Need a little help. How to sand and finish scales off the tang?

[GrizzlyBear]

Hi guys.

I picked up a couple of new blades from Jantz from their list of in-house ground blades and, without thinking about it at the time of ordering, I'm placed in a small predicament. Up until now, I've been purchasing their normal blades, usually they come in a satin finish or mirror polish, and I have no problem finishing the scales on the knife.

With these 2 new blades, my normal methods need to be adjusted or I will most certainly destroy the finish applied to the blades. One is D2, in their satin finish (which resembles a blasted finish to me) and the other is 1095 with a black coating similar to ceramic gun coatings.

So my question is, how to go about sanding the scales to shape and finishing them off the knife so I don't kill the finish on the spine?

Any and all suggestions welcome!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Patrickknives]

I dont know if this will help, but I have a hard steel templet for some of my kitchen knife scales, I just sand to the templet and can put them on the blade. I made it from 1095 and use it also to shape the knife handle so the two will match when done. Short of that you could drill your pin holes and make sure the handle material fits tight, scribe the handle shape and then cut, file and sand to the line off the blade. just keep checking the fit to make sure you dont go to far.

 

[TPVT]

i assume the scales are not attached already? if so, what you can try is to get the cheapest piece of plastic, micarta, etc. that is the same width as your blade....let's say 1/8" (doesn't have to be perfect). lay the blade blank on the "fake blade" and trace and cut. then, temporarily attach the scales to the imposter and finish the handle. in theory, the scales should then fit hopefully good enough on your blade blank to only require fine tuning.

please know i have never tried this. but, it sounds reasonable, and that's what i would try. good luck.

 

[Boar]

i assume the scales are not attached already? if so, what you can try is to get the cheapest piece of plastic, micarta, etc. that is the same width as your blade....let's say 1/8" (doesn't have to be perfect). lay the blade blank on the "fake blade" and trace and cut. then, temporarily attach the scales to the imposter and finish the handle. in theory, the scales should then fit hopefully good enough on your blade blank to only require fine tuning.

please know i have never tried this. but, it sounds reasonable, and that's what i would try. good luck.

I've got the same question, I was debating getting my next batch of blades powder coated and was wondering how to attach/fit scales without destroying the finish.

 

[FTO_dude]

I've got the same question, I was debating getting my next batch of blades powder coated and was wondering how to attach/fit scales without destroying the finish.

make the scales before sending the blade out for coating.

 

[tim37a]

If you make the scales before sending the blades out for coating, make them slightly oversize, because the coating will add .002 or .003 to the edge of the tang. It will add enough to be noticeable.
Tim