How to remove scales?

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
5,786
I am quickly coming to the conclusion that I may have to abort my green G-10 project, as the scal;es aren't turning out to be pretty at all, and I screwed up and used a high carbon steel for the pins. I want this knife (MadPoet/Agocs Chinese util;ity pattern) to turn out really nicely, and so far it is going in the opposite direction, fast. Just in case I can't resurrect this mess, what would be the least destructive way to remove the scales, which are pinned and epoxied (not to mention pounded) together? I don't want to use heat to loosen the pins and epoxy because D-2 is supposedly rather sensitive to heat. Anyone ever done this before? Thanks, and hopefully I won't actually have to do this!
 
The late Bob Engnath had a section in his catalog (Blades n Stuff):

Lay the knife on a block of dry ice and leave it for awhile...after the whole thing is frozen, carefully put a chisel at the juncture of the slab and tang and give it a whack....the slab should pop off.
The theory is that at that temp the epoxy is brittle like glass and should shatter. My take on this would be to freeze it as above and first drive the pins out, then do the chisel slab/tang thing

Why don't you drill out the old pins first, then do the dry ice method

[This message has been edited by DC (edited 05 May 1999).]
 
I have found that epoxies do not resist torque well. Most glues do not. Super glue is a great example. Super glue two parts together and try to pull them straight apart. Good Luck. Twist one part a little while pulling and they pop off. You would have to drill the pins out first though for it to work on the scales. The dry ice sounds like a neat trick too.

Regards,
Glenn
 
I would stop working on the knife for a while so that you can get a new perspective on the situation of the knife. If the only thing you do not like about this knife is the pins,I would say live with it and go on to your next knife with what you learned from this one. If you decide you do not like the color of the micarta go out and get yourself something differnet. To remove the scales I would put a protective covering on the blade (tape). Grind one side of the pins down past the flare part of of the pin hole and use a punch to drive the pins out. The handle slabs will break free as you drive the pins out. Good luck--Ray--
 
I don't think I've "lost perspective" on anything. I have done another kit before and it turned out quite nicely. This one just isn't working out at all, though, from the pin material to the look of the scales. I'll keep at it, but in the event that I decide to remove the scales and start over, I just wanted to have the info ahead of time so I wouldn't have to wait around for replies! I haven't given up yet!
 
taking the scales off is duck soup.....done it millions (slight exageration) of times, walk over to your bench grinder with a fresh 50 grit belt on it...and CAREFULLY grind most of the handle off...dont get too close to the guard and keep the grind in the middle of the handle....when you get it down to about 1/8 inch thick walk over to your propane torch and slowly...slowly i said, heat up the handle material only...it will curl and come loose fairly fast as the epoxy gives up the ghost...cool it off...use a screwdriver to pry off the handles ...maybe a little more propane to get off the rest of the epoxy and youre done...or....much slower and tedious...stick it in a large jar full of acetone for a few days.....the first way is how i do it...just be careful...its really easy and you dont have to worry about the heat treat at all....

[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 05 May 1999).]
 
Go get a gal of acetone put the knife in for a week and the epoxy should be gone or very soft.
pry the scales off and clean the remaining epoxy off with steel wool and acetone.
ED

[This message has been edited by Edward R Schott (edited 05 May 1999).]
 
Well, I did end up removing the scales, and it was rather easy. I was trying to resurrect them, and the green G-10 just looked ugly as hell, especially with the too-large carbin steel pins. Also, because the fit of everything was so tight when assembled, the scales didn't fully seat flush to the tang in a couple spots, and while it wasn't obvious, it wasn't what I expected of even a decent job, so I aborted the mission. I think I will steer clear of G-10 unless I am aiming for a flat surface. Just did not look good contoured. I have some black G-10, and maybe that would look better, but we'll see. Anywa, the procedure I used was very crude and VERY effective. I took a small nail (three inches in length and pretty narrow diameter, and ground the end like a chisel grind with my Dremel. I laid it flush on the part of the tang that was still exposed, and, with the knife clampd down, started banging away so that the nail/chisel would slide up under the scale. It busted the epoxy right away and did a fantastic job. Once I had the scale pried up a bit, I took an enormous nail (1/8" diameter) that I had similarly ground and pounded it in. The scale broke a couple times because I was using C-clamps, but I just reclamped and started over. Probably took under ten minutes to remove the scales, which brought up most of the epoxy with them. Best part was that it required no use of heat whatsoever, and no chemicals! The harder part was pounding the pins back out, but mainly because it was garder to clamp the tang without the scales in place. Anyway, I knocked the pins back and forth with a hammer to loosen them (pounded them in and out, in other words), then used a blunted nail to knock them all the way through. I have a little epoxy to remove, but not much. I think I will use my mosaic pins I just made if they turn out okay, and maybe try some spacer material and some Micarta or black G-10. Luckily, I have plenty of everything to do some tests on before I put it all together...that was the biggest mistake with the green G-10. Anyway, sorry to Kit for trashing the material he sent to me, but the shade of green just wasn't right, in addition to the rest of the crap I did to botch this knife up! I will call this one "Tabula Rasa" which is Latin for "clean slate". Need I say why? ;-)
Steve
 
Chiro75 you might try that Dymondwood, it is easy to work and makes a good looking handle.
Chris www.toptexknives.com

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Or you could try some exotic hard-wood for
a "True Knife". Frankly I'm getting tired of
the whole synthetic handle thing! Wood
smile.gif
just looks better,is strong enough,and in most casses much lighter than synthetic
frown.gif
.
 
CAT has a point exotic woods make very nice handles. Try cocobolo, it has bright colours and polishes to a high gloss easily.
The natural high resin content makes it very stable.

PS when you are drilling the handle scales try temporarily sicking them in place with double sided carpet tape. tape one side in place, drill through the tang holes then leave the first side in place, tape the other scale on and drill back through the first scale holes and tang then through the second scale. This method lines up the holes and eliminates misalignment as long as you don't switch the scales from left to right etc

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george
 
Good idea, George! I may try that. I got a really nice fit with some careful drilling and a using clamps to clamp everything together, but it's sort of a pain in the butt. Anything to make it easier...
 
For future reference-
I used the Engnath freezing technique except that I didn't have dry ice so I just stuck it in the freezer overnight. The next morning I started whacking the handle material with a hammer at the glue junction and the scales cracked off. YMMV.

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Ciao

Mike Melone
memelone@yahoo.com
"One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them." --Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1796

 
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