Modifying handles?

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
5,786
My fiancee was complaining last night about the mini-trees sticking up out of the top of a tall shrub in the front of her house, so i figured this would be yet another perfect opportunity to whack stuff with my Dhankuta! The branches were thin and woody, and if I hit them at just the right angle I could take them out with one swing. Otherwise they would simply bend out of harm's way. Anyway, as I took many repeated swings I noticed my palm, specifically the hypothenar region just medial to the midline of the anterior hand, was getting rubbed raw quite nicely. The reason is the sharp diamond shape of the buttcap and handle at the end. With heavy chopping this wasn't a factor, but i was putting more wrist motion into this job and it was agonizing. I knocked the edge off the diamond shape with a file, but it didn't help too much. My concern with taking more off is that the butt cap is hollow, rather than a solid piece of brass, and that this would cause more filing to eat through it and expose a hollow area on the inside of the horn and/or buttcap. Is this a concern or should I file away? I want to preserve as much of the original beauty of this knife as possible, so screwing it up is not an option!
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My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
 
Another vote for the flat plate buttcap.

My theory on anything I own is if I can't use it for what it was intended to do then it is worthless to me. I would take a file and some epoxy and make than handle fit my hand. But this is a personal preference of my own.

I can understand not wanting to screw something up. It is your choice, Chiro.

Uncle Bill
 
Chiro,

I filed the pointy part off the butcap of my shop 1 15" AK. I filed until it was comfortable for me and did not break through the brass.

I can't make any guarantees for your knife. A number of forumites make this modification.

Has anyone who did this broken through?
 
After trying out the Hanuman, I decided that I could no longer live with the sharp point on the butt cap of my 16.5" WWII model. Generally I hold the khukhuri further forward so I'm not bother by the butt cap. Sometime my hand slips back and I forget to readjust my grip, then it pokes me.

I took the file to the 16.5" WWII and removed enough of the butt cap so that does not bother me. There was not enough metal removed to penetrate the butt cap. However, if I had broken through I would have used epoxy to fill the hole up. There are quite a few epoxies that are designed specifically for metal (these usually contain powdered metal). The whole butt cap could be filled with epoxy as well.

Will

[This message has been edited by Will Kwan (edited 28 July 1999).]
 
I used a sanding drum on a Dremel to remove the sharp point on the butt cap & handle of the first village model I received. It changed the profile of the handle enough so that it fit my hand much better, but it did not remove enough material so as to expose the hollow area under the butt cap.

Of course, YMMV. However, as Will suggested, if yours does break through simply fill the hollow area with epoxy. There's a two-part clay-like epoxy, mentioned in an earlier thread, that might work particularly well for this purpose.

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Cheers,

--+Brian+--

 
My shop 2 villger and my 15" AK both need the epoxy treatment. There isn't enough space to get the epoxy under the buttcap. Any suggestions?

Mike
 
If it is because the cap is loose, drill a tiny (1/16 ") hole up into the void right where the cap meets the handle, then inject the epoxy in. As the buttcap does not form an air tight fit, it will work fine.

Fill so that the epoxy seals the hole and you will hardly be able to see it was done.
 
Another hint...if you have the black horn handles, you can dye the epoxy with epoxy dye or use a SMALL amount (the more you use the more it softens the epoxy....I haven't figured out the corrected proportions yet) of India ink or Testor's model paint. This tints the epoxy black and you can't even see anything was done. You can mix colors to try and match wood, too, although this would be tougher to do.

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My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
 
More votes for the flat plate buttcap with a couple of set screws or pins.

But the epoxy tips here should fix any problem and thanks to all for input.

Uncle Bill
 
:
I discovered that regular Super glue will kind of melt the Himalyan Epoxy,at least a little.
The bolster on my 18" AK was a very little loose.
I was using the Scotch Brite on the blade and I could barely feel it move. There was a small hole in the H.E. and I put some Super glue in it and also around the other side.
I was really surprised to see the H.E. melting,but it hardened back up just like new. Better than new actually,because now the small hole has ran together and disappeared and the bolster is tight. That may work on the butt caps as well although I don't know about the longeivity of the Super glue compared to the epoxy.
I know it made a Very Nice repair on mine.

