modify/customize knife handles

tenman

tenman

Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
443
I am rather new to all of this, and am in need of advice. Do many of you tinker with or customize the scales/handles on production folders? What has me thinking about it is I have a chance to pick up a used 875 Elishewitz and the black aluminum scales have some minor scratching along the edges; the rest of the knife is in pretty good shape. How hard would it be to either 1) resurface the aluminum scales or 2) replace them with some handmade ones made from wood, etc.?

Am I way off track here, or is this sort of thing fairly common?

Thanks!
Chris
 
I would think you could have the aluminum scales refinished and re-anodized inexpensively; or better yet, do it yourself.

Making wood scales would be a bit more intensive due to the spring reliefs, but www.chaxknives.com does such work and I suspect others can too.
 
Thanks for the response. I did some more reading through other posts and came on the chaxknives site, also knifekits,com; the latter has a lot of different materials, carbon fiber might make an interesting choice. Funny, it hadn't even occured to me to re-anodize it- I teach chemistry and have the materials at school to do just that, duh!

On the 875 Sentinel, would there be any working or moving parts between the outer aluminum scales and the titanium handle?
 
tenman said:
On the 875 Sentinel, would there be any working or moving parts between the outer aluminum scales and the titanium handle?
Click to expand...
I haven't taken mine apart, but there shouldn't be. The Sentinel is a simple liner lock, not an Axis lock; the latter can be a challenge to disassemble/re-assemble.

The Sentinel is a fine knife, but quite thin; if you re-scale it, don't be afraid to put thicker scales on it, it would improve the ergonomics a bit IMHO.
 
Gryffin,
That is what I suspected. I have handled/inspected the newer "Dark Star" version of this knife, and the one thing I remember most is how thin and light it was for its size. Because of the relative simplicity of the liner lock style, it seemed this knife would be a good choice for some basic, beginners level experience in re-scaling. I also agree, the scales could easily be made a bit thicker.

The challenge will be choosing a scale that is relatively easy to work with (for a beginner) and that meshes with the blue titanium. The laminated G-10 or micarta might look nice, and possibly burled maple. After it arrives next week, I am going to spend some time examining the original scales and evaluating the level of difficulty along with material choices. I just want to have some fun making something that is just a little different:)

Thanks for the input!
 
Customizing knives is a very rewarding hobby. A lot of good makers started out that way. When/if you do rehandle your knife, look into either pinning or screwing the scales on. Simply epoxying them on may (or may not) work, but something a little more permanent adds a lot of class.
Bill
 
Bill,
What I have in mind is to mount the customized scales with torx screws, most likely in the same manner and using the same holes in which the original scales are mounted.

Chris
 
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