Mosaic knife pins

[Cale3311]

Hi, just getting into knife making and I got some mosaic pins for the handle. How should I cut and file them down to flush with the handle, I tried to use a 24TPI hacksaw and it completely ruined the design.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Richard338]

You can gently hacksaw them to an oversized length. Smooth the ends with a file.
Grind them flush after glue-up being careful not to heat them and spoil the glue.

 

[Hengelo_77]

I find a jewlers saw handy for those tasks

 

[Horsewright]

Ya haven't ruined the pattern its, still there ya just need to sand er down when you do your handle. I use my Dewalt Portaband on the Swag table to cut pins. Cut em slightly oversized. I mark with a sharpie and cut most pins at about 3/4". I have a block I put next to the saw blade to raise the pin off the table some. I hold the other end with pliers and cut my 3/4" lengths. After cutting I will then tip one end, (slight taper) by spinning it by hand on a flat disc grinder. This allows placement to be easier. Then glue up and sand down. I use mosaics in bolsters and handles:

 

[weo]

Or a dremel type tool with a cut-off wheel (cut off disk with angle grinder would work too).
When using power tools, go slowly, with plenty of pauses to allow the pin to stay cool.
But always plan on filing and sanding flush to final finish.

 

[Storm W]

I think it was Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith who recommended leaving them a bit long and slotting one end so you can use a screwdriver to turn them so the pattern can be clocked to the handle.

 

[Ron Raducanu]

Ya haven't ruined the pattern its, still there ya just need to sand er down when you do your handle. I use my Dewalt Portaband on the Swag table to cut pins. Cut em slightly oversized. I mark with a sharpie and cut most pins at about 3/4". I have a block I put next to the saw blade to raise the pin off the table some. I hold the other end with pliers and cut my 3/4" lengths. After cutting I will then tip one end, (slight taper) by spinning it by hand on a flat disc grinder. This allows placement to be easier. Then glue up and sand down. I use mosaics in bolsters and handles:

Wow, those knives are spectacular! Beautiful work.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, that was my suggestion for another maker having problems with mosaic pins.

Mosaic pins/rivets have some sort of alignment. If it has a square tube in it, you can make it a diamond or a square, depending on which way you align it. If it has round wire around the perimeter, you want to make sure one of those wires is at the top. This is called the 12:00 position, and making sure the rivets all are at that position is very important. When a rivet is properly aligned, it is referred to as "clocked". If you just stick the rivets in the holes without carefully clocking them it is 100% guaranteed that - 1) not one of them will be clocked at 12:00, and 2) every rivet will be aligned differently. This can make a very nice knife look really bad.

How to "CLOCK" your mosaic rivets:
Cut the rivet pieces with a little extra length. The cut surfaces may barely show the pattern. Sand one ends smooth to 400 grit so you can see the pattern clearly. Take a jeweler's saw or a hack saw and cut a shallow slot in the other end. When gluing up the rivets, use the slot and a small screwdriver to rotate the rivets so all are perfectly "clocked". Double check them before setting the knife aside to let the epoxy cure.

 

[Horsewright]

Wow, those knives are spectacular! Beautiful work.

Thanks.