How do you shape handle material ?

E

Edd Harbin

Joined
May 24, 2000
Messages
540
I am thinking of putting some new slabs on my Strider/Buck 880 SP , and was needing some pointers on working with natural materials . I am looking at the Bone bark , or stag , or a nice wood . What will I need to do to rough shape , fit , and final shaping ? Thank you for your time ......
 
I think most people here use a belt sander of some sort, and then finish either with a buffer or by hand sanding. If you don't have any experience, I would recommend getting some files, and various grits of sandpaper. You can work almost any handle material you want with these, and it does not take as long as you would think. Rough shape the handle slabs with a course file, and then sand with rough sandpaper untill all the file marks are gone, then use progressively finer grits until you are happy with the finish.
If you are thinking about bone, it smells better if you work it by hand then if you use a grinder. It is also harder to screw up with hand tools.
Kyle Fuglesten
 
All I have is a rasp, a few files, and a bunch of sandpaper. I work on knives 15-20 minutes at a time while I am taking a break from studying. Sure, it takes me a month to decide if I am finished or not, but I have alot of fun. :)
 
Where should I go to get a broad range of files for handle material?

jd
 
go to a pawn shop, or any place that sells used tools, usually they will have a ton of old files very cheap. Othewise, you can buy them at any hardware store. For fileing handle material almost any files should work, I would suggest a flat bastard file to rough shape the handle, then you could use a finer file to clean that up if you want, or just go to the sandpaper after that.
Kyle
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top