Question about folder scales made of natural materials

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

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Aug 13, 2002
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I am working on my first folder and I want to use some African Blackwood and some “Bovine Ivory”. I am using 2-56 screws to attach the scales and I was wondering if I had to be concerned about the material cracking and if so, is there anything to do about it? I was thinking maybe a small washer under the screws. Not too large but at least a bit wider than the screw head to help distribute the load. Not sure how it would look though. :o

Any advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
I recess my screws in seats made with a small counterbore. On some fragile materials, I put a drop of thin CA in the hole, and re-run the counter-bore in the hole after it cures. This makes the wood/ivory a bit stronger under the screw head.

I don't like raised screws on knives.
 
Thanks Stacy, I'll give that a try.
For the washers, I was thinking of recessing them, same as the screws, but it might only make unsightly large holes.
 
Patrice, I've used screws and natural handle material on well over 1000 folders. Never used washers under the screws and never had scale material check or crack at the screws. I also use a counter bore like Stacy mentioned.
 
Don, is that your white cat? What type of rind is it wearing? It doesn't seem all that happy but them again I'm more of a dog person.
 
I used to do a lot of this back in my jewellery days. I would not be very concerned about the wood. The bone, maybe, if it was thin. Both materials can be stabilized quite easily with a thin coat of CA under a bell jar if you are worried.
 
Don Hanson III said:
Patrice, I've used screws and natural handle material on well over 1000 folders. Never used washers under the screws and never had scale material check or crack at the screws. I also use a counter bore like Stacy mentioned.
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I was hoping to find out what type/vendor you guys use for these counterbores? I have a bunch of folder supplies, including 2-56 screws but no matching counterbore. Was kinda planning on the probably frowned upon method of using a slightly larger drill bit for the head and not having a nice shoulder for the screw to sit on... I'm guessing a proper counterbore would have less likelihood of causing a crack than the red-neck way?

Jeremy
 
Patrice - I've used very small thin washers under 2-56 screws to good effect. It gives a nice finished look - although you'll probably need to make the counterbored holes slightly larger than the screw head. It all depends on the look you are going for.

Amazon Supply has a large variety of washers that you can buy in small quantities (100 pieces) that work for this application. For counterbores, I typically use replaceable pilot bits and get them from fleaBay. My go-to vendor is "Drills and Cutters".

I've attached a pic of one fixed blade scale I've attached with 2-56 screws and washers (with 3/16" pivot bolts underneath). (FYI, this is silky oak from Mark at Burl Source)

TedP

 
Thanks Ted, that is great. Exactly what I had in mind. I agree that it depends on the look you want but I see how this could work in some cases. :thumbup:
 
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