horse stall mat handles?

Joe Calton

Joe Calton

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Jul 8, 2008
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I just scored some free horse stall mat scraps. had to make a parts run to murdoch's and asked if they had any mats, went outside to have a look and right beside the stack of nice ones, there was a small pile of strips that looked like someone had cut one down for another customer. so I asked how much for the scraps, and they said to just take them!

now how do I attach this rubbery stuff to a full tang handle? does epoxy stick to it? what about pins? or bolts, anything special for thong tubing? do I need a spacer material between the mat and the steel?

the first to get the mat handles will be a couple choppers in 5160 if that makes a difference.
 
Joe, I'm sure someone that has actually used the stuff will chime in, but the ones I have seen have been glued directly to the tang and have a brass or stainless pin. The pins were anywhere from 1/8"to 1/4".

Can't wait to see what you come up with.
 
I have used gorilla glue, and it failed miserably on one and seems to be working for the other. Whether that is me or not I don't know, but I would recommend mechanical fasteners all the same. Also, be sure to take it to a pretty high grit. Mine are a bit rough and they can be kind of uncomfortable.
 
I have done a number of horse stall matt handles. Using AcraGlas and stainless pins, none have gotten loose after much use. I even touched up the spine on 2 of them with acid when I nicked them after finishing the handles. Use course sharp belts to shape, then finer to get the feel you want. I have taken some to 400 and they were still grippy. On the heavy use knives, I put them scales between guard and pommel to keep them stable. Made comfortable grips.
Chip Kunkle
 
Some high grade epoxy to get some bite and a few pins to keep things from sliding around. It's the shearing action that will loosen handle scales.

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Ok, so epoxy which doesnt flex much will hold this stuff to the steel well?

Thanks guys!!
 
I've done a bunch of choppers, and filet knives with this as handle material. I used the same epoxy (Devcon slo cure) as on regular handle material and they have held up well under pretty hard use. Like Karl said, use pins or tube to stop lateral movement and all should work. I used brass tube and flared the ends on several, which worked really well.
 
Just a note I have been to the cutting competition at Blade show the last 3 years. I think all, or at least most of the knives used in the competition had the horse stall mat handles. They appeared to be glued on and had pins of some type and size. I do not know what glue was used on them though.
 
Rick Lowe said:
I used brass tube and flared the ends on several, which worked really well.
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I think if you want a mechanical fastener that holds the scales tight as well as preventing them from shearing off, flared tubes are the way to go. I built a handle with neoprene scales (not the same as horse stall mat, but perhaps similar in how they grind/drill?) with corby bolts... it worked out fine but it wasn't much fun trying to drill clean stepped holes in them.
 
I've only seen them used with thick mitred tangs & very robust stick tangs. The point of using the material is that with choppers/comp cutters, it doesn't matter much about the handle material when using a full tang, you'll still get vibration transmitted through the metal. The horse mat is one of the more robust rubberised materials available. But the point is to reduce transmitted vibration by removing contact with the metal.
If making full tangs why not use a material that won't eventually pill or rub away, like G10 or Micarta? Plus it'll be easier to fix a less flexible material to the tang.
 
I had the same trouble using Corby's on the mat. Real pita getting the stuff out of the center hole. The flared tube really worked out best, let you pull the material down to a tight fit. This stuff is the best shock absorbing material for choppers that I know of. Added plus for filet knives is that it will float.
 
Rick Lowe said:
I had the same trouble using Corby's on the mat.
Click to expand...

I'm glad it wasn't just me :D

I've also heard that using light dish-soap as a drilling lube on softer materials like these helps clean the swarf out, but I haven't tried it.
 
Karl-- I love that forged in guard on your knife! that looks really nice.

parbajtor--becuase I havent used it before

I did a web search on the mat and found someone who suggested that they had used contact cement for the glue up. said that becuase it remains flexible that it gave them a really good seal, and just pins. I think I may try one chopper with that, and one with 30 min epoxy from pops.

James, i dont have any corby bolts, but with your suggestion about the trouble with stepped holes, I may try the flared thong tube, and some peened pins.
 
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