Newbie question about bolsters

J

James Wayne Lamb

Joined
May 24, 2017
Messages
24
Howdy folks.
Just a quick question before a mess up a good piece of A-2.

I'm making a drop point Hunter with elk handles, and was wondering if using ebony wood for bolsters is a bad idea. No guard, just the ebony, an 1/8" brass spacer, then the elk scales?

I know it can be done, but was wondering if the ebony is hard enough to withstand general use. If not, then I'll just do brass bolsters.

The gentleman I'm making it for wanted something different and not just another hunting knife.

Thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
 
As I understand it, one of the main ideas of a bolster is not just decorative: it protects the handle behind it from separation due to sideways deflection of the blade. A soldered on brass (very rigid) bolster, or a brass one attached with JB Weld and reinforced with peened pins, is going to supply much more protection than just epoxied ebony....
 
James Wayne Lamb said:
Howdy folks.
Just a quick question before a mess up a good piece of A-2.

I'm making a drop point Hunter with elk handles, and was wondering if using ebony wood for bolsters is a bad idea. No guard, just the ebony, an 1/8" brass spacer, then the elk scales?

I know it can be done, but was wondering if the ebony is hard enough to withstand general use. If not, then I'll just do brass bolsters.

The gentleman I'm making it for wanted something different and not just another hunting knife.

Thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Lot of knives have whole scale from wood , no gard or bolsters in front of them so I don t see any problem to do what you intend. Of course at least one pin should be IN ebony bolsters....
 
A Dropped hunter is a skinner, so using ebony will be fine.
 
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