Cutlers rivets

[ORBOST 78]

Hi to all, Never used cutlers rivets before , so would like to know how much clearance is required in the tang hole and micarta slabs to allow for expansion once rivets are hammered home?
Thanks

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Corby Bolts would be a far better choice, but if using Cutlers Rivets, the tang hole should be a loose slip fit for the female rivet. It expands and locks in place when the male is driven home.

It would be best to experiment on a piece of scrap steel and some scrap wood to get the technique down before trying it on your knife.

When replacing cutlers rivets on an old knife, I drill out the tang to larger holes and use Corby Bolts. There is no handle fastener more secure than a Corby.

 

[ORBOST 78]

Stacy, thanks for the help !!Worked fine. Never used Corbys.How deep do you have to countersink them?
Thanks

 

[coldsteelburns]

Stacy, thanks for the help !!Worked fine. Never used Corbys.How deep do you have to countersink them?
Thanks

It depends how thick you want your final handle to be. If it's a thinner handle I'd make sure at least an 1/8" of the Corby's head is still below the surface. After you epoxy your scales, just draw some guide line on the spine and belly side of the scales (top and bottom) as a reference as to what will be the thinnest area of your handle and then make sure not the grind past the line. Use those lines to set a good depth for you Corbys to be countersunk below. You also want a decent amount of handle material to remain below the bottom of the Corbys so it won't break through when tightening, specifically if it's a natural handle material.

Just did a quick forum search, here's a good thread with some tips on getting the right depth for the countersink and also getting the bolt to the length you need: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/corby-bolt-problem.914104/

It might seem a bit complicated at first, but after using them once, most of the things you need to do to get them fit become fairly intuitive.

Here is the custom blade forums search link (that I used to find the above thread), just search something like, "how to fit corby bolts", or "how to install corby bolts", and you'll find a number of threads discussing how to do it: https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=012217165931761871935:iqyc7cbzhci

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I generally cut the counterbore hole to leave at least 1/8" of seat. In some cases I use a tad more ( thick handles).

Coldsteelbuns is right about the difficulty of describing the process. Telling someone how to install a pair of Corby bolts takes about five times as long as actually doing it.

 

[ORBOST 78]

Thank you Stacy and Coldsteelbuns for your advice .

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

One last thing:
The counterbore will wear some with age. If you only do a couple handles a month, the standard HSS ones will work fine. If you plan on doing more or doing them for many years, then investing in a carbide counterbore is a wise expenditure. USA Knifemakers sells them. Pricy, but extremely good. I would equate it to getting a carbide faced shoulder filing/grinding jig. Buy once cry once.

 

[Natlek]

Cutlers rivets ...I don t like them ! I make for all my neighbors kitchen knives as gift and as reward they gave me their old knives to change the handles... What can I say ...... I love my neighbors On all of knife I change handles that cutler rivets was loose and almost always one is missing .....
Note , no glue under scale ....... most plastic handle and some of them wood .