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Need Advice: Micarta Scale Construction

L

ljcsov

Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
201
Loving my BK11!

Decided that it needed some sweet scales! I ordered myself a set of orange/black tigerstripe micarta slabs to stick on this bad boy. I figured it would go nicely the tiger tail paracord lanyard I already have going on. So, here is what I am thinking I am going to do. Feel free to chime in with your ideas. Keep in mind I don't really have many tools.


Steps

1. Roughly cut the slabs to the shape I want. Mainly, make sure that they are within the dimensions of the blade handle.
2. If required, sand the scales to the appropriate thickness. I'm hoping they'll be close enough where I won't have to both with this.
3. Drill holes into the scales and attach them to the blade handle. Still not sure of the best bolt set up for this.
4. Sand to the desired fit. I plan to sand these down by hand while they are attached to the actual handle. I feel this will help me get the best feel and allow me to keep things as symmetrical as possible
5. Fine sand to smooth things out.
6. Enjoy and post pics.
 
clich said:
do you want them removable or permanent?
Click to expand...
I've done this a couple times and am getting a pretty good feel for it. I would leave them as large as possible until the mounting system is figured out so clich's question is important.
 
Is this Black /Orange Paper micarta or Black/Orange G-10?

Big difference in terms of working properties and safety with regards to handling the milling /sanding dust.
 
thats my next project too, making micarta for my BKs. I think Im gonna make mine permanent though, epoxy and pins.
 
I guess what I ended up getting is G10. What are these safety concerns? Can I just use a dust mask and keep the G10/sand paper wet? (i.e. doing it under running water in the kitchen sink?)

I'm reading around and it doesn't look like I'm equipped to take on G10. I thought it would just be an easy hand sanding job but all this harmful dust is freaking me out. Thinking I am going to bail on this....

Am I better off with a permanent handle?
 
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My question is how many sets are you piling together to make an actual handle scale? From that link the pieces appear to only be 1/8" thick.
 
I thought I was just going to do one. I might back off this micarta/g10 business and just do a natural material such as wood or bone.
 
Dust is bad for you, some more than others. G10 = Bad. Some woods = Bad. Get a good face mask respirator, around $30. There is a How to in this subforum on making your own scales, it's not perfect but it should help. I think a drill press is extremely helpful but not absolutely necessary. I was gonna say somthing else but had to step away to dicipline my son and can't remember what it was.
 

BK-14 (2) by CamH_16, on Flickr

Tigerstripe is my favourite combo, as for how to do it, you've got it pretty well thought out. I just go with whatever I've got and hope it turns out. Listen to Mr. Oregon maybe?
 
OREGON FAL'ER said:
Dust is bad for you, some more than others. G10 = Bad. Some woods = Bad. Get a good face mask respirator, around $30. There is a How to in this subforum on making your own scales, it's not perfect but it should help. I think a drill press is extremely helpful but not absolutely necessary. I was gonna say somthing else but had to step away to dicipline my son and can't remember what it was.
Click to expand...

some dust is VERY BAD. heck, do it outside too if you can. contain the dust.

tape the blade too, don't be getting cut.

wear gloves!

all that.

post pictures of the blood :) i mean, finished product :D
 
You can always glue them up to get a 1/4" slab.

Be careful with that sanding dust, though..

Nasty stuff.
 
OREGON FAL'ER said:
Dust is bad for you, some more than others. G10 = Bad. Some woods = Bad. Get a good face mask respirator, around $30. There is a How to in this subforum on making your own scales, it's not perfect but it should help. I think a drill press is extremely helpful but not absolutely necessary. I was gonna say somthing else but had to step away to dicipline my son and can't remember what it was.
Click to expand...

Dust shmust! I usually just hold my breath...I know its a bad habit of mine. But invest in a respirator...seriously :D.
 
You need absolute minimum 1 3/4 wide 5 1/2 long and a factory scale is 3/8" at its thickest. Idealy to have room to work you want 2"x 5 3/4x 7/16 or maybe 1/2" thick for a first try, per side.
 
Tommythewho said:
You need absolute minimum 1 3/4 wide 5 1/2 long and a factory scale is 3/8" at its thickest. Idealy to have room to work you want 2"x 5 3/4x 7/16 or maybe 1/2" thick for a first try, per side.
Click to expand...
There are a couple spots on the Ka Bar stuff that is 25/64 and one spot that is 26/64ths right behind the center bolt hole. 7/16 material is hard to find in some of the specialty micarta's and G-10's. You could go with the 24/64 (3/8) material and then add a thin pinstripe liner. It all just depends on how nuts you wanna get about these things, don't even get me started on camillus grivory.
 
Everything I've done has been to epoxy the scales onto the blade then shape the scales to match the tang. This of course will mess up any coatings or patina that you have on the blade. I tape up the cutting edge of the blade to prevent accidents then glue (epoxy) on the slabs including pins or bolts, and quickly use a rag and rubbing alcohol to clean off any epoxy that comes out at the front end of the scales because you aren't sanding right there. Then I use a small table belt sander to shape the scales, finishing by hand with sandpaper. Some people clamp the blade in a vice and use rasps and files to shape the scales and then finish with the sanding.

You can buy various bolts to put the scales on. Some of the knives like this use allen head bolts and this seems to be the easiest system. There are various bolts and blind nuts made for this kind of thing, sort of like Chicago bolts. You drill the holes into the slabs through the holes in the tang, then you can countersink the holes to match your bolts.

I would think that making Becker-type scales would involve marking the slabs to match your tang, then removing them and sanding them separately. It might be worthwhile to buy a scrap piece of metal and shape a rough tang out of it to help with the sanding- bolt your scales to it for rough shaping, then take them off frequently and test fit on the knife itself. Keep going back and forth until the scales fit they way you want then finish sand and bolt them on.
 
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