Cutting sheild inlay for knife handle.

[augustus88]

What process should I use to cut an inlay for a nickel silver shield in Canvas Micarta. Round is easy, but this federal style shield is kicking my butt! Wood handles are easy but micarta is so $%#@& hard. I don't have any CNC machinery or milling machines. I have a full size drill press, table saw, band saw, grinders, lots of hand tools, etc. I made a great looking little shield, but I have no idea how to proceed.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[John L]

Assuming that the knife is not already peined together...chuck up a 1/16-3/32" mill in your drill press, hot glue or super glue your micarta to a base pc of steel or wood exactly as it will be on the knife..steel being better as it is heavier...position the shield area under the bit, lower the bit and move the scale very slowly and carefully and clean up inside corners with small chisel or whatever, glue the shield in or pein a 1/16" pin and cleanup. Voila...you could end up with a mess or a masterpiece on your first attempt. Practice makes perfect here.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Als at Riverside Machine sells a fixture for that. Here is the link: http://www.riversidemachine.net/item78681.ctlg

 

[augustus88]

The knife is still a pile of pieces ready to be assembled. Thanks guys I'll try the mill idea first. That fixture looks prety good too.

 

[deker]

In the olden days they used a parser for this. It's a pretty simple tool, though I haven't made one myself yet to play with.

Don Fogg has some description and photos of a parser here.

-d

 

[Dan Gray]

here is more on a parser which BTW is in the sticky at the top of Shop talk

http://www.watchman.dsl.pipex.com/two-legged parser/parser.html

 

[AtomicPC]

Search on making guitars. There is a LOT of info on inlaying looking for it that way.

I saw a lot of people using the item as a guide to scribe around then use a dremel with a router attachment to cut out just inside the lines and clean up with hand tools. Some suggested using the wood shavings to mix in with epoxy so the epoxy would have the color of the wood on the edges.

Take what I say with a grain of salt. I don't build guitars.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

When I inlay a piece into a handle, I tack it in place with a tiny drop of CA. Scribe around it with a very sharp and thin scribe. Pop off the inlay piece and route out the cavity stopping just shy of the line. Carefully fit the inlay to the recess as you enlarge the opening. Done right, the inlay will have to be tapped into place for the final fit. One tip is to drill a hole through the scale in the center of the recess. That way you can push the inlay piece out easily when fitting, and apply CA to lock it in place when finally fitting is done.

Tips:
Use carbide bits and burrs.
Go slow.
Taking a little more off is easier than adding some back on.
Make your inlay thicker than needed. Sand/file it flush after seating.

Stacy

 

[Bruce Bump]

When I inlay a piece into a handle, I tack it in place with a tiny drop of CA. Scribe around it with a very sharp and thin scribe. Pop off the inlay piece and route out the cavity stopping just shy of the line. Carefully fit the inlay to the recess as you enlarge the opening. Done right, the inlay will have to be tapped into place for the final fit. One tip is to drill a hole through the scale in the center of the recess. That way you can push the inlay piece out easily when fitting, and apply CA to lock it in place when finally fitting is done.

Tips:
Use carbide bits and burrs.
Go slow.
Taking a little more off is easier than adding some back on.
Make your inlay thicker than needed. Sand/file it flush after seating.

Stacy

I have only done a couple inlays but I did it the way Tracy describes here but I beveled the shield slightly so I could scribe around it smaller and would have less chance of gaposis. Dont use epoxy unless its a perfect fit or it will show the gaps. As mentioned the super glue is best because it tends to take on the handle color.