Kinda dumb question....Bookmatched scales

FlaMtnBkr

FlaMtnBkr

Joined
Oct 20, 2004
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When mounting bookmatched scales how are you supposed to position them. Do you want the bookmatched faces to point out so that both sides look the same? Or do you want them facing the tang so that when you look down on the tang it looks like the grain is continuous with a piece of metal stuck in the middle? Or is it just the makers preference? Not the brightest question I have ever come up with but I figured you guys would know best. Thanks!

Ryan

P.S. I just finished my first knife...Kinda. I bought the blade (440C) and assembled it with brass bolsters, some mosaic pins I made, and some spalted maple burl. Im not sure it will ever be finished...It seems like if I look at the bolster wrong it scratches and I was never able to get it finished the way I wanted. I also got some scratches on the blade trying to remove some epoxy. You learn a lot from your first knife, I also need to learn how to take pictures because these didnt seem to turn out so well. Now I just need to read up and try my hand at stock removal and grinding my own blades. Let me know what you think!

Edit: Having problem with the pic. Gonna have to try another site to host it on.
 
I split the block and put the tang between them, so that the grain runs continous across the back, just like in nature. I guess a lot of people fold them the other way so that they have the same pattern on both sides, but I like the natural look.
 
Ryan,

Sounds like you're havin' fun!

I cut the blocks and flip them inside out. The hope, as you say, is to get matching grain patterns. Never seems to happen tho. By the time the handle is shaped, sanded, and polished it's hard to tell they match.

If Mike Hull puts the tang in the cut, by gum so will I! At least when you look at the edge it will look matched.

Steve
 
Stuff like Ironwood is extremely hard to get a good "bookmatch" with, unless you remove most of the wood from the inside before installing. The grain is so variegated that the least surface removal can change the whole grain appearance. Speaking about the real fancy stuff here. Plainer grain structures are easier to bookmatch.
 
I would suggest making two knives at a time.One with the wood each way.Keep the one that you like the best and send the other to me for proper disposal.
Seriously,The piece of wood will determine which is best.Sand all sides of the block and cut in half.Sand the cut sides.Look at the patterns and decide if you want The grain opposing (herring boned) ,or continuous.If you want opposing ,flip ONE scale over and look at the outside pattern.Now simply trade the slabs by picking up one and moving it to the other side.Look at this pattern.(You have moved the inside cut to the outside).Do the same with the grain running in a continuous direction.This will give you all four possible patterns.Don't forget to try the handle slab in both directions on the tang.Sometimes a pattern flows better from one direction.You now have eight possibilities from a single block. - SA
 
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