Re-scaling a kopa

tonydahose

tonydahose

Joined
Oct 28, 2005
Messages
742
i thought you guys might like a look at this...i pretty much just clipped and pasted from the thread on the spyderco forum.

well since the model was cancelled i have decied to carry it on by myself:p. i bought a few extrasNIB and this one which was a second, what better to pratice on:). Part one, take off the old scales. it was a lil tedious but not too bad. total time about an hour. The knife before i touched it.

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I started will a small stone on the dremel tool. i was trying to get the pin ground down so that the rest of the scale would fall off. no such luck, every single piece of this was epoxied down.

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i went to take the clip off and i had forgotten that it wasn't a torx screw. i only had a bigger standard screwdriver, no philips so i ground the standard down until it would fit in the slot. ;) i was at work and tools were limited
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Here is what i used after figuring out that the scales were not going to come off easily. it got away from me once or twice but i was working without a vice, so i blame that instead of me:p:p
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Here it is almost done, i finished it up with the small stone that i started with.
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Done, for better or worse.
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Here is the knife next to its future scales.
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this is my first time trying something like this so wish me luck and stay tuned for the second installment:)
 
ok, part 2

so i was thinking of how i could get the shape of the scales so i could transfer them to the wood...playdoh of course:p:p

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here is the impression
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I got the first side to fit in pretty good next to the bolster, i knew the other side was going to be alot harder.

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getting another measurement with my high tech tool

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close but no cigar

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well after about 50 times of going back and forth with these 3 steps: try to fit the scale into the knife, mark with a pencil & sand it down with sandpaper..REPEAT:mad: i finally got the other side in. it was so tight at first that when i pulled the wood out it broke off a small piece.

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finally both sides in nice and tight
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now i am working on the top and bottom, the cutout for the lock release was a litttle tricky.

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and done for the day. i need to sand the top of the scales flat and then round the edges but i couldn't find my router this morning. i think it looks pretty good. :)

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close but no cigar

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well after about 50 times of going back and forth with these 3 steps: try to fit the scale into the knife, mark with a pencil & sand it down with sandpaper..REPEAT:mad: i finally got the other side in. it was so tight at first that when i pulled the wood out it broke off a small piece.

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welcome, thanks for tuning into this week in project kopa:D. i briught the camera today and glue...so here goes. i was advised by butch to use 2 ton epoxy...who new that it takes hours for this stuff to dry...there was nothing on the label except what to do if you ate it or got some in your eyes:rolleyes:
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here i am cleaning out some of the epoxy that was squished out with my manix and some toilet paper:p
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since this was taking soooo long i decided to work on a project that i started over a year ago. i dont know what the name of this wood is, it was a freebie when i bought some other blocks. it must have alot of oil in it(i am guessing here) because when i got up to 400 grit it had a nice smooth/glasslike finish. i also forgot the double sided tape so i used a few drops of super glue, that is the residue you can see on the wood. it popped off easily with the manix shoved between them but held up perfect to the power sanding.
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check out glare off of this from 400 grit on a belt sander..i know not the right tool but you work with what you got:)
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ok back to the kopa...finally it is somewhat dry and i can start working on it.
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my tool of choice...it was a lil difficult with the scales from the rookie but the with the kopa i had enough to grip to.
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here it is after the glue finally set enough to work on it.
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i remembered to use tape this time:)medical tape of course;) i kept using it past the end of the blade to give me a good handle to hold on to. oh and before you say anythng smart, that is apple juice i will have you know.
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i used the belt sander or te drum sander on the drill press until i was about a 1/16" or so and then went with a piece of glass and sandpaper. i would rock the handle slighlty to match the curve of the knife to the new scales.
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here is one side close to being done...i need to get some more sandpaper and in higher grits as well.

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other side not done yet.
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ok i had a lil nap and then ate dinner and went back to work:) i need to go buy some sandpaper but this will give you a good idea of what it will look like when she is all done. anyone have any idea on what to finish it with??? thanks! the pics aren't the best, i should send it out to Paul when it is done:D without further ado, i present to you Purpleheart Kopa
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i didn't like the pics so i took a few more with a backdrop of the knife on the computer:p
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I agree with Zippo. That took a lot of time and dedication, but the end result looks good.
 
Purpleheart is a nice wood. I'd try sealing it with Watco, and then wait a few days - follow the directions on the can of natural Watco. I'd use a topcoat of a wiping varnish. You can use a number of different finishes on the Watco. One option is to use Formby oil finish. If you want a more durable finish, you can use Watco wiping polyurethane. You can get it in a flat or gloss, depending on your interests.
 
We have the same computer haha ;) and very nicely done, do you have a lot of experience with this sort of stuff? :)
Sorry im not into the whole tinkering stuff so i don't know all the words.
 
That looks good to me, nice job :):thumbup:

An easier way to find a curve than using play-doh :p when doing stuff like this is to use a bit of wire
like a paper clip and bend it to match the curve. You can also use quack tape to get an imprint, you
just have to dust or shade the raised part with marker or something.
 
Freddo* said:
We have the same computer haha ;) and very nicely done, do you have a lot of experience with this sort of stuff? :)
Sorry im not into the whole tinkering stuff so i don't know all the words.
Click to expand...

nope, this was my first time trying something like this :)
 
Done!
ok, here she is, sorry i didn't take any pics of the finishing process but all i did was tape up the bolsters and wipe some boild linseed oil on the scales. let them dry. taped up the scales and polished the bolsters with the red rouge that comes with dremel kits. i used electrical tape, it came off easy and i used it again on the other side, i just needed to add one small piece on each side to completely cover them. my one question is how do you get a uniform finish right next to the scale without messing up the finish, you can see what i mean in the last pic.

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i already took off the scales on kopa number 2:D, i am going to go start cutting the wood. hope you guys liked the project. it was laborious (big word for me huh..lol:p) but i liked the end result and i think i can cut alot of time down now that i have done it once. Number 2 will be 30,000 year old New Zeland Yellow Kauri:cool:.
 
ok here is number 2, yellow kauri. i have it sanded down to 600 grit, the higher ones are in the mail along with the material for kopa #3:). they say this wood really comes to life when you get up to 1000-1200 grit so we will see. no pics of the how to as that would be redundant. the one side has a shine to it because i oiled the lockbar and it went onto the scales. it does have some cool grains when you look closely at it.
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the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM2Vw4CNkgA
 
Nice. Seems like you've got it down pat. What will Kopa 19th edition be?
 
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