Putting the guards , bolsters, and handles on a blade???

L6steel

L6steel

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
5,855
Up till now, I have always waited till the blade was heat treated to attach and shape the guards and bolsters and handles on my knives. I have decided to start temporarily pinning them onto the blade and shaping them before I send the blade for heat treat. One problem I have had is with a blade that has decorative carving. I carve before heat treat, then attach the handle and guard or bolsters. While sanding them down to match the blade, it is real easy to take out some of the carving. Also, it seems that preshaping them would mean less heat after heat treating the blade.
What method do you folks use??
Also, when glueing handles onto a blade with carving, would putting vasoline over the carving and making sure not to get any on the glued surfaces, keep the epoxy out of the carving?
Thanks and take care!! Michael

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"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
i do all of the handles, guards, and bolsters after heat treat. i just work on the blade until it's heat treated. teporary pinning and make slabs unusable, becuase the slabs can move around on the handles, causing you to grind off more handle than needed. i don't do carvings, but i'm guessing you should make them a little deeper so that when you grind the handles down you'll take off the extra depth in carving. i tried doing the handles off the knife before, they didn't fit good. plus you won't have room for movement while z-poxying.
 
Michael, have you thought about using screws to hold slabs on for shaping before heat treat? As far as removing epoxy from carvings, a dental pick works best for me.

Jake
 
I do all those things after heattreat, but I've done it like Jake too. Find a screw of the same size as your pins, screw the scales on to the blade and trace the outlines. That way I can saw the scales very close to finished size and work a little on them while the blade is away for heattreating.
 
If you get epoxy in the carving, try wiping it out with a rag soaked in WD40 or epoxy thinner before its dry.WD40 thins wet epoxy and makes it wipe off real easy but it isn't a strong enough solvent to worry about it taking the slabs off if you work close to them.And its cheap.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
Standardize you pin's to 3/32 and you can tap 440 thread in it and stilluse the 3/32 pin's after you tap it I do that alot I also leave a little all the way around untill after heattreat cause pin's can bend during peening but I do everything before Heattreat
to 85 % finnished so I dont worry about carb build up or scale after heattreat

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TbarK Custom Knives
I am Opposed to Millionair's but it would be Dangerous to Offer Me The Job,Mark Twain
http://vip.hpnc.com/~tbark
 
Do you guys do anything special to the tang and the inside of the slabs before glueing, to help adhesion?? I leave the tang with 60 grit scratches in it so it's plenty rough enough for the glue to grab, and sand the slabs with an 80 grit belt.
Thanks for all the tips and tricks!!! Take care! Michael

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"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
i surface grind the tang with a coarse wheel. their are actually very small ridges. they'll hold the epoxy well. i use T-88 epoxy, best in the industry.

[This message has been edited by magnum .44 (edited 01-29-2000).]
 
I cut light "criss-crosses" in the tang with a Dremel cut-off wheel and score the slabs with out getting too close to the edges of either, seems to give the epoxy more bite that way. If i cut out the tang for lightness, I rout the slabs to fit those holes and fit them that way. It a real pain to do it that way but the results are worth it.

Jake
 
L6, I have found that for removing epoxy from your carving area, while it is still curing, it is hard to beat ordinary rubbing alcohol (isopropyl). It dissolves the uncured epoxy and cleans the surface and your hands in the process. With the rubbing alcohol and using as little epoxy as possible to minimize excess, you should find cleanup a snap.

As for fitting things before heat treating, I find that the steel always moves, changes, or shrinks during heat treat, and what fit before won't after.

Good luck.

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Jerry Hossom
knifemaker
www.hossom.com


[This message has been edited by GaKnife (edited 01-29-2000).]

[This message has been edited by GaKnife (edited 01-29-2000).]
 
Howdy There L6...!
I agree with the other replies that you have received. I do all of my fitting of parts after heat treating. I also do file work on blades and that is something that you just have to be careful when you are finishing to make sure that you don't change your look. You can use vasoline for a cover to keep the epoxy out, but you can get some releases that work well. I also rough the tangs and drill some extra hole to create epoxy rivet for the handles. You can do some fitting of handle materail before heat treating, but make sure that you leave yourself plenty of extra materail to work your handle area. Just take your time and be careful.
"Possum"


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Thomas Clegg
 
Thanks for all the tips folks!!!

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"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
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