Leather handle question

[happycat]

I am making my first attempt at a sort of "Scagel-esque" hunter. This is my first time using leather washers as handle materiel and I was wondering if there are any preperation suggestions for the leather. Should I, for instance, dry int in the oven?......
So far, I've got an antler butt cap, and micarta, vulcanized fiber spacers, and some thin stainless for my spacer materials. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Ed

 

[Will52100]

The way I do it is to stack square blocks of damp leather about 6 or 7 at a time and press in a shop press. You can use vise, arbor press, whatever.

let sit for a while, then take them out and seperat, keeping the stack loosely together to dry out. I have put them on the dash of my truck for a couple days, on the fireplace mantle, just in the house.

After I've gotten 4-5 stacks I take and stack at a time and with a plastic dish soak with supper thin supper glue and press again. Use wax paper to keep from sticking to your press. Let sit in press for a day or two and take out and trim on the bandsaw.

After I have enough for a handle I drill the center out to fit the tange and asemble the knife with spacers to get the distance, then epoxy everything together. After it cures and everything is rough shaped to 320 grit I give the leather a final coat of supper glue to get any crack or creavace, sand to powder and continue sanding to 600 grit and buff.

I get a stable, glass looking leather handle that is water prof. Time consuming to make the stacks, but I generaly stack up a bunch while working on other knives.

Some people use epoxy and just press, but I find that I like this methoud, it works for me.

Hope this helps,

Will

 

[Mike Hull]

What Will said. You can also have leather stabilized, just like wood.

 

[Alarion]

Oh, and wear good breathing equipment. Ground superglue causes cancer, and ground leather stinks as a hundred dead cows...