Finish scales off of blade?

I

indy

Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
133
What I've done in the past is to attach the scales to my blade and then shape and finish them. No matter how careful I am, at some point I do something stupid and mark the blade. My current project I've been finishing the scales individually and will be attaching them tomorrow for a final buff. It looks good, but it's definitely added some time to the project.

So I'm wondering if this is a common method. It's been kind of a pita, but so far the blade still looks good :) I figure I can make an unfinished blank to attach the scales and work them, then remove and attach to the finish blade. But I haven't been using the same blade shape over and over and probably won't for a bit yet.

On the plus side I'm working with my first homemade micarta and despite also being a pain I think it's turning out nicely. My 1st batch is usable but is going to require a whole bunch of sanding since the twist and c-clamps combined with wood press didn't work out so well. After that I broke out the welder and made a real press, and now get nice and flat 1/4" scales.
 
Your doing fulltang scales I assume? What are you using to shape them?

I put painters tape on mine which helps for any minor slip ups. but usual technique is to pin the handles together and shape the front part without them attached to the knife. Works better for getting the fronts even anyways, which is the most obvious place if they're not symmetrical.
 
I started to cover the blade in heavy clear packing tape. I say heavy because I bought some cheap stuff and its too thin. The width will cover the whole blade and still allow you to see what the knife looks like when working. Cover both sides and trim around the blade. If you need more protection, put on two layers.

I do try to shape my handles to about 90 percent before mounting so there is not alot of work once on the knife.
 
My last knife I finished the front of the scales 100% off the blade, and the back maybe 80%. All I had to do pretty much was clean up the blade/scale joint so the edges were flush and whatnot after gluing. I would rather take the extra time to finish the front of the scales off of the blade than try to get out scatches.
 
I used to get my blade completely done (hand sanded, etched etc. and then glued the bolsters/scales on and then finished them. If I made a mistake, I did my best to clean it up. I've now gone to just pinning them on, without epoxy and getting the bolsters and scales as close as possible to finished. Then I disassemble and finish out the blade. After the blade is done, except for sharpening, I put the bolsters and scales back on and epoxy and pin them. I only have a little bit of epoxy clean up left to do to finish out the knife, when every thing is permanently attached. It takes more time and care to get them pinned and not epoxied while finishing, but I think the better fit and finish of the blade and tang material around the bolsters and scales is worth the extra effort.
 
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