I am also having another minor problem and this is one that affects _ALL Natural_ materials,so is not limited to just our Kuhkuri's and probably not just the Buffalo Horn.
The handle on my 18" AK is shrinking some (which could explain the loose bolster.) When I first got it I filed the butt cap down to the horn. I am going to have to do it again.It is about .010" - .015" on each side and is sharp. It isn't due just to the humidity because ours has been at least 55 % and up to 90 % for weeks now.
Steve this may be why your villager is having the small surface cracking
too.You might try the solution below if it gets progressively worse before sendng it back if it becomes necassary. I know you wouldn't want to be without it now that you have it.

There was a thread in the general forum about the shrinking of handle materials just a few days ago.
Someone one there talked about using Krazy Glue to rub into porous handles to stabiize them.I used some Super Glue on the stag I put on my new karda and it polished out nicely.I think the Krazy Glue is just another name for the Super Glue isn't it?

PS As y'all probably know this is due to the natural stabilizing of the materials. I have heard that it takes some woods as much as 20 years to competely stabilize naturally.
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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.


[This message has been edited by Yvsa (edited 30 July 1999).]
 
Well, I just fixed the loose buttcaps on my villager and my 15" AK. The villager was easy as the cap could be rotated 9 degrees from it's original position. I just loaded up the cap with epoxy, put it back to it's original position, cleaned off the excess and let it set up. It is now SOLID. I think I will buff the edges of the cap with my dremel to smooth them out (they are a bit rough) round off the points and I will be good go.
With the AK I just smeared the epoxy around the outside of the cap where it meets the handle, cleaned the seam up, filled in the gap between the cap and the diamond shaped piece of brass and let it set up. No movement now. I used Devcon epoxy that contains a metallic filler. It is dyed black and matches the horn perfectly.

Uncle Bill, as it is now is it ok to hammer with the butt or do you think I should drill a small hole and fill in the cap with epoxy to give it extra support?

Mike
 
Mike, you can try and see what happens but I have reservations about those formed buttcaps. Shop 1 has been fighting me on this buttcap issue for five years and winning. Shop 2 is moving to the flat plate but I want it thicker so there will be no doubt about using the buttcap for hammering.

Uncle Bill
 
:
Mike those scrolled caps are pretty thin compared to the rest of the knife as you probably know.
I sure wouldn't use it for poundng on unless I filled the cap really well.
I seem to recall where Cliff had tried that with one of his knifes in a test,I can't recall if it was a Kuhkuri or not.It seems he said that he would rather use the blade or spine.

After I pulled the cap off the one
with the broken tang I found out just what was under those caps.The horn is substantial,but it doesn't come all the way out to the edge or that close to the top.If I took a WAG at it I would say that there is 1/16" clearance at the top and less than that around edge.
HTH.



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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.
 
FYI - most superglues are water soluable. Where I work, we use several kinds of Loctite 'superglues'. Each kind has different viscousities (thickness) and adhering properties. Loctite currently makes OVER 3,500 products! Talk about confusing?!

Black Max has pretty good overall properties for most general uses (black in color). Ford Motor Company uses this to glue their exterior mirrors (Ford has its own part #, but it essentially is B. Max - different colored bottle, too)

We use another kind of epoxy that you can kneed with your fingers (using latex gloves of course) that is strong, durable, and water proof is PIG PUTTY made by New Pig Products. It can be made black in color with a magic marker
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. Dries hard and is workable in about 5 minutes. Very little shrinkage, too. A box of 12 - 10" sticks costs $59 shipped - life shelf is very good.
I used some of this to fill in the voids/gaps when I place a handle on a Khukuri.

If anyone wants to try some of the PIG Putty e-mail me and I can send you some to try. Once you try it, you will never go back to any other kind of epoxy style stick again. Or, you can look up New Pig Products on the web and they can send you a sample for free
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.

The problem with straight epoxy is that is doesn't have any strength to it. The thinner the layer, the stronger the bond. They do make a potting style epoxy
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. You can try mixing in some powdered figerglass to add strength. Accuglass (polyester resin w/ fiberglass filler) made for bedding rifle stocks would be great for repairing 'lose' handles - comes in a kit form sold at many shooting sports stores like MIDWAY, or Natchez Shooting Sports.

Just my thoughts/tricks of the trade
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