Hand sanding before or after handle glue-up?

[Leon Husock]

How do you do it? I've always sanded/polished/etched etc the blade before attaching the handle, but I've noticed this does make attaching the handle a somewhat... stressful process. That said, hand sanding after attaching the handle seems like it would make the sanding much more of a pain, not to mention knives that need acid etching (I know I can coat the handle in nail polish, but still). So what's your order of operations?

 

[seanj]

I always hand sand before attaching the handles. There's always a bit of cleanup after attaching the scales, but if your careful it shouldn't be a problem. I also wrap the blade in saran wrap, then a paper towel and then I tape all that in place. That helps keep the blade from getting messed up.

 

[noseoil]

I sand things well on the blade & tang. Usually, I stop on the blade at one grit less than the final finish I want.

I use G-Flex epoxy & do the usual pin & clamp to get things aligned & squeezed out as much as I need. The main thing I do next is clean the joint at the blade/scales with acetone & a paper towel. After I know it's very clean, I go back at the joint with a Q-tip dipped in acetone, then a dry rub to make sure it's as clean as possible. I didn't do this as well when I started. But I soon came to realize that a good cleaning of the blade when the epoxy is wet, is worth 10X more time in clean-up & fiddling around which isn't necessary if more care is taken.

 

[Leon Husock]

I always hand sand before attaching the handles. There's always a bit of cleanup after attaching the scales, but if your careful it shouldn't be a problem. I also wrap the blade in saran wrap, then a paper towel and then I tape all that in place. That helps keep the blade from getting messed up.

Ahh, saran wrap is a good idea. I was just thinking that next time I would punch the tang through a piece of it to make a barrier between the tang slot and the blade before I fit up the knife in case any epoxy oozes out.

 

[Jason Fry]

It is much easier to hand sand before and leave everything clean before and after glue up than it is to go back and do anything with sandpaper after the knife is together. Regardless of hidden or full tang, I hand sand completely first, then wrap in blue tape, then fit the handles and/or guard. Clean the joint well with acetone as described above. After the glue dries, take off the tape.