Help with how to pin bolsterless acrylic scales

[Larry L]

At 80 years old I have accumulated a few knives but never have done any knife work.

My first knife project consisted of a 3 blade Craftsman 9553 with stainless blades that had a broken blade and was missing the badge. I redid the blade as a "poking" blade and with a dremel added a fingernail knick and had the badge laser etched with his name. It came out very well for a first attempt.

I am attempting my second knife redo also for my grandson. It is a "Barlow" (Jowicky from Republic of Ireland). Snap on scales and fake bolsters. It was missing a scale. I am attempting to fit acrylic scales with no bolsters. It will be a decorative knife and will see limited use. I want to through pin the scales as I think they would look better as well.

My concerns are installing the pins in the acrylic scales without damage. I am using 416 SS for pins. Do I need to do anything with the acrylic like very small co-sinks for pin heads. I am also concerned about the tang pin end.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Larry

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Throw the stainless away and get brass or nickel silver pin stock. Stainless is very resistant to defoming.
The reason Barlow knives have long bolsters is to make them resistant to flexing. Removing the bolsters will result in a weak knife.
Do a slight counter sink on your pin holes. Peening pins requires practice and finesse.

 

[AVigil]

Do what Bill says.

Another thing you can do is roughen up the pin with 50 grit paper. Insert the pin and gently clamp the knife together, then put a drop of thin CA glue around the pin and let it wick down the pin into the hole. Leave clamp until cured.

Hand file the pin down, you can gently peen the edges if you want it domed.

There is a lot of pressure holding the pins in, you just need to be sure everything is held tight

 

[Larry L]

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE

At 80 years old I have accumulated a few knives but never have done any knife work.

My first knife project consisted of a 3 blade Craftsman 9553 with stainless blades that had a broken blade and was missing the badge. I redid the blade as a "poking" blade and with a dremel added a fingernail knick and had the badge laser etched with his name. It came out very well for a first attempt.

I am attempting my second knife redo also for my grandson. It is a "Barlow" (Jowicky from Republic of Ireland). Snap on scales and fake bolsters. It was missing a scale. I am attempting to fit acrylic scales with no bolsters. It will be a decorative knife and will see limited use. I want to through pin the scales as I think they would look better as well.

My concerns are installing the pins in the acrylic scales without damage. I am using 416 SS for pins. Do I need to do anything with the acrylic like very small co-sinks for pin heads. I am also concerned about the tang pin end.

Any help would be greatly appreciaTED

At 80 years old I have accumulated a few knives but never have done any knife work.

My first knife project consisted of a 3 blade Craftsman 9553 with stainless blades that had a broken blade and was missing the badge. I redid the blade as a "poking" blade and with a dremel added a fingernail knick and had the badge laser etched with his name. It came out very well for a first attempt.

I am attempting my second knife redo also for my grandson. It is a "Barlow" (Jowicky from Republic of Ireland). Snap on scales and fake bolsters. It was missing a scale. I am attempting to fit acrylic scales with no bolsters. It will be a decorative knife and will see limited use. I want to through pin the scales as I think they would look better as well.

My concerns are installing the pins in the acrylic scales without damage. I am using 416 SS for pins. Do I need to do anything with the acrylic like very small co-sinks for pin heads. I am also concerned about the tang pin end.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Larry

Thanks for the advice.
I went with brass pins and fearing breaking them which happened on my test pieces, I used Gflex and grooved the heck out of the mating pieces. As you can see in the photo***, my Grandson wanted more pins, so I added some blind pins. I had also read where some are having difficulty with the pins still being above the scale surface. For hardback I used 3/8" plate glass with taped paper. I thought I may have a problem after polishing but you cannot feel a thing.

***I had photo ready but do not yet know how to post it.

Also a very good neighbor gave me six knives he accumulated over 15 year of metal detecting. a Buck 500, Buck 506, Winchester thumb assist and three unnamed it's (getting interesting).

Thanks again,
Larry

 

[Natlek]

Most time I use 304 stainless for pins and I never have problem when peen them . I used also annealed 416 for pins and have not problem .I just peened this one...3mm pin in 3mm hole , no taper in wood .Now it is about 4.2mm Dia.Walnut can handle that expansion of pin ...I use this hammer with some kind of shallow sphere end , work better then ball end hammer for me .....

 

[Larry L]

Nice knife. I like the Walnut look, it's very authentic to the style of knife.

 

[Larry L]

This is the cheap Barlow with stamped steel bolsters and was missing scale. My first attempt at scales of any kind. My grandson wanted more pins so I figured why not and added (8) extra for practice. Lots to learn

 

[Larry L]

At 80 years old I have accumulated a few knives but never have done any knife work.

My first knife project consisted of a 3 blade Craftsman 9553 with stainless blades that had a broken blade and was missing the badge. I redid the blade as a "poking" blade and with a dremel added a fingernail knick and had the badge laser etched with his name. It came out very well for a first attempt.

I am attempting my second knife redo also for my grandson. It is a "Barlow" (Jowicky from Republic of Ireland). Snap on scales and fake bolsters. It was missing a scale. I am attempting to fit acrylic scales with no bolsters. It will be a decorative knife and will see limited use. I want to through pin the scales as I think they would look better as well.

My concerns are installing the pins in the acrylic scales without damage. I am using 416 SS for pins. Do I need to do anything with the acrylic like very small co-sinks for pin heads. I am also concerned about the tang pin end.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Larry

Finally figured how to post a photo. See below

 

[Larry L]

At 80 years old I have accumulated a few knives but never have done any knife work.

My first knife project consisted of a 3 blade Craftsman 9553 with stainless blades that had a broken blade and was missing the badge. I redid the blade as a "poking" blade and with a dremel added a fingernail knick and had the badge laser etched with his name. It came out very well for a first attempt.

I am attempting my second knife redo also for my grandson. It is a "Barlow" (Jowicky from Republic of Ireland). Snap on scales and fake bolsters. It was missing a scale. I am attempting to fit acrylic scales with no bolsters. It will be a decorative knife and will see limited use. I want to through pin the scales as I think they would look better as well.

My concerns are installing the pins in the acrylic scales without damage. I am using 416 SS for pins. Do I need to do anything with the acrylic like very small co-sinks for pin heads. I am also concerned about the tang pin end.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Larry

Finally figured how to post a photo...see below