the modified drop point to the spear.
 
Yes.
Though wood probably wouldn't be the best material to use.
Because the scales of the 531 are relatively thin in many areas.
G10 or CF or CF & G10 (Toxic green G10/CF) would work better.
If I had to use wood, I would go with ironwood.
 
The 531 is my office EDC with khakis and it doesn't damage my pockets at all. The scales are textured but the edges aren't really sharp. You could always sand down the G10 a bit if you want really smooth scales.
 
glocker199 said:
You could always sand down the G10 a bit if you want really smooth scales.
Click to expand...
So I was thinking about that but I wasn't sure how well the G10 would sand. Does it look terrible and do that thing where it turns all white that lots of sanded plastics do?

*Edit: I get that you didn't necessarily sand yours, I'm just assuming you've got experience sanding G10 in general. Unfortunately of my ~30 knives sitting around literally none of them are G10 handles that I can experiment with.
 
bruinblade said:
So I was thinking about that but I wasn't sure how well the G10 would sand. Does it look terrible and do that thing where it turns all white that lots of sanded plastics do?

*Edit: I get that you didn't necessarily sand yours, I'm just assuming you've got experience sanding G10 in general. Unfortunately of my ~30 knives sitting around literally none of them are G10 handles that I can experiment with.
Click to expand...
- If you're going to sand G10, you should get a mask. You DO NOT want to breathe the dust in.
 
I've only sanded solid color G10 so it didn't really change the look at all. With the two tone layered G10 on the 531, sanding it might change the color pattern on the scales, but it won't turn white.
 
Just another observation. I had smooth G10 scales custom made for one of my knives and I hated it. There was no grip whatsoever. I had a difficult time pulling it out of my pocket. I ended up having someone else checker the scale again.
 
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