Handles on acid etched full tang knives.

[Jcdelamater]

Hi all, I'm planning on trying an acid etch/stonewash finish on a full tang knife I'm working on. I have not done this before. Any advice on how to do handle fit up/glue up without grinding away the etch layer on the tang? I'm assuming I should do most to all my handle shaping before etching. Any other tips or tricks?

 

[Tom Lewis]

I make a lot of full tang Damascus knives. Before etching I pin the handle on the blade , clamp the handle on, and grind the top and end of the handle to it's finished grit. I then take the handle off, and I etch the blade and after that glue the handle on. You need to be sure and wipe off any epoxy that squeezes out the top and end of the handle.
I don't finish the sides of the handle till after the handle is glued on. As far as the bottom of the handle, after I finish the handle I use Birchwood Casey cold bluing on that part of the tang. So, the top and end of the blade are etched and the bottom is blued.

 

[John Cahoon]

One thing I've seen and will try out real soon, I'll call recessed scales because I don't know a better term. Where the scales are 1/16" or less smaller than the tang. I've seen many examples and they look pretty cool. The tang edges would need to be rounded for comfort I suppose and the scales finished to final grit before gluing up. Does anybody else like that look?

 

[Forrest Taylor]

Like was mentioned above. just in a different order. I used double side tape and held the scales on and finished the the sides and butt. Then I acid etched and glued and pinned the scales

 

[Gene Kimmi]

I do a museum/heirloom fit to the scales, leaving the scales larger than the tang of the blade. Here are a couple examples.

 

[ScarFoot]

I had to re-grind and re-etch the tang on this one after I pinned and epoxied the handle scales on. For whatever reason they shifted a little when I tapered and peened the pins so they weren’t flush. I just used a q-tip to apply the etchant to the tang. Since the liners are black g10 and the scales are micarta, I wasn’t worried about anything staining or being absorbed in case I got outside the lines. I would be extremely hesitant to use this method with wood or any other absorbent material scales since it could stain and/or absorb whatever you are etching with.
Also, get some good pinstriping tape to cover your tang with while you are sanding and finishing your handles. It’s tough stuff, can be found in a ton of different widths, and will help you avoid any stray scratches.

 

[weo]

I would be extremely hesitant to use this method with wood or any other absorbent material scales since it could stain and/or absorb whatever you are etching with.

The way to avoid this is to use nail polish to mask off the area needed. I use a bright color to help me see it and use pretty exclusively stabilized maple, but if I were to do this on a wood with a grain, I'd use clear to help ensure that no bright color gets into the grain.

 

[Jcdelamater]

Thanks all, I'll give it a shot and let you know how it turns out.