Questions on working with mammoth tooth.

[penerrules]

I recently bought a pair of mammoth tooth knife scales and I have done a little research and found a few interesting ideas and also raised a few more questions. First, do i need to put bolsters on the knife to protect the mammoth tooth from being damaged and to stabilize it? Second, I heard of a technique where instead of drilling the the scales to insert the pins, that you drill part way through the scales and use the epoxy as the pins to hold the scales on, is this a good idea or a bad one? Any help and other tips would be appreciated.