Removing handles on a M5

E

Ed'

Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
8
Hello,

I'm a very happy owner of a M5 olive wood handle.
I've used it during my outdoor activities for a few months and I really enjoy its weight, blade shape and solidity.
But I have long fingers and I would love to have a handle with a bigger thickness.
Although I love the look of olive wood and its carving design, I'm thinking of removing current handles in order to make new ones with higher thickness.

Before making a mistake, I'd like to know how handles are set on the blade :
- which kind go glue is used ?
- how to remove it (heating ? icing ?)

Thank you for your help !

Ed'
 
Welcome Ed'. You should be able to remove those screws with a small Allen wrench. I have yet to remove mine but doubt they are held on by any glue. Should come right off. I would recommend making some liners to increase the thickness first and see if that doesn't work for you. I do prefer the G10 handles but the olive wood sure looks nice.

 
Last edited:
Thank you Circle for your answer.
I didn't try to remove the scews because I wanted to know if the handles were glued before.
Your idea to add liners seems to be very good ! Thank's !
I'll try to remove screws and let you know.
Ed'
 
The allen size for the handle screws is 7/64". And the screws on my M5 had loctite and were very tight. I recommend using a soldering iron first to loosen the loctite.

Aside from the loctite on the screws there is no glue.

And for those who aren't aware (and the OP will discover when he removes the handles), the tang is hollowed out (presumably to make the knife lighter).
 
Thank you Killgar for this complementary information.
I understand that you heat the screw with the iron and at once you loosen it, am I correct ?

Ed'
 
Ed' said:
Thank you Killgar for this complementary information.
I understand that you heat the screw with the iron and at once you loosen it, am I correct ?

Ed'
Click to expand...

Yes. I stuck the tip of the soldering iron into the holes in the heads of the screws and heated them just enough to get them hot, then I used two 7/64" drivers to twist the screws loose.

Once the screw is heated the loctite should soften long enough to give you plenty of time to put the soldering iron down, pick up the drivers/wrenches and turn the screws, so there's no need to rush. Just turn the screws before they cool down.

And don't burn yourself on the hot screws ;).
 
Thank's again !
I followed your advices.
I used a soldering iron to heat the screws.
First one came very easily and looked with quite no glue.
Second one came with more heating and presented a nice white glue inside (approx. 7-10 min of heating).
Handles are not glued to the blade.
Pics speak by themselves :






The "female" screw exceeds around 3-4 mm.
I certainly will have to change the screw's length if I add liners to improve the thickness :



Ed'
 
It is better change the female if you increase the thicness of the handle.
Let me know if you need any more screws to do that, write to info@lionsteel.it
 
GianniLion said:
It is better change the female if you increase the thicness of the handle.
Let me know if you need any more screws to do that, write to info@lionsteel.it
Click to expand...

Thank you Gianni for your advice and your proposal.
I've try different thickness liners.
I'll go for two 4mm thick liners (one each side).
It'll increase the handle thickness from 2,2 cm (initial thickness in the middle of the handle) to 3,0 cm.
So I need female screw with a body length of 2,0 cm (actual size of the "body screw" : 1,2 cm without the "head" thickness of the screw).

I'll send you an email Gianni.
Thank's again.

I'll try to post some pics of the "work" !
I need to find some 4mm thickness vendor, I only found 3mm and 0,8mm liners.
If someone have some address, I'm interested !

Ed'
 
Work is on progress !
I ordered a 3mm thickness liner (sheet of cellulose fiber).
Cut it at the approximative handle size with a hand saw.




First result (the liner is relative hard to cut !) :


Preparation for sanding (with a Dremel) :


Result (sanding with dremel is very easy) :








Here you can see that the female screw is too short to penetrate the second liner+handle :


First feeling is very good !
I have a better hold of the knife (more adapted to my hand).

Next steps :
- polish the liner
- change the female screws

I'll contact Gianni to see if it is possible to find extra length female screw (thank's to his previous help offer).

Thank's again for all your advices !

Ed'
 
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