Help! What to do with newly received knife

[d2eux]

So I purchased a knife from a custom knife maker based overseas through a 3rd party vendor. I like the blade, but there are gaps in between the g10 scales and where the blade tang is in 2 different locations. I can slip pieces of paper through each.

Now, I paid $110 for it. The problem is, shipping back to the place overseas will probably cost a quarter of the knife or more, and I was thinking of just listing it on ebay instead.

The other issue is, there are 2 hex screws holding down the g10 scales. They seem to be loctite on there because they won't budge.

I've emailed the custom knifemaker directly about the issue, but I'm not sure what to expect to resolve it.

So my options are to keep the knife, sell it, or try to resolve that gap issue. What do you all think?

 

[vic2367]

Try to resolve the gap issue .
Did you pay with paypal ?
They might be able to help .

 

[d2eux]

Try to resolve the gap issue .
Did you pay with paypal ?
They might be able to help .

Yea I paid paypal. Could bite the bullet and just send it back to the vendor and eat the overseas shipping fees.

Otherwise, I read in another thread that JB Weld is good for gap issues. Problem is JB Weld makes a lot of different products not sure which one would be best.

 

[vic2367]

I'd say work something out with the maker .
Job weld not to familiar with , sorry .

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Yea I paid paypal. Could bite the bullet and just send it back to the vendor and eat the overseas shipping fees.

Otherwise, I read in another thread that JB Weld is good for gap issues. Problem is JB Weld makes a lot of different products not sure which one would be best.

Hello, I don’t work with G-10 anymore because it grinds into little fish hooks that if you get them n your lungs it’s there till death! Anyway, have some patience and try to work with the maker & don’t start trying to float JB or anything else into the gaps if you’ve never done it before. —————————-A maker on the forums here may be able to help. How about you post some pics of the issues??

 

[AntDog]

Stick a soldering iron on the screws until they heat up, bust them loose, and see what’s going on under the scales. Heat will loosen the loctite or whatever the adhesive is. I bet it’s a simple matter to fix. Probably just some debris from where they drilled the holes creating the gaps.

If you get the scales off and sand them flat, they should fit flush when the knife is reassembled.

 

[d2eux]

Hello, I don’t work with G-10 anymore because it grinds into little fish hooks that if you get them n your lungs it’s there till death! Anyway, have some patience and try to work with the maker & don’t start trying to float JB or anything else into the gaps if you’ve never done it before. —————————-A maker on the forums here may be able to help. How about you post some pics of the issues??

 

[d2eux]

Stick a soldering iron on the screws until they heat up, bust them loose, and see what’s going on under the scales. Heat will loosen the loctite or whatever the adhesive is. I bet it’s a simple matter to fix. Probably just some debris from where they drilled the holes creating the gaps.

If you get the scales off and sand them flat, they should fit flush when the knife is reassembled.

Thanks for the tip! just to clarify - once the adhesive is melted with the soldering iron, the hex should be able to be unscrewed no prob?

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Thanks for the tip! just to clarify - once the adhesive is melted with the soldering iron, the hex should be able to be unscrewed no prob?

Correct , Antdog gave you sound advise. While G-10 doesn’t usually move after shaping. It’s more than possible. Now you have to look and see if it’s the scales or the tang that isn’t flat. Get a couple of sheets of 120 grit sand paper and with some elbow grease you should be able to correct the issue. Go slow, you can always take off more, it’s a nightmare trying to put the steel or G-10 back. That appears to be 1/3” or more thick steel. Thick stuff. It’s most likely the G-10.. Put a ruler on it and hold up to the light ...

 

[red mag]

Maybe the maker knows a maker (a friend) in your country, that would be willing to do some warranty work.
So you can save on shipping and other charges that might appear.
Just an idea.
Hopefully you can solve it yourself and probably get into knifemaking - who knows?
All the best.

 

[d2eux]

Correct , Antdog gave you sound advise. While G-10 doesn’t usually move after shaping. It’s more than possible. Now you have to look and see if it’s the scales or the tang that isn’t flat. Get a couple of sheets of 120 grit sand paper and with some elbow grease you should be able to correct the issue. Go slow, you can always take off more, it’s a nightmare trying to put the steel or G-10 back. That appears to be 1/3” or more thick steel. Thick stuff. It’s most likely the G-10.. Put a ruler on it and hold up to the light ...

I havent had time to do this yet, but what from what I understand, I'm supposed to stick the tip of the soldering iron into the hex hole, and wait how long for it to heat up?

 

[Rhinoknives1]

I havent had time to do this yet, but what from what I understand, I'm supposed to stick the tip of the soldering iron into the hex hole, and wait how long for it to heat up?

Give it like 8 seconds and then immediately turn with the Aron/hex wrench. If it doesn’t open. Try 12 then 16 seconds, then if it still won’t budge. That should break the locktite by thermal expansion..

 

[d2eux]

Give it like 8 seconds and then immediately turn with the Aron/hex wrench. If it doesn’t open. Try 12 then 16 seconds, then if it still won’t budge. That should break the locktite by thermal expansion..

Perfect, thank you!

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Perfect, thank you!

It might take 20 secs?. start Short, You don’t want to burn the G-10

 

[d2eux]

It might take 20 secs?. start Short, You don’t want to burn the G-10

Well since the solder would be just on the screw itself, you mean the G10 underneath the screw, not the G10 surrounding the screws

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Well since the solder would be just on the screw itself, you mean the G10 underneath the screw, not the G10 surrounding the screws

It should be Loctie/lock tight, an adhesive used so threads won’t back out. You don’t want to over heat the G-10 period. It can discolor & disfigure.

 

[d2eux]

Here's what I got from the knifemaker:

You can send IT to me, only i can do is use glue to this scales

 

[d2eux]

It should be Loctie/lock tight, an adhesive used so threads won’t back out. You don’t want to over heat the G-10 period. It can discolor & disfigure.

Ok, so update from the knifemaker:

Send it to me and I would use glue and use a visę to glue it strongly. Originally, I'm not using glue but sometimes g10 is not fully flat.

Someone on reddit also recently bought a knife from this maker, and he said the same thing - that there were gaps in his knife between the tang and G10. So this guy must be using a weird process to get warped G10 scales for his knives.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Ok, so update from the knifemaker:



Someone on reddit also recently bought a knife from this maker, and he said the same thing - that there were gaps in his knife between the tang and G10. So this guy must be using a weird process to get warped G10 scales for his knives.

Most materials can move after shaping the scales. Heat, cold , etc.. That’s why I use a 24 epoxy on my knives. Were you able to remove the G-10 Scales??

 

[d2eux]

Most materials can move after shaping the scales. Heat, cold , etc.. That’s why I use a 24 epoxy on my knives. Were you able to remove the G-10 Scales??

Yep, I followed your instructions exactly. Tip of solder iron on hex screw, 15-20 seconds. Not a budge.