Pin bulge

D

DARblades

Joined
Mar 6, 2019
Messages
17
Hi All,

Looking for some expert advice. I am consistently having an issue with bulging where my pins are on the handle. Knowing that the stabilized wood is softer than the pins and mosaic pins I take care to minimize this effect but always end up fixing the scales and drifting from my original design. I consider myself a beginner so I know a lot of this is experience, hoping to get some expert advice. Thanks!
 
Pay attention to what point in your finishing process you start noticing the bulge. 2 things I'd recommend is firm backer while hand sanding and a very light touch at the buffer if you're polishing.
 
Without watching you, I can only guess. Sounds like you are buffing too much.
The process I use is to finish the grips to a P320 belt,
hand sand with p400, make sure all the pin heads have any coarser grit Mark's removed.
Use my thumb on top of the paper on top of the pin, pull the paper out from between the pin and paper, to spot sand them.
Go to CAMI 500 grit, REPEAT
GO TO CAMI 600 GRIT REPEAT ABOVE PROCESS.
THEN BUFF
All visible scratches must be removed before going to the buffer.
Hope this helps
Jim A
 
I noticed this problem with dull & worn belts. Fresh belts & a light touch help keep everything flush. Worn belts take more pressure and wear away the soft wood before the metal pins.

I usually belt finish up to 320 grit, then hand sand to 1200 or so. As others said, a hard backer when hand sanding keeps everything flush in the higher grits. I use pieces of G10, flattened on a granite block, for backers.

Also, I'd guess (but haven't tried) that micarta pins would be a bit more forgiving than metal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top