Does this need repair?

AlwaysTomboy

AlwaysTomboy

Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
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lambertiana said:
I believe that they also made a lot of the Henckels slipjoints after Henckels stopped making their own. I had a Henckels copperhead that was most likely a Böker product.
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This post in the Boker Tree Brand thread prompted me to get out my Boker made Henckels knives out to ogle a bit since I was thinking of them, and in doing so, I noticed that one of mine has a gap between the scale and the liner on one end. If I press down on the bit of scale above the gap, the gap decreases, but doesn't go away altogether. Other than that, scale and pin and everything else are solid with no movement, and as best I can tell, the transition from scale to bolster is as smooth on that end as on the other ends.

Is that something that can or should be repaired? Alternately, is there a way to camouflage it so it's not as obvious? Or should I leave well enough alone?

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Thanks.
 
If you can move it with hand pressure, I would try super glue and a clamp or vice.
 
LastRodeo has a good solution. I've had better luck with JB Weld. I flush the area between the scale and liner with hot water and some dawn, then rinse really well and blow out with compressed air. Let dry, then force the epoxy in with a business card to get the epoxy in deep. I use a plastic clamp to gently squeeze the cover to the liner and let set overnight.

This formula has NEVER failed me. I've used this technique on vintage CASE red bone knives, a vintage Schrade Cut Co with composite scales and all with success.
 
I haven't done this type of repair, so I would go with Paul's advice on this.
 
A trick we use on guitar nuts and saddles(the pieces that actually touch the strings on the guitar, little white strips now often made of plastic but good ones use bone) is a little bit of super glue followed immediately by some sanding. The nut up by the head gets the most wear often times cutting the slots where the strings are held in place too deep, which causes a rattle while playing. To counter act this we put a little drop of super glue in the slot, lightly sand with something like 220 grit to get some of the bone inside the super glue and let sit for while to dry. Repeat if neccassary. This is something to cover the gap, not really hold the scale on.
 
Natural cover materials can shift but it looks like the cover is actually flush with the bolster. In that case, it may have had that gap when Boker ground the covers flush. You might fill in with epoxy instead of trying to bend it flush with the liner.
 
You could try sanding off the high spots and mixing the sanding dust with the epoxy.
It will help hide the gap.
 
I also think I would try to leave it alone. I know how it is though once you get the idea to fix something it can be hard to just let it be. It doesn't hurt the function of the knife, and it's been like that since it was made I would bet.
If I decided to fix it I would go with the epoxy that looked the most like the handle color and try to fill the gap so as to keep the scale flush with the bolster.

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If the scale is flush with the bolster now, glueing and clamping is going to leave a step with the bolster proud of the scale. I would leave it alone or just fill it without clamping

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Thanks to everyone for the replies. It's not an EDC knife but it's also not a safe queen that's super rare or valuable. The scale is flush with the bolster as is, so there aren't any high spots to sand down and clamping it will make the scale slightly lower than the bolster. I might end up leaving it alone in the end, but I'm going to explore epoxy and other fillers; see how close a color match I can get. I appreciate all of the suggestions. :thumbup:
 
The super glue and sanding trick does a great job of hiding the gap and securing the scale. It wont need much in the way of securing but will keep anything from getting between the scale and liner and making things worse. A thin epoxy will work well too!

Matt
 
